“The action strategy we put forward today will help Seattle address important gaps in our housing market and disparities among certain segments of the population,” stated Planning Commission Chair Leslie Miller, “Seattle is a stronger, more prosperous city if we have diversity in people who live and work here.”

The Commission’s analysis revealed several compelling findings that point to such gaps and disparities. For example, Seattle households are increasingly burdened by their housing costs. This is the case for households in lower-income, middle-income categories, and households overall.  Not surprisingly the lowest income households are particularly impacted by high housing costs in Seattle and many find that they can only afford to live here if housing is subsidized.  We also see that there is a disparity in homeownership rates particularly for Black and African American households.  Families with children are finding it difficult to rent units that are large enough. 

“The Planning Commission report adds to the evidence that it is more difficult than ever for a range of households to afford to live in this city.” stated Council Housing Chair Nick Licata, “but it particularly underlines that it is the lowest-income households who struggle and sacrifice the most to pay for housing.”

On a more positive note, many people who live in Seattle’s walkable, transit rich neighborhoods are finding that they can significantly reduce their transportation cost which helps offset higher housing costs.

“This report outlines an important connection between housing, transportation, jobs, and retail opportunities, ” stated Mayor Mike McGinn, “These connections and more are what I will keep in mind as I work to protect what makes Seattle special for all those who choose to live and work here. ”

View a PDF of the report.

The City’s Building Energy Benchmarking and Reporting Program is currently underway for nonresidential buildings over 50,000 sq. ft.  This next phase will require nonresidential buildings over 10,000 sq. ft. and multifamily buildings with five or more units to benchmark and report their energy performance by April 1, 2012.

The City has developed a series of educational materials – including hands-on training workshops, webinars and a step-by-step “How To” guide – to help owners with benchmarking and provide them information on utility energy-saving programs, rebates and other financial incentives to save energy.

To make the benchmarking process as seamless as possible, the City has partnered with local utilities to provide owners with the building energy consumption data they need in a convenient format. Using the free online tool, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, owners will be able to easily see their building’s energy performance and how it stacks up against similar buildings. Having this information at their fingertips is the first step towards improving building energy performance and reducing energy costs.

“Buildings consume more than 40% of the energy produced in the U.S. but there is a huge opportunity to lower energy costs through better building efficiency”, said Diane Sugimura, Director of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development.  “The City successfully launched the first phase of the Building Energy Benchmarking program earlier this year and we’re excited to begin reaching an even larger pool of buildings.  Helping building owners track their energy use is an important step towards improving building energy efficiency, reducing energy costs, and invigorating the retrofit market to create good local jobs”, she said.

This second group of buildings represents a diverse group of building owners and types including offices, schools, restaurants, retail outlets and more.   These properties make up a significant portion of Seattle’s building stock and a great opportunity for increased energy savings.

Many owners and managers already familiar with the benchmarking process see it as a good business practice that helps lower operating costs and boost bottom lines. 

“The more information and knowledge you have about your building’s energy performance, the more power you have to control it, “ said Lynda Carey, Construction and Asset Manager at Bellwether, an affordable housing organization in Seattle. “For us, benchmarking and making energy-efficiency improvements isn’t just about helping the environment, it is also a good business decision. Our mission is to help families afford more than rent, so the more we can do to lower our energy costs and keep housing affordable, the better.”

The City is working to ensure that all buildings are benchmarked on an annual basis, and that building energy use information is available to potential tenants, buyers and lenders during real estate transactions. That way, building owners, businesses and residents alike can make more informed and cost-conscious decisions when upgrading, buying or renting property.

“The key is education. Once an owner understands how their building is performing and how improving energy efficiency impacts their bottom line and productivity, most jump right in and start making improvements,” said Kevin Dingle, President of Sustaining Structures – a green building consulting company in Seattle.   

“Part of managing properties properly is providing as much cash flow to investors as possible. And a big part of that is managing utility costs,” said John Speirs, Senior Vice President at KG Investments – a Seattle-based real estate investment and property management company that regularly benchmarks its properties. “Energy is one of our largest expenses. The lower we can keep our energy costs, the more we can bring to the bottom line, and the better our return on investment. We support the efforts the City is making to expand the use of benchmarking and think it’s a great idea.”

For more information about the program, visit the City’s Energy Benchmarking and Reporting Ordinance website: http://seattle.gov/dpd/Energybenchmarking or email: energybenchmarking@seattle.gov.

