Office of Planning and Community Development’s Equitable Development Initiative (EDI). The EDI involves many different City departments coordinating to address equity in our underserved communities and displacement as Seattle grows. The EDI is a set of strategies that emerged from our Growth and Equity Report, part of the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan update.
Comprehensive Plan Advances – Public Hearing on September 15
This summer, the Mayor’s Recommended Comprehensive Plan took center stage at City Council. The Planning, Land Use and Zoning (PLUZ) Committee is leading the review and will hold a public hearing on Thursday, September 15, to hear your thoughts on their proposed amendments to the Mayor’s Recommended Comprehensive Plan. The public hearing will take place at Council Chambers, City Hall (600 Fourth Avenue, 2nd Floor) at 2:00 p.m. A sign-up sheet will be available at 1:30 p.m.
Planning for a Fast-Growing City
The Mayor’s Recommended Comprehensive Plan was released on May 3! The Plan is a blueprint for how Seattle will grow over the coming twenty years. Its goals and policies are shaped by four core values: race and social equity, environmental stewardship, economic opportunity and security, and community.
What’s Happening to the Public Feedback on the Seattle 2035 Draft Plan?
For the past month, City staff have been sorting and organizing feedback we received about the Seattle 2035 Draft Plan. During the five-month comment period, people had many options to share their thoughts. Online options included email, website comment box, Facebook, Twitter, and Consider IT online community conversation and survey.
Hundreds of Comments on the Seattle 2035 Draft Plan
DPD received over 2,100 comments, opinions, letters and surveys about the Seattle 2035 Draft Comprehensive Plan! Staff is now organizing and reviewing your feedback.The Draft Plan went live for public review in July 2015 and we received online comments throughout the summer and fall. We also hosted five open houses in October and November.
The conversation with the community will continue next year after City Council receives the Mayor’s Final Plan, and as community meetings about urban village boundaries and HALA begin. Look for the release of the Mayor’s Plan, Final EIS, and Final Equity Analysis in March 2016.
Looking Toward the Future & Listening for New Voices in Shaping Policy in Seattle
The City of Seattle is one of seven finalists for City Accelerator competition focused on civic engagement. City Accelerator is an initiative of Living Cities and the Citi Foundation. Seattle’s engagement proposal focuses on the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. The City Accelerator would help Seattle design and implement its approach and structures that would sustain it over time. Visit the City Accelerator site, rate our video, and tell us what you think by April 3!
Seattle 2035: Civic Planning, Past, Present and Future
Reflecting on history is an important aspect of Seattle 2035, the update to Seattle’s comprehensive plan. Over 100 people gathered on March 19 at MOHAI to do just that at “Seattle 2035: Civic Planning, Past, Present and Future,” the latest edition of MOHAI’s History Café. Historian Jennifer Ott offered a brief overview of post-war planning and moderated a panel that included Diane Sugimura, Director of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development; Greg Nickels, former City of Seattle Mayor; and Rebecca Saldaña, the Executive Director of Puget Sound Sage.
Industrial Lands Policy Discussion Recap
In March, DPD hosted a series of three meetings (located in Ballard, Interbay, and Georgetown) to discuss proposed industrial lands policies that are part of Seattle 2035, the City’s major comprehensive plan update. The proposed manufacturing/industrial center (M/IC) land use policy amendments emerged from a 2013 study of the Greater Duwamish Manufacturing and Industrial Center.
Measuring the Success of the Urban Village Strategy
In 1994 the city adopted a new Comprehensive Plan centered on the innovative “urban village strategy.” Rather than scatter growth throughout the city, or squeeze growth along corridors, this plan called for guiding growth and City investment to mixed-use, walkable villages. So 20 years later, how successful how this strategy been?
West Seattle ‘Let’s Talk’ Follow-Up
Last summer, we hosted a meeting in West Seattle to provide information about development in the neighborhood and give West Seattleites an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. About 40 people joined 26 staff from the City’s Departments of Transportation, Planning and Development, Neighborhoods, and the Mayor’s office. You can read more about the meeting, and view the presentation materials, at The West Seattle Blog. This article summarizes what we heard about some of the major issues and identifies how you can get involved in related ongoing planning efforts.
