District 3 representative and chair of the Seattle City Council’s comprehensive growth plan special committee Joy Hollingsworth is facing another legal hurdle in efforts to deliver a new 20-year development plan for the city as an influential neighborhood group from outside her district is suing to put a halt to the process.

The Friends of Ravenna-Cowen group filed a petition last week for a “writ of review” calling on the King County Superior Court to intervene and reverse the city Hearing Examiner’s recent dismissal of appeals against the growth proposals.

In the suit, the group says the comprehensive plan proposal being moved forward by Mayor Bruce Harrell and Hollingsworth is too aggressive and requires more environmental review.

“This level of growth is not achievable without sweeping changes to Seattle’s zoning code to permit widespread construction of 5-6-story apartment buildings throughout the City, including in historically significant neighborhoods,” the suit reads.

Petitioners Friends of Ravenna-Cowen and resident John Cary are represented by Seattle legal firm Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC.

The lawsuit follows the Hearing Examiner’s dismissal of a raft of appeals from neighborhood groups earlier this month including cases representing Madison Valley, Mount Baker, Hawthorne Hills, and “73 remaining Southern resident killer whales.” A state “safe harbor” law that exempts actions taken by local governments to increase housing capacity from appeals under the State Environmental Policy Act played a key role.

Proposed zoning changes for Madison Park — You can review D3’s proposal maps here

The suit adds to concerns about the city meeting a state deadline for implementing new housing law and that Seattle’s resulting 20-year plan could water down needed new housing growth. The legal tangles also could challenge timing for Hollingsworth’s comprehensive plan committee to produce both interim legislation and a final growth plan by the end of the year.

The Friends of Ravenna-Cowen group, meanwhile, has found itself on the losing side of Hearing Examiner appeals over the years including efforts in 2018 to stymie the city’s Mandatory Housing Affordability plan. Anti-growth groups targeted that plan despite its structure focusing increased development in Seattle’s densest neighborhoods including Capitol Hill and the Central District. The group is credited for winning National Historic District designation for the Ravenna-Cowen area of Northeast Seattle that provides additional protections and incentives for the area’s oldest, most well-preserved single family style homes. “This designation strengthens the neighborhood character, giving it an identity and recognition on a national level,” the group says.

Hollingsworth’s office said Tuesday only that the comprehensive plan special committee’s work will continue as the petition works its way through the court. Wednesday’s committee agenda seems unlikely to move the conversation definitively forward. Committee members will be briefed on Seattle’s urban forest “and how the city’s efforts will be included in the proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Plan.” Special topics include an overview of the 2023 Tree Ordinance.

“Moving forward, the Select Committee will continue working on and advancing the interim HB 1110 legislation (requires cities in Washington to allow middle housing throughout residential areas and limits how cities can regulate this housing), before turning its attention to the Comprehensive Plan and permanent HB 1110 legislation later this summer,” a statement from City Council communications said.

The interim legislation is hoped to put Seattle in alignment with state law under HB 1110. “The law requires that the City allow middle housing on lots zoned predominantly for residential uses,” a brief from the council reads. HB 1110’s compliance deadline is June 30.

CHS reported here on the interim proposal intended to form the structure of the comprehensive plan and Neighborhood Residential updates to implement HB 1110. That’s the part that will say “Neighborhood Centers” exist and these are the parameters.

The specifics on the borders of the city’s new Neighborhood Centers will be a larger fight. CHS reported here on neighborhood pushback on the growth plan over the creation of 30 new 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.”

The compromises over drawing the actual lines will be pushed later in the year as the council considers Phase 2 including rezones for the new Neighborhood Centers, new and expanded Regional and Urban Centers, and “select arterial rezones along frequent transit routes.”

The final stages in the process come after years of planning and outreach and months of public debate over the draft plan and zoning maps released last fall.

Hollingsworth has said her committee is aiming to conclude consideration of the interim legislation by May 30 “due to state compliance deadlines.” The Select Committee was planned to hold another public hearing before May 21 “where the public will be able to weigh in on interim Middle Housing legislation” and had promised notice of the hearing date would be issued “at least one month in advance.” Following Wednesday afternoon’s session, Hollingsworth’s committee meets twice more before the deadline.

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