West Seattle (and beyond) development: City changes ahead

In the middle of a building boom, the city is making/considering changes in some of its processes and programs – including the only one that guarantees public meetings about some development projects. Two notes this morning about how you can get involved:

BREAKING UP DPD: As first announced in June, the city plans to separate the current Department of Planning and Development functions into two new divisions. This morning’s Land Use Information Bulletin includes the official notice of an October 20th public hearing at City Hall about the proposed change:

(This would) reorganize the Department of Planning and Development into two separate departments: (1) the Office of Planning and Community Development; (2) and the Department of Construction and Inspections. This Bill clarifies responsibilities for planning, permitting and enforcement activities between the two departments.

Part of the news in that is the name “Department of Construction and Inspections,” which was still TBA when the breakup announcement was made in June. The October 20th hearing is at 5:30 pm, with speaker signups an hour earlier.

DESIGN REVIEW CHANGES: For an even-longer time, the city’s been reviewing the Design Review program, which has for years been the only means by which public community-based meetings have been required for some development projects. The next step before potential changes is a set of open houses, one for the north part of the city and one for the south. The latter is the closest to West Seattle, set for September 29, 6–7:30 pm at Columbia City Library, 4721 Rainier Ave. South. (Thanks to Deb Barker, a former Southwest Design Review Board member, for calling our attention to that so we could make sure you knew.)

1 Reply to "West Seattle (and beyond) development: City changes ahead"

  • Neighbor September 17, 2015 (10:33 am)

    Is Mayor Murray proposing getting rid of the Design Review program as we know it (he calls for making it more efficient and technology driven)? It seems like the Mayor wants to digitize the design review input process in the form of surveys (which seems like a good way to reduce community input and the opportunity for neighbors to share perspectives with decision makers in person). Is this change intended to circumvent community input and fast-track development?

Sorry, comment time is over.