Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration has finalized its proposal for the city’s next 20-year growth plan with a few key changes to draft plans circulated earlier this year including allowing denser design of development in the city’s residential zones and filling in a big hole in previously released zoning update maps for the area around Squire Park on the edges of the Central District and First Hill.

CHS reported here this spring on the Harrell administration comprehensive plan proposal that continues the city’s focus on growth in its densest cores of Capitol Hill and the Central District while making small steps forward in allowing multifamily-style housing across the city.

A coalition of business and community organizations have called for more growth, denser “middle housing,” and more housing near transit in the plan.

While the final comp plan proposal would continue many of the development patterns that have shaped modern Seattle, the changes for the final proposed zoning update show the administration responding to density proponents with changes for the city’s expanses of neighborhood residential zoning that would allow developers to create denser designs — upping the threshold from a .9 floor to area ratio to 1.2 FAR in the final proposal.

Floor area ratio (FAR) is the measurement of a building’s area in relation to the size of the parcel that the building is located on and is widely used as a metric to quantify density.

“To bring down costs, support current residents, and prepare for future growth, Seattle needs more housing and more housing choices – it’s that simple. Looking at the data and at our neighborhoods, we designed this plan to thoughtfully add housing diversity and capacity at the scale that is necessary to make a difference,” the mayor said in the administration’s announcement of the final proposal. “

“This once-a-decade opportunity to update our Comprehensive Plan allows us to center our values and strategically envision the future of our city. As this plan moves forward, we will continue to advance our One Seattle Housing Agenda focused on lowering housing costs, ensuring families and workers can live in our city, preventing displacement, making it easier to build, and addressing root causes of our homelessness crisis.”

“I’m grateful for the improvements in this draft – a clear response to the growing need for increasing the quantity and types housing across the city,” Representative Nicole Macri (43rd District, Seattle) said in a statement on the plan released by the city. “I’m heartened by the acknowledgement of needing to further address displacement risks to low income and BIPOC households and communities, and appreciate the increased investments in those issues.”

Members of the Complete Communities Coalition who have called on the mayor to do more to open up development and affordable housing in the city applauded the changes in the updated proposal.

“The most recent Comprehensive Plan proposal released by the Mayor shows great progress in creating affordable homeownership opportunities across Seattle. Increasing capacity and density, while also expanding affordable housing bonuses, will create the potential for more affordable housing and homeownership opportunities across Seattle,” Ryan Donohue, Chief Advocacy Officer, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County, said. “We look forward to continuing to work with the city and the coalition on ongoing improvements to the comprehensive plan.”

The “One Seattle Plan” proposal includes proposals for five “place types” — Regional Centers, Urban Centers, Neighborhood Centers, Industrial Centers, and Neighborhood Centers.

The majority of the city’s land will remain under its lightest zoning designation Neighborhood Residential Areas like this including North Capitol Hill will shift to accommodate the state’s new middle housing mandate legislation that requires replacing single-family zoning with fourplex zoning while setting a base at sixplexes near frequent transit.

Under the draft plan, the city would have proposed to soften the new state mandate with lower density requirements in areas of the city the Office of Planning and Community Development has identified as at high risk of displacement but the Harrell administration has backed off this and dropped the equity component from its proposal.

The final proposal increases the number of planned Neighborhood Centers to 30 including Madison Park, Madison Valley, Madrona, and Montlake. The Capitol Hill/First Hill Regional Centers will be expanded and have targeted upzones. The Central District Urban Center areas would be expanded.

Nearly 70% of new construction expected under the plan would be constrained to “Regional Centers,” the plan’s new designation for the city’s most densely populated, high transit areas — Downtown, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, University District, Northgate, Ballard, and, of course, First Hill and Capitol Hill — or less dense but still highly developed areas now called “Urban Centers” instead of “Urban Villages.” 23rd Ave from Union to Jackson is one nearby example. The “Madison–Miller” area north of E Madison is another.

Zoning in many of these areas like Capitol Hill would remain capped at eight stories though there could be allowances for taller development near light rail stations.

Under the draft plan, the Capitol Hill-First Hill area of the city is projected to add 9,000 new housing units — second to only downtown — and 3,000 new jobs.

The city will also introduce affordability bonuses in the plan that would allow increased numbers of units in all zones.

There are other small but limited injections of development and “15 minute city” initiatives in the proposal. The plan proposes making stores and small cafes on corners in all residential zones legal again meaning we could see more neighborhood-hugging businesses like the Volunteer Park Cafe across the city.

One of the biggest changes from the draft plan to the final proposal came for the Central District zoning island around Squire Park where planners now hope to shape the area by splitting it across the more densely zoned Capitol Hill/First Hill Regional Center and the Central District Urban Center.

The final proposal also includes the updated plan for how the city wants to hande parking mandates. Under the plan, Seattle would continue to have no parking requirements for development near robust mass transit. Under the proposal, there would be no parking mandates for projects within a half mile of light rail and bus rapid transit stops.

The complete proposal has been posted to Zoning.OneSeattlePlan.com. The city will also be hosting 7 in-person information sessions and two online sessions through December 20th to gather feedback from residents. Following the public comment period, the Seattle City Council will consider Phase 1 of the legislation including Neighborhood Residential updates to implement HB 1110 in spring 2025. The council will consider the Phase 2 legislation including rezones for new Neighborhood Centers, new and expanded Regional and Urban Centers, and select arterial rezones along frequent transit routes in summer 2025.

In the meantime, the city is also in the midst of the long-term planning process to shape the ground-up vision for the comprehensive plan’s Capitol Hill/First Hill Regional Center. CHS reported here on that process that will create a 20-year plan hoped to dovetail with the new comprehensive plan to provide more specific detail on land use in these key areas of the city.

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