This Monday, on July 13th, an advisory committee convened by Seattle’s Mayor Ed Murray published their report proposing a plan for how Seattle might remain affordable and livable into the future. The report comes at a time when many Seattleites are already finding it difficult to afford buying or renting homes in the City.
What struck us as we read through this document is how different it is from the run-of-the-mill government plan we’re used to seeing. Sure, it has goal statements and recommendations, but the scope of its impacts crosses disciplines. It’s a little bit housing policy, a little bit land use planning, a little bit finance, and a little bit bureaucratic reorganizing.
The difference in this plan may be due to its team of creators, a mix of planners, non-planners, experts, non-experts, politicians, and community members who worked together to reach consensus on each of the plan’s recommendations.
The report is not a quick read, but it’s worth digging in. Some of the more notable recommendations include:
- Focus more growth in Seattle’s urban villages. Urban villages are mapped areas [link to picture] where Seattle allows more intensive development. These areas are centered on commercial cores, transit hubs, and amenities. The HALA report recommends increasing the size of some urban villages, and changing the development rules for single family areas within urban villages to allow more duplexes, triplexes, cottages, and boarding houses (see page 22).
- Test out adding more density to some single family neighborhoods. Most of Seattle is zoned single family 5000. The HALA report recommends a pilot phase where the City would allow a broader mix of lower density housing types (duplex, triplex, cottages, etc.), within the currently allowed building envelope, in some single family neighborhoods (see page 26).
- Allow multifamily and mixed-use buildings to be built higher. Allowing an extra 10 feet or so would increase the number of housing units and allow for more efficient building design (see page 23 and Appendix E.)
- In exchange for increases in height, require affordable housing. Along with height increases, new multifamily and mixed use development would be required to dedicate a certain percentage of new units as affordable to households earning less than 60% of the area’s average income (see page 15 and Appendix E).
The plan now goes to the Mayor’s office for review and policy development. The next stop is City Council, where the Mayor’s proposed rule changes will be considered for approval.