Under the Washington State Governor’s Proclamation No. 20-28.5, Design Review Board in-person meetings are currently prohibited while physical distancing measures remain in place. Therefore, SDCI will continue to restrict in-person meetings for the Design Review program until King County is approved to move to Phase 4 of the “Safe Start” reopening plan. Until then, we are pleased to announce that we will begin the gradual rollout of virtual Design Review Board meetings beginning in August.
We are launching this effort for Early Design Guidance meetings only. After one month we will assess our ability to expand virtual meetings to accommodate projects in the Recommendation phase as well (ie. all projects). Those projects that opted into the Administrative Design Review track and completed their Early Design Guidance review under the emergency legislation may choose to switch to review by a board before the emergency legislation expiration date.
For these virtual Design Review Board meetings, we will be using the WebEx Events meeting platform. There are two ways you can participate in a remote Design Review Board meeting:
- Attend the Meeting Online
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- Go to the Design Review calendar and locate the project meeting which you would like to attend.
- At the date/time indicated for the meeting, click on the link that is identified as the Webex Meeting Link
- If you would like to provide public comment, you can do so by clicking on the meeting link and clicking on the speaker sign-in link.
For information about locations providing free WiFi internet access, go to https://bit.ly/Freewifispots.
- Call in to the Virtual Meeting
If you do not have access to a computer during the meeting, you can call the number listed on the Design Review calendar, under the specific project address to hear the meeting in session.
There are two ways to provide public comment about a Design Review project:
- Submit Written Public Comment
As always, you may submit written public comment any time by sending an email to PRC@seattle.gov. Staff will summarize for the board all design-related comments received before the meeting.
- Offer Verbal Public Comment at the Virtual Meeting
Members of the public may sign up online to provide comments on the proposed design. Speakers will have up to 2 minutes on matters on this agenda. The total time allotted to public comment at the meeting is 20 minutes. We will open online registration to speak at the Design Review Board meeting two hours before the meeting starts and close registration at the end of the board’s clarifying questions (30 minutes after the meeting starts). If you wish to speak, you can either use the WebEx link or the call-in number provided in the Design Review calendar, under the specific project address. You must register to speak using the online form (provided under the specific project listed in the Design Review calendar) in order to be recognized by the Chair/SDCI staff.
All of this information, plus additional tips for providing public comment, are provided on a new tab of the Design Review webpage, called Virtual Board Meetings.
If you have questions regarding Design Review, please contact:
Lisa Rutzick
lisa.rutzick@seattle.gov