By 2035, Seattle will add 120,000 people and 115,000 jobs. On June 24 you can weigh in on key directions for Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan to guide this growth. You’ve spoken up about what you want to see in Seattle. Much of the Comprehensive Plan is already headed in the right direction, but some changes are needed. These changes are part of Seattle 2035, DPD’s effort to update the Comprehensive Plan. We want to know what you think is the best way forward.
Mayor Murray’s Neighborhood Summit on April 5
Mayor Murray is hosting a Neighborhood Summit event on April 5 to connect people around neighborhood issues. According to Mayor Murray, “Engaging residents to determine community values and priorities is a continuing process, and the Seattle Neighborhood Summit is the first step for my administration.”
Seattle Comprehensive Plan Major Update EIS Scoping
DPD is scoping an environmental impact statement (EIS) that will evaluate the City’s Comprehensive Plan update. The EIS will examine the possible impacts under three different growth scenarios. On March 24, we held a public meeting to discuss the three alternatives and to get public feedback on whether we’re looking at the right alternatives. Did you miss the meeting? DPD is holding five more meetings about the EIS planning alternatives in April. We’ll be in several communities throughout Seattle.
Seattle 2035: Guiding Principles Workshop
On March 3, join us for a workshop on the nine guiding principles behind the Comprehensive Plan update. The guiding principles are statements about our city’s challenges and opportunities–economic opportunity, growth, climate change, community health, transit, strategic investment and innovation. They emerged from public engagement conducted in 2011, and were adopted by City Council in 2012. DPD wants your perspective about how these principles can shape the plan.
Comprehensive Plan Annual Amendments
On July 29 City Council adopted a resolution identifying topics they want DPD to explore as possible amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, as part of the annual amendment cycle. Based on DPD’s analysis, the Mayor will make recommendations about these topics to the City Council in December. Council will hold a public hearing and vote on those recommendations in the first quarter of 2014.
Amending the Comprehensive Plan
City Council is now considering a package of amendments to the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. DPD helped the Mayor prepare these amendments, which came from several different sources including the City’s Green Ribbon Commission, the Seattle Planning Commission, neighborhood planning groups and individuals.
Creating a Sense of Place
Urban design policies can help create and preserve Seattle’s “sense of place”—the look and feel of the city. Over the next 20 years, as we add more housing and businesses in Seattle, good urban design principles can enhance the beauty of Seattle’s natural areas and urban areas too.
Join DPD at the Seattle Design Festival
DPD is proud to be a partner of the Seattle Design Festival! The four-day “super weekend” of design, September 20-23, will show how design adds value to our lives, our city, and our region. DPD will have an exhibit showcasing the proposed new urban design element for the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. The exhibit will include interactive maps and other fun activities to gather your comments about Seattle’s design goals.