This month, the Seattle Planning Commission called out Mayor Bruce Harrell’s “One Seattle” Comprehensive Plan for its shortcomings, pushing for bolder changes to create housing growth. 

The mayor’s draft of the One Seattle Plan includes clusters of additional density focused around existing business districts. His plan builds on changes required by state law to allow fourplexes on all residential lots in Seattle. Within the 29 new “Neighborhood Centers,” five to six-story apartment buildings will be allowed to be built, but only on a small number of parcels in each neighborhood. The additional permitted density will scale down from there on the surrounding blocks. 

Public Transit Plans and Problematic Parking Mandates

Under the mayor’s plan, medium-sized apartment buildings would be allowed along the city’s most frequent bus routes, but only on lots that directly front busy arterial streets. The commission criticized the proposed upzones’ narrow focus along current transit corridors, arguing that such plans reinforce the long-prevalent pattern of focusing development along Seattle’s busiest and most dangerous roadways.

“We would like to see a balance between additional housing in proximity to transit and allowing for the choice to not have to live on loud, dangerous arterials with poor air quality, noise pollution, and vibrations from traffic,” they write. “We support expanding the proposed upzones beyond one parcel on either side of an arterial to move further into the blocks away from the arterial. We recommend using a four-minute walk from the arterial to expand denser housing and commercial opportunities.”

With Harrell’s One Seattle plan sticking with requirements to build parking outside of areas close to light rail and near RaidRide bus stops, the commission also urged for language that would drop parking mandates. With other cities, like San Francisco, Portland, and Spokane, having taken measures to reduce housing costs, the commission urged city officials to think forward more.

“The Commission is disappointed that this plan does not reach much beyond the minimum changes required by state mandates,” the letter states. “Seattle typically leads the state in progressive ideas and implementation of policies, but, in this comprehensive planning cycle, other jurisdictions have pushed further in areas such as promoting new housing and eliminating parking minimums. We would like to see the Plan and its implementation through zoning be bolder as appropriate for a 20-year horizon.”

Bigger Neighborhood Centers

The commission is pushing for the number of Neighborhood Centers to increase and expand their geographic scope. 

“The Plan does not adequately increase the ability of all residents in Seattle to live in the neighborhood of their choice,” the commission writes. “Many renters, low-income households, and people with disabilities will still be unable to access housing in many of Seattle’s neighborhoods near amenities like parks, schools, and low-traffic, slower-speed tree-lined streets. In our comments on Neighborhood Centers below, we offer suggestions for making affordable development in these areas more feasible, and we would like to see this type of development allowed in more neighborhoods throughout the city.”

According to records obtained earlier this year, Harrell’s policy team scaled back the number of proposed Neighborhood Centers, dropping from nearly 50 in an earlier draft in mid-2023 to just 24 this spring. After a round of outreach, another five were added this fall. These records also revealed that the Mayor’s Office vetoed the idea of eliminating parking mandates. 

Heading to City Council

With the plans already months behind schedule, a complete overhaul of One Seattle isn’t likely; however, the commission’s recommendations provide a framework for modifications before it is finalized and heads to the Seattle City Council for review. 

The city has split the plan into two phases. The Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) hopes to introduce Phase 1 legislation to the Council in March and implement it before the state-mandated deadline in July 2025. However, the OPCD plans to introduce Phase 2 legislation to the Council in May 2025, despite the city having yet to determine an effective date for implementing the second phase.