On October 2, the City Council adopted legislation to change the City’s Design Review program. The changes will improve the overall function of the program by enhancing the efficiency and predictability of project reviews, improving dialogue among project stakeholders, and making the program more transparent and accessible to the public and project applicants.
New Approved Legislation and Amendments
The City Council approved an amendment to the 2015 Seattle Building Code allowing Art Gallery spaces less than 3000 square feet in size to remain or be classified as an Mercantile occupancy from an Assembly-3 occupancy. They also approved legislation for Seattle’s Technical Codes and Electrical Code.
Environmentally Critical Areas Public Hearing
The Seattle City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Zoning (PLUZ) Committee has scheduled a public hearing to take comments on the proposed Environmentally Critical Areas (ECA) updated regulations. The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at the PLUZ committee meeting that begins at 9:30 a.m. in the City Council Chambers located on the 2nd Floor of City Hall at 600 Fourth Avenue.
Updates for Citywide Design Guidelines with City Council
The City Council is evaluating our proposal to update the citywide design guidelines that address multifamily and commercial development outside Downtown. In addition, the City Council is also considering updates to 18 neighborhood specific guidelines that augment the citywide guidelines to match the proposed citywide format.
City Council to Vote on Neighborhood Plan Goals and Policies
On May 13th City Council will be voting on the Rainier Beach and Broadview/Bitter Lake/Haller Lake neighborhood plans goals and policies that were amended through the neighborhood plan update. These goals and policies provide direction to the City as we undertake projects and programs in support of the neighborhood plan. The Neighborhood Advisory Committee and […]
Seattle City Council Approves West Seattle Gateway Neighborhood Rezone
Seattle City Council approved today C.B. 117294 and Resolution 31342, enacting new land use rules and maximum building heights for the “West Seattle Triangle”neighborhood. Community advocates and city planners framed the new rules in hopes of encouraging new development in the area to be more mixed-use and pedestrian-oriented.
DPD Releases Backyard Cottage Annual Report
On May 12 at the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment, DPD presented its report on backyard cottage development over the past 18 months. In November 2009, Council adopted legislation allowing backyard cottages on eligible lots in single-family zones throughout the city. Fifty-seven units have been permitted since.
Clean-Up Bill for Lowrise Zoning
On December 14, 2010, the City Council adopted Ordinance 123495. This ordinance establishes new development standards for lowrise (LR) multifamily zones, a new administrative design review process for townhouses, and other standards that apply in various zoning designations. In preparing to administer this legislation, staff from DPD has discovered corrections and clarifications that would facilitate use of the new provisions, in keeping with Council’s intent. Most of the amendments are minor technical changes (e.g. correcting outdated formatting and subsection references). The proposed ordinance also contains amendments that are clarifications to provisions or corrections of errors or omissions.
Corrected Effective Date: Multifamily Code Update Legislation Adopted
On December 20, 2010 the Mayor signed the ordinance adopted by the City Council earlier in the month. The ordinance establishes new lowrise zoning and a streamlined administrative design review process for townhouse development. In addition, some of the new standards apply across zones, such as applying the existing shoreline code height measurement technique (a major code simplification accomplishment).
Lowrise Zoning Regulations Revised
On December 13, the City Council approved the first major revisions for lowrise zoning regulations since the late 1980s. The changes include a new streamlined administrative design review process for townhouses.
