Building Connections Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections

Building Connections

Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections news and events

Seattle 2035: Preserving Industrial Land

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City staff are hosting a series of meetings in March to discuss specific land use policies for designated Manufacturing and Industrial Centers (M/IC) that will preserve these areas for ongoing industrial use. This policy work is aimed at strengthening our industrial business sectors as a part of Seattle 2035– the City’s major comprehensive plan update.

Help Shape Growth in Ballard

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In response to ongoing development, the community’s desire to retain Ballard’s character, and Sound Transit’s planning for light rail to Ballard, Seattle DPD, Department of Transportation (SDOT), and neighborhood groups and non-profits, organized as the Ballard Partnership for Smart Growth, have been working to develop an Urban Design Framework (UDF). The UDF is a collaborative vision of urban design, land use, transportation, and other strategies that will guide future development while ensuring Ballard’s people and places thrive.

Georgetown Neighborhood Community Meeting

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DPD is currently considering amendments to the City’s comprehensive plan that would impact future proposals to make changes to industrial lands in the Manufacturing and Industrial Center (MI/C), which would include areas in Georgetown. We are holding a community-wide meeting on November 5 at the Seattle Central College-Georgetown Campus (6:00 p.m., Room C122).

DPD to Present Initial Recommendations for Ballard in November

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DPD has been working with neighborhood groups and non-profits, organized as the Ballard Partnership for Smart Growth, to develop an Urban Design Framework (UDF). The UDF will establish the desired design qualities for the central Ballard area, and examine how development regulations can better shape growth in ways that reflect those qualities.

Reminder: Draft Stormwater Regulations Ready for Public Review

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Urban areas that collect stormwater runoff in municipal separate storm sewers and discharge it to surface waters must have a permit under the federal Clean Water Act. The Department of Ecology develops and administers National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater permits in Washington State. Our regulations must be equivalent to Ecology’s NPDES 2012 Stormwater Manual. To meet these requirements, we are revising our existing Stormwater Code and associated Directors’ Rules. We are holding a public meeting on June 3 to discuss our revised stormwater regulations and to get your feedback.

DPD and Ballard Partnership Seek Input for Ballard Urban Design Study

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Over the past decade, Ballard has seen significant changes from the “sleepy” neighborhood it once was. The area has become denser as it became attractive to younger people and to families with children. At the same time, the job market has changed, but job growth has not kept up with the population growth. We are partnering with the Ballard Partnership for Smart Growth (Partnership) on a coordinated and strategic planning effort to address these changes and help create a vision that will shape growth and guide new development in Ballard.

Draft Stormwater Regulations Ready for Public Review

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Urban areas that collect stormwater runoff in municipal separate storm sewers and discharge it to surface waters must have a permit under the federal Clean Water Act. The Department of Ecology develops and administers National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater permits in Washington State. Our regulations must be equivalent to Ecology’s NPDES 2012 Stormwater Manual. To meet these requirements, we are revising our existing Stormwater Code and associated Directors’ Rules. We are holding a public meeting on June 3 to discuss our revised stormwater regulations and to get your feedback.

Unreinforced Masonry Retrofit Policy Development Update

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DPD has hired a consultant team to perform a benefits cost analysis on the unreinforced masonry (URM) retrofit policy options in the draft recommendations prepared by the URM Policy Committee in January 2013. The analysis will provide information on financing and regulatory implementation options that better align benefits and costs of a possible mandatory retrofit program for URMs. The report will provide more information to the Policy Committee before it makes its final recommendations, and will inform decisions by the Mayor and City Council on a mandatory retrofit program.