By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Almost two months have gone by since the city announced the draft of changes to the 20-year plan for Seattle’s future, officially known as its comprehensive plan, currently going by the name One Seattle Plan. (Here’s our first report on it, from March 9th.)

If you have something to say about the draft plan, you have four more days (go here). If you don’t know enough about it to comment, you’re invited to an online informational meeting at 6 pm tonight (here’s the connection information) – and you might be interested in what more than 70 people heard at a West Seattle briefing earlier this week. (Here’s the slide deck used, if you want to cut right to that.)

The briefing was arranged by City Councilmember Rob Saka‘s office after Chief of Staff Elaine Ikoma Ko – who spoke at the meeting – learned that the community groups in Admiral, Alki, and Fauntleroy felt under-informed about the plan, though there was a West Seattle open house a month ago (WSB coverage here). This meeting Monday night at Admiral Church wasn’t a public hearing and wasn’t meant to be a formal comment opportunity, either – just informational.

Nonetheless, some in attendance offered their thoughts, especially learning about the new state law that will be incorporated into the comprehensive plan, requiring many jurisdictions – including Seattle – to allow up to four dwelling units on any lot (six, if two of them are “affordable”). That seemed to be a surprise to many, though current zoning allows three units, with the changes a few years back to open the door for attached and detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs and DADUs) on every lot.

Michael Hubner, the city Office of Planning and Community Development manager who’s leading the plan-revision project, affirmed that its spotlight feature is “confronting our housing challenges,” with Seattle’s population potentially hitting a million people in the next 20 years, which would be a 25 percent increase from the current number. He was joined at the briefing by OPCD’s Brennon Staley.

Hubner also noted that while those in attendance might have not noticed, this is the third year of the comprehensive-plan revision process – a meeting was held in late 2022 at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), for example. The end of the process is in sight – the final plan will be sent to the City Council for action by the end of the year.

What’s open for public review, Hubner explained, is a trio of documents – the draft plan itself, zoning changes for areas currently zoned “neighborhood residential” (called “single-family” until a council-approved change more than two years ago, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the plan.

Hubner reviewed the five types of places outlined in the draft plan – regional center, urban center, neighborhood center, urban neighborhood, manufacturing/industrial center. It’s a “more understandable hierarchy,” he said. Here’s the District 1 version of the map:

District 1 would have no “regional center.” Its current “urban villages” would become “urban centers,” and the West Seattle Junction’s boundary would expand eastward to Avalon (where a light-rail station is planned) – that expansion is one of the things on which the city is “actively seeking feedback.”

The “neighborhood centers” (noted in our first report in March) don’t have boundaries firmed up yet, but each would have a core and expand outward 800 feet – covering “one to three blocks” – from there, with “denser housing and a mix of uses.” Hubner said that in comments, they want to hear “are these the right locations? What do you think about the concept? Want to see more of these, less of these, or?”

As for “urban neighborhoods” – that covers most of the rest of the city. Along with the “four units allowable on every lot” – not required, but allowed – “corner stores” (small stores or restaurants) would be allowed too, and lots might be eligible for six housing units if two were guaranteed to be “affordable,” though the city reps said they doubted that would be common.

One attendee observed that would likely lead to mostly multi-story development, and “what does that do for people with limited mobility? It’s discriminatory.” Staley noted that “stacked flats” – which would mean one-level living even for those on upper floors – might be built too.

Then it was time for Q&A, which some turned into comments.

One person complained about what he saw as too much parking being built into residential developments. The city reps noted that indeed, the city currently has some parking minimums but no maximums, and maybe that could eventually change.

Some zoning might allow more density in “frequent transit” areas, so one person wanted to know how that’s defined. “15 minutes (frequency) all day long and some weekend service.” And yes, bus service will be ‘restructured” when light rail opens the West Seattle extension (currently expected in late 2032).

West Seattle’s lack of a hospital, often brought up in planning discussions, was mentioned. The plan doesn’t really do anything to change that. Hubner said it was an “interesting question,” though.

What about the increased density putting a strain on infrastructure? Utilities have their own plans for what’s needed in the decades ahead, was the reply, but they’re meeting with those entities too.

What about areas that already have neighborhood plans – how did those factor into this? Hubner replied that essentially, they won’t – they’re mostly outdated anyway, in the city’s view. “In most cases, decades old.” But, he added, they do hope to do more “area” (neighborhood) planning “in the future.” (Asked later about what kind of weight is given to neighborhood groups’ comments on the plan, the reply was that it’s important for the comments to describe how many people had input and how it was collected.)

More density doesn’t necessarily lead to more affordable housing if it’s not required to be affordable, one person commented, observing that an old half-million-dollar house tends to be replaced with three million-dollar units. The city reps said their philosophy is that density will ease the housing crunch “by increasing supply and diversity of types of housing.” Staley said, “Nothing is affordable right now.” It was also noted that the Mandatory Housing Affordability program – requiring developers to either include affordable units or pay into a fund that the city uses to bankroll it elsewhere – is coming up for a review too.

One attendee asked if the city has a number about how many housing units D-1 has now and how many this might lead to. No number handy, they replied, but the Draft EIS analyzes option.

Other attendees voiced concerns about a shortage of green space, and the tree-cutting that increased density will lead to. “The Great Seattle Tree Cull” is how one described it. Staley said, “Definitely a tradeoff, more housing means less space for trees.” He reiterated that the state is requiring allowing four units per lot so the city has no choice, “but we welcome comments on how to (address the tree concerns).”

Since one rendering shown featured four-story buildings, an attendee worried about the future of views. Hubner said the four-story buildings would be the result of including affordable units and, again, they doubted developers would do that in most areas.

WHAT’S NEXT? As mentioned above, there’s an online meeting tonight, and next Monday – May 6 – is the deadline for comment in this stage of the process. (Here’s how and where to comment.) In October, Hubner said, a “detailed zoning proposal with maps” will be made available for comment, the final plan will go to the City Council by year’s end, and then the “zoning legislation” will follow early next year.