As the neighborhood MHA upzones have been working their way through the Seattle legislative process, Council member Rob Johnson has held out hope that development projects already in the queue for permits could be enticed to “opt in” to the MHA program, gaining the ability to build bigger structures in return for delivering affordable housing. This afternoon, Johnson announced that his hope is becoming reality, with seven projects in the Downtown-South Lake Union area beginning the process to opt in.
Continue readingCategory: zoning
Council looks to get tough on vacant buildings
This morning, the Council heard a proposal to tighten the rules and streamline others in order to prevent vacant buildings from becoming neighborhood nuisances — or worse, fire hazards.
Continue readingOpponents of new Youth Service Center may get another chance to stop it
If Council member Mike O’Brien has his way, the land use code will be amended to allow opponents of the proposed King County Youth Service Center to appeal issuance of a Master Use Permit for the facility.
Continue readingUnderstanding the Chinatown / International District MHA Upzone
Since the beginning of the year, MHA upzones have been approved for the University District and the Downtown/South Lake Union areas of the city. Now the third piece is up for consideration: the Chinatown/International District (CID).
Continue readingWednesday news roundup: everyone’s talking about zoning
Lots of zoning talk this morning.
Continue readingAudit finds issues with Incentive Zoning program
The city’s Incentive Zoning program has its roots in the 1970’s and has grown and changed much in the decades since then. Today it’s co-managed by the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) and the Office of Housing (OH). Last year, Council member O’Brien asked the City Auditor to verify whether the city was accurately applying the IZ land use code to projects that opted into the program. They found a long list of issues and made 22 recommendations for improvements to the program. This morning, the City Council was briefed on the findings.
Continue readingCouncil discusses Key Arena proposals
This morning the City Council had its first discussion of the two proposals submitted last week for redevelopment of Key Arena. That was fairly straightforward. The bigger issue for them was how little involvement they would have in the decision-making process until the very end.
Continue readingDowntown/SLU MHA upzone passes into law
This afternoon the City Council voted unanimously to rezone the downtown and South Lake Union areas of the city, granting additional zoning capacity in exchange for affordable housing. Most of the discussion was around one controversial amendment.
Continue readingDowntown and South Lake Union MHA upzone up for final amendments and vote
This afternoon the Council will likely wrap up its work on the MHA-enabling upzone for the Downtown and South Lake Union areas of the city.
Continue readingArenas committee holds its first meeting
Monday morning the Council’s Select Committee on Civic Arenas held its first meeting, which entailed a high-level overview of the committee’s purview, as well as the issues related to the SODO Arena and Key Arena proposals that are likely to come before it.
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