During the 2010/2011 landslide season, nearly 100 landslides were reported in Seattle.

Landslide experts agree there is not one single factor that contributes to the amount of slides in the area, but with last year’s La Nina type weather conditions – the wet and cold weather saturated the soil and greatly reduced slope stability.

With 20,000 Seattle properties (mostly residential) in landslide-prone areas, the City of Seattle and the Take Winter By Storm campaign encourage property owners to take preventive measures to protect themselves from landslides by attending the last 2011 City of Seattle Landslide Awareness Meeting on Saturday, Nov 12.

The free landslide awareness meeting will give the public the opportunity to consult with public/private landslide experts and learn simple preventive measures that will help protect them from future landslides, such as the following:

• Checking downspouts; making sure they are functioning/routed to a safe location
• Inspecting sloping areas for indications of slope movement and erosion
• Keeping fill and yard waste off slopes
• Shutting off the irrigation system and checking it out seasonally
• Leaving tree stumps in the ground on slopes

2011 City of Seattle Landslide Awareness Meeting

The landslide awareness meetings will include a presentation that discusses the causes of landslides, proper drainage for sloping sites, and vegetation maintenance on slopes. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session and time for one-on-one discussions with professionals in the field, including the City of Seattle, The American Society for Civil Engineers, The Association of Engineering Geologists, The International Society of Arboriculture, and Associated Building Contractors.

Nov. 12 – 10:00 a.m. to Noon
South Seattle Community College
Judge Warren & Nobie Chan Education Center
6000 16^th Ave. SW (across from the north parking lot)
 

Seattle Landslides 

The landslide record that was documented in the Seattle Landslide Study indicates that 86 percent of landslides that have occurred in the city have some human influence such as excavating and filling on steep slopes, broken pipes and uncontrolled storm water.

Since the devastating landslide season of 1996/1997, which involved over 300 reported landslides, the city has taken steps to prepare and respond to slides by constructing mitigation projects to reduce the potential for future slides. It has also been presenting these public landslide awareness meetings for owners of landslide-prone property.

If a landslide damages your property and you have an immediate concern for your safety, leave the premises and call 9-1-1. Seattle property owners with structures that may be affected by or endangered by a landslide should contact a geotechnical professional for structural evaluation.

To view the current conditions of the USGS rainfall threshold for landslides, please visit: http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/seattle/rtd/plot.php.

For more information about Seattle landslides and the City of Seattle free landslide awareness meetings, please visit: www.seattle.gov/dpd/emergency/landslides.

Take Winter By Storm is a regional campaign aimed at helping citizens and businesses get prepared before bad weather strikes. Learn more at: www.takewinterbystorm.org.

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For more information, please visit the Seattle City Council calendar or the Roosevelt Rezone website.

“In an uncertain economy, government needs to focus on finding ways to get people back to work,” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “These recommendations highlight ways we can reduce red tape and encourage job growth while enhancing our commitment to the environment.”

The regulatory reform package was announced by Mayor McGinn, Council President Richard Conlin, and members of the panel in early July. It includes legislation to achieve the following goals:

• Encourage home entrepreneurship
• Allow flexibility for street level uses in apartment buildings
• Reduce and eliminate some parking requirements
• Allow small commercial uses in multifamily zones
• Expand options for accessory dwelling units
• Expand mobile food vending and temporary uses
• Improve State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) implementation

The State Environmental Policy Act review process improvements could expedite up to 40 new construction projects with 100 to 250 units each year. The Seattle Building Trades Council estimates that as many as 2,400 direct, family-wage jobs in skilled construction-trades could be created through this effort.

“This is the city taking necessary steps to remove obstacles to job creation. Many of these are outdated and getting in the way of entrepreneurs who want to establish and grow a business in Seattle,” said George Allen, senior vice president of government relations for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. “We applaud Mayor McGinn’s work in bringing together business, labor, neighborhood and environmental leaders to find common ground. We hope the City Council will move this legislation forward quickly and as a full package.”

“We support the Mayor in re-visiting the zoning reforms and to move forward with construction projects that benefit the City of Seattle and its citizens,” said Lee Newgent, Executive Secretary of the Seattle Building Trades and Construction Council. “Our members have been devastated by the recession and support the need for new construction projects to provide good family wage jobs.”

“It was rewarding to see such a diverse coalition of citizens come together to put forth these recommendations,” said James C Mueller, Managing Partner of JC Mueller LLC. “From our perspective as neighborhood investors the regulatory simplification will help us create jobs sooner while provisions for neighborhood retail will enable us to enhance walkability. Everyone wins with this one!”

