With reporting by Domenic Strazzabosco

There have been petitions and letters, and Wednesday night, there were over five hours of public comments from more than 200 speakers. There is still more to say.

Wednesday’s marathon public hearing on Seattle’s update to its 20-year comprehensive growth plan was dominated by neighbors and neighborhoods pushing back on the proposal’s framework to bring more opportunities to develop townhomes and apartments in more parts of the city under new state law hoped to help end the ongoing housing and affordability crisis here.

Thursday, District 3 councilmember and chair of the city council’s special comprehensive plan committee Joy Hollingsworth acknowledged the disproportionate number of older homeowners who took to the microphone or called-in Wednesday night.

“People who did not get a chance to speak that were signed-up for Feb. 5th, will get the option of going FIRST at our next Public Hearing,” Hollingsworth promised Thursday. “We’re committed to hearing from you, especially our young people,” the representative for Capitol Hill and the Central District ”

Wednesday’s hearing was held in a split in-person and online fashion with people beginning to line up to speak in council chambers and register for the call-in portion hours before their time to testify.

More public forums on the plan update are, indeed, scheduled in the coming months. One hearing is scheduled in April and another in May. Those line up with Hollingsworth’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 approach to forging a compromise on the plan.

They also align with the push from Mayor Bruce Harrell and his Office of Planning & Community Development to have the first phase of comp plan update legislation addressing state law HB 1110 zoning on the table in March. A second phase of legislation centered on specifics of defining the city’s “Centers and Corridors zoning” for the plan would then be picked up in May.

So, what did Hollingsworth and city planners hear Wednesday night?

For many speakers, trees were the central topic of the evening, discussed more than even dense or affordable housing. Dozens of signs could be seen with slogans like “We Can Grow With Our Trees” and “Rewrite the Comp Plan for Climate Resilience.”

Several children including a Girl Scouts troop were part of the tree-centered comments. “I deserve to grow up with trees,” said one 8-year-old. “Please change this plan to protect what we love and what makes this city so beautiful.”

The Urbanist reports the mayor’s plan update — in addition to producing fewer affordable homes — than an alternative, would also do more damage to the city’s canopy.

Heavy criticism was also directed at developers, who many seemed to believe are out for only profit. Several attendees said that selling a new home for $750,000 is “affordable” for very few. “The One Seattle Plan, while commendable in its goal of increasing housing supply, inadequately addresses the root causes of affordability,” said one speaker.

Here are a few more things CHS heard on the long night:

• Several speakers mentioned Mayor Harrell’s previous role on the city council when he expressed caution about rapid, overly ambitious development. Now, his plan, with 30 “neighborhood centers,” they believe, appears ambitious in a way that he would have previously disagreed with.
• The communities of Madrona, Green Lake, and Maple Leaf (whose residents often wore maple leaf broaches) were overly represented. That said, they weren’t often speaking against the plan’s goals but rather at the rate and nuance at which it would be implemented and the lack of community input so far.
• Accessibility was another major concern. Many spoke against planned infrastructure and buildings not incorporating things like elevators and accessible transit stops. “Living in a world that is not built for you is exhausting,” said Cecelia Black, an organizer for Disability Rights Washington. She urged the council to keep neighborhood centers that allow for multi-family housing, easing restrictions on stacked flats and corner stores and ensuring multi-family housing includes retail to create a more walkable city.
• Several comments concerned the lack of bus routes and other forms of public transportation in many of the proposed neighborhood centers. Though bus routes and light rail are to be expanded throughout the city, it’ll take years or even decades to build.
• The phrase NIMBYs or “Not in My Backyard” was, indeed, used a handful of times.
• Comments also targeted boxy, shipping container-like homes. Speakers considered them devoid of character and their mass construction to detract from the city’s personality.
• Displacement was another concern, with many feeling that some of the streets designated to be upzoned were occupied by longtime homeowners who love their neighborhoods and yards. What right does the city have to take that away?
• On top of accessibility and equability, does the plan address the issues thoroughly? Is it realistic? Speakers felt the scope of the plan at present seemed unrealistic.
• Others said the proposed growth fails to account for the compounding effects of climate change. “We need to increase the ability to add more types of housing in more places all over Seattle, especially neighborhood centers. Change is life,” said one.
• Comparisons to other cities also combatting the exponential rise in the cost of housing were made, namely Boston, Paris and Chicago. Residents seemed to think ideas employed in those cities — extensive tree planting projects, flats with a tree in each yard as opposed to packed-in apartments — might be a better approach for Seattle to take.
• While Wednesday’s hearing comes after two years of outreach and community discussions around the update, Hollingsworth positioned the current debate as an “early” step. “Today’s meeting is intended to provide Council with the opportunity to hear from you at an early stage in the process,” Hollingsworth said.

Wednesday’s hearing came as CHS reported here on the tricky balance the council comp plan committee chair Hollingsworth is trying to strike between meeting growth requirements under new state law and being responsive to her district constituents including strong opposition that has formed in neighborhoods like Madrona.

While much of the debate around the proposal is focused on change in neighborhoods like Madrona, the new growth plan is not a reinvention of the city as we know it today and would continue many of the development patterns that have shaped modern Seattle. Nearly 70% of new construction expected under the draft plan would be constrained to “Regional Centers,” the plan’s designation for the city’s most densely populated, high transit areas — Downtown, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, University District, Northgate, Ballard, and First Hill and Capitol Hill — or less dense but still highly developed areas like 23rd Ave from Union to Jackson.

Some of the most vocal opposition focuses on areas of the plan with some of the most modest proposals for growth including the creation of 30 new “neighborhood centers” across the city including D3’s Madison Park, Madison Valley, Montlake, and Madrona. The designation could “allow residential and mixed-use buildings up to 6 stories in the core and 4- and 5-story residential buildings toward the edges,” according to a plan draft — but Hollingsworth’s office has told CHS it sees room for compromise.

Meanwhile, another important public process around the comprehensive plan update is also underway as the Environmental Impact Study on the proposal is now up for comment through February 13th:

The FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Statement) for the One Seattle Plan was released on January 30, 2025. The FEIS responds to comments on the Draft EIS and analyzes the potential impacts of a Preferred Alternative. A 14-day appeal period began on January 30 and concludes February 13, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. For information on how to appeal see the FEIS Notice of Availability

City officials say recent feedback has already been used to recognize concerns around “Height/bulk/scale of new development” and “Architectural/historic character” in the proposed comprehensive plan update while also moving forward with “a robust approach” to the new state density requirements. The city says when it comes to the Phase 2 components of the plan around implementation, it has heard “requests to remove Neighborhood Centers or reduce proposed density” and concerns about the “scale of buildings, including proximity of 5-story development to existing homes” — and is working to address the feedback?

Want to add your voice? You don’t have to wait for a forum.

• You can submit your comments and questions to councilmembers via email. Addressing your message to [email protected] will send it to all nine council offices.
• You can give public comment at any of the remaining meetings of the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan. This webpage has more information about how you can sign up.

The complete comprehensive plan update proposal has been posted to Zoning.OneSeattlePlan.com.

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