The Seattle City Council’s comprehensive code update committee led by District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth is ready to vote on amendments to the legislation designed to ensure that Seattle meets the June 30 implementation deadline for the state’s Middle Housing bill and expanded zoning to allow a greater range of housing types in more parts of the city.

Wednesday afternoon at 2 PM, Hollingsworth and the select committee are scheduled to take up the amendments for a vote.

CHS reported last week on the proposed amendments that would put many of the development and zoning changes proposed over months of debate back on the table.

The interim proposal up for consideration is intended to form the structure of the comprehensive plan and Neighborhood Residential updates to implement HB 1110.

The specifics on the borders of the city’s new Neighborhood Centers will be a larger fight.

CHS reported here on the latest attempts to block and reshape a new comprehensive growth plan proposal as a neighborhood group has sued, calling on the King County Superior Court to intervene and reverse the city Hearing Examiner’s recent dismissal of appeals against the growth proposal.

Groups have pushed back 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 lines will be pushed to 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. Morning and afternoon public hearing sessions were also held Monday. You can watch the Seattle Channel recordings of the sessions here.

A key debate in Wednesday’s session will be Amendment 2. Sponsored by Hollingsworth, Amendment 2 would add “a list of key concepts the council intends to consider in reviewing the permanent legislation,” a de facto set of promises to reopen some key areas of debate in the final plan to be voted on later this year.

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