“This package of reforms is an excellent opportunity for the city to make sustainability legal. It spurs investments in our neighborhoods, creates economic opportunity for our residents, and advances the principles of sustainable urban living,” said Eric de Place, senior researcher at Sightline Institute.

Allen, Mueller and de Place were all members of the regulatory reform panel that helped create the legislative package Mayor McGinn transmitted to the City Council today.

Seattle Jobs Plan

Mayor Mike McGinn’s vision for next generation economic development that creates a sustainable economy with shared prosperity in Seattle was launched in August 2010. It consists of new and existing policies, programs and investments designed to help create quality jobs, protect the environment, and ensure that taxpayers get true value from the city of Seattle’s public investments. For more information, visit Seattle Jobs Plan or DPD’s Regulatory Reform page.

Some of the topics that will be discussed at next week’s Open House include: 

• Pedestrian and bicycle connections to the station, including a bridge crossing of Interstate 5
• Public spaces in the vicinity – parks, sidewalks
• How to create an active neighborhood near the light rail station
• Connecting bus and rail service
• Creating a healthy and sustainable community

The community is invited to drop by the open house to learn more and help influence the future of this area south of the Northgate Mall.

Meeting Details

Community Design Study for the Northgate Light Rail Station Area Open House

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 
6 – 9 p.m. (Brief presentation at 6:30 p.m.)
Aljoya Senior Apartments at Thornton Place
450 NE 100^th Street

To learn more about the Northgate Light Rail Station Area Development project, please visit:  http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/NorthgateStationAreaDevelopment/Overview/default.asp

In order to guide future actions, the City Council adopted Resolution 31282 in March of this year.  The resolution established guiding principles for strengthening and growing Seattle’s economy and creating jobs.  In keeping with these principles, a roundtable of business, environmental, and neighborhood leaders met to develop proposals for regulatory reform that will help to restore and sustain a vibrant business environment and attract new jobs to the city, consistent with our growth management strategies in the Comprehensive Plan.

In response to the group’s recommendations for changes that will help to get people back to work, and jump-start development by simplifying regulations, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is proposing amendments to the Land Use Code and Seattle’s version of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).  These proposals would help people weather the difficult economy in three important ways:

1. Get people back to work – encourages entrepreneurship and new business development;
2. Promote flexibility in the Land Use Code to foster innovation, improve efficiency and eliminate unnecessary delay in permitting; and
3. Jumpstart new housing opportunities – encourages new investment in affordable housing. 

DPD has just completed environmental review of the legislative proposal, which is made of three ordinances (two of which are subject to environmental review under state laws and one is not).  For detailed information on the proposal, including a Director’s Report that explains the complete package of proposals, please refer to the documents below:

Director’s Report

Ordinance

For more information on regulatory reform, please visit Mayor McGinn’s blog. You can also contact Mike Podowski, Planning Supervisor, at 206-386-1988 or mike.podowski@seattle.gov.

To see the proposed legislation and report, go to Councilmember Sally Clark’s website:

http://www.seattle.gov/council/clark/

The Mayor, DPD and members of City Council believe it is critical for the City to encourage compact, transit-oriented communities around investments in transit. The proposed land use changes will encourage well-designed development around the new light rail station, expanding opportunities for housing and jobs close to transit while keeping in character with the Roosevelt neighborhood.   

The proposal builds on recommendations generated by the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association (RNA), which spent many volunteer hours developing the Roosevelt Neighborhood Plan. The proposal balances a need for adding capacity for housing and jobs around transit with the principle of protecting neighborhood character.

The recommendation is for a package of 25 rezones that meet the Roosevelt neighborhood’s goals for integrating a light rail station into the heart of the neighborhood. The rezones are centered on the neighborhood business district around Roosevelt Way NE and NE 65^th St.  In total, the proposed rezones comprise 17.5 acres of land.

The Seattle City Council is expected to begin review of the legislative rezone proposal in the summer of 2011.  For detailed information on the proposal, including maps and the Mayor’s Recommendation Report, please refer to the documents below:

• Director’s Analysis and Mayor’s Recommendation
• Figure 1: Roosevelt Zoning Proposal Summary
• Figure 2: Roosevelt Zoning Proposal
• Figure 3: Station Area Overlay
• Transit-Supportive Density Report
• Draft Ordinance

For more information, please visit Mayor McGinn’s blog.