Category Archives: neighborhoods

housing, neighborhoods, zoning

The Council is holding a public hearing tonight. This one matters.

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The Council’s Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee is holding a public hearing tonight on two issues: the proposed MHA rezone of the Uptown urban center, and some potential changes to the way that design reviews are done.

Many of the Council’s public hearings are perfunctory: the Council members already have a good idea how they plan to vote, and the most that commenters can hope for are to get some minor tweaks to the legislation.  But as of last Friday when the PLUZ committee met to discuss the two topics, there are some big open issues that the Council is scratching its collective head over.

Continue reading The Council is holding a public hearing tonight. This one matters. →

housing, neighborhoods, parks, transportation, utilities, zoning

Understanding the MHA Draft Environmental Impact Statement

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On June 8th, the city published a Draft Environment Impact Statement (DEIS) for the “city-wide” implementation of the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program. It’s 462 pages of dense material.  Here’s your cheat sheet.

Continue reading Understanding the MHA Draft Environmental Impact Statement →

neighborhoods

Department of Neighborhoods says more about District Councils, some of it meaningful

Today the Department of Neighborhoods posted a message from Director Kathy Nyland confirming that it had sent legislation to the Council, rewriting its charter, which is identical to what the Eastlake Community Council posted earlier this week.

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neighborhoods

Department of Neighborhoods equivocates on support for District Councils, insulates itself

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The Department of Neighborhoods seems determined to leave everyone guessing as to what kind of support it will provide to District Councils moving forward. And in the meantime, it’s moving to insulate itself further from accountability to the communities it serves.

Continue reading Department of Neighborhoods equivocates on support for District Councils, insulates itself →