Tag Archives: density

‘Downscale the Proposed One Seattle Rezoning Plans for Madrona’ — How Hollingsworth’s office is handling neighborhood pushback on Seattle growth plan update

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There are petitions in Madrona and letters from angry realtors.

“We are welcoming any and all feedback,” Anthony Derrick, chief of staff to District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth tells CHS about the ongoing process the council member is leading to forge an update to the city’s comprehensive plan and new zoning across its neighborhoods. “With the law, the city is going to see some massive density changes.”

Wednesday afternoon, the Seattle City Council committee Hollingsworth leads formed to take on the nearly impossible task of reaching compromise on Seattle’s comprehensive plan update will meet.

A report on displacement, a core issue for Hollingsworth who grew up watching her Central District neighborhood struggle with gentrification, is on the agenda. But the important statistics and challenges raised in the presentation on the city’s Anti-Displacement Action Plan (PDF) might get lost.

The second half of Wednesday’s meeting will focus on public engagement around the comprehensive plan update — including the city’s meetings on the update it has been hosting since 2022.

Protests and pushback from a growing chorus of property, business, and homeowners from across the city and District 3 are becoming louder as a key February 5th public forum on the comprehensive plan update proposal approaches.

In Madrona, groups are forming to oppose upzoning in the neighborhood as Seattle leaders say more areas of the city must rise to meet state required changes hoped to address growing housing and affordability challenges.

The Madrona neighborhood, they argue, should be treated differently than the rest of the city when it comes to efforts to increase density. Continue reading →

Report: Production of Seattle backyard housing ‘exploded’ after 2019 reforms

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Officials say Seattle’s reforms designed to boost the creation of so-called accessory dwelling units have succeeded with a “350%” boost in production since the legislation was passed in 2019.

The Seattle City Council’s land use committee heard an update on the city’s “backyard housing” trends Wednesday afternoon based on the city’s “2022 ADU Annual Report.” (PDF)

According to the report, production of the units “has exploded by 3.5 times, from 280 units a year in 2019 to 988 in 2022,” the council’s notes on the session read.

The 2019 reforms came after city analysis showed only 1% of approximately 124,000 single-family zoned lots in Seattle in use for single family residential development had added attached or detached “accessory dwelling unit” structures.

Next steps, according to the review, include continuing to monitor trends including sales data, informing the mayor’s growth planning work, and finding ways to “support more equitable use of ADUs by helping lower and moderate income homeowners” build or live in the housing.

30% of ADUs permitted in 2022 were in census tracts with a median household income above $135,000, “consistent with the share of all tracts at that income level in Seattle,” the report notes.

 

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