Land Use

Committee regular meeting days and time:

2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m.

Committee Members:

Chair: Dan Strauss
Vice Chair: Tammy Morales
Member: Teresa Mosqueda
Member: Alex Pedersen
Member: Sara Nelson

Committee Scope:

To provide policy direction and oversight and to deliberate and make recommendations on legislative matters relating to:

planning and land use, including comprehensive planning, community development, zoning, design, and land use regulations, including the Office of Planning and Community Development, and the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, except for issues related to rental regulations;
Major Institution Master Plans and quasi-judicial land use decisions; and
the equitable development initiative (EDI) and its projects.

Connected Communities Pilot

The Seattle City Council’s Land Use Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, on legislation sponsored by Councilmember Morales to create a term-limited, pilot program to encourage development with low to moderate income housing, including social housing, and neighborhood-serving equitable development uses. The pilot is intended to model equitable development and partnership types that mitigate current direct and indirect residential and non-residential displacement pressure and address land use patterns caused by redlining and the use of racially restrictive covenants.

The legislation would:

Define equitable development uses, which are commercial and other uses, that provide mitigation against displacement pressure for individuals, households, businesses, or institutions that comprise a cultural population at risk of displacement.
Identify minimum qualifications for program eligibility.
Establish two options for the provision of affordable units:
- Social Housing – defined as “housing in aresidential or mixed-use structure with at least 30 percent of the dwelling units affordable to households with incomes no higher than 80 percent of area median income that is developed, publicly owned, and maintained in perpetuity by a public development authority or
- Thirty percent of units restricted and affordable to households with annual incomes not to exceed 80 percent of median income for rental units or 100 percent of median income for ownership units.
Provide additional height, allowable floor area, exemptions from floor area calculations, and other development standard modifications for participating projects that provide some or all the following features:
- Location in an area with historical racially restrictive covenants or an area identified by the Office of Housing as being eligible for the Community Preference Policy;
- Provision of equitable development uses; and
- Provision of a unit or units for partner property owners who might otherwise be at risk of displacement.
Exempt eligible development from participation in the Design Review and Mandatory Housing Affordability.

The pilot program would end by 2029 or after 35 qualifying projects have applied, whichever is earlier.

PUBLIC HEARING

The City Council’s Land Use Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed legislation on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 2:00 pm.

The hearing will be held in the:

City Council Chambers
2nd floor, Seattle City Hall
600 Fourth Avenue

Persons who wish to participate in or attend the hearing may be offered the opportunity to do so remotely. If this is the case, the City will provide instructions in the meeting agenda on how to participate remotely. Please check the Land Use Committee agenda a few days prior to the meeting at http://www.seattle.gov/council/committees.

Print and communications access is provided on prior request. Please contact Devin Silvernail at (206) 889-9488 or via e-mail at: devin.silvernail@seattle.gov as soon as possible to request accommodations for a disability.

Questions concerning the public hearing may be directed to Devin Silvernail in Councilmember Tanny Morales’ office, by calling (206) 889-9488 or via e-mail at: devin.silvernail@seattle.gov.

WRITTEN COMMENTS

Written comments on the legislation will be accepted until noon on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. Please send comments to Devin Silvernail in Councilmember Tammy Morales’ office, via e-mail at: devin.silvernail@seattle.gov, or by mail to:

Councilmember Tammy Morales
Seattle City Council
600 4th Avenue, 2nd Floor
PO Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025

RESOURCES