Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed a new plan to increase housing density in every Seattle neighborhood, planning ahead for Seattle’s presumed population growth in the coming years and decades.
The “One Seattle” housing plan, part of a 10-year update to Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan, would allow for more than 100,000 new homes over the next 20 years. The plan also proposes 24 new “neighborhood centers” located within 800 feet of transit. These centers would rezone areas for increased housing density, allowing for apartment buildings as high as six stories in commercial areas.
Furthermore, the plan would allow for more corner stores across the city, increasing resident access to necessary goods like food, toiletries and more.
If passed, the plan would allow for additional homes on a single lot in neighborhood areas zoned for residential use, renaming single-family neighborhoods as “urban neighborhoods.” Homeowners can currently build up to two accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on one lot, but would now be able to build up to four, or six in cases of affordable housing units or units in close proximity to transit.
These changes would bring Seattle into compliance with House Bill 1110, which requires cities with more than 75,000 residents to increase housing density in residential neighborhoods, according to the Seattle Times. In other words, if the plan is rejected by the city council, Seattle officials will have to come up with another way to combat the city’s housing crisis.
Many officials, however, suggest that Seattle residents are ready for such a change.
“I think that we see more of a housing crisis now than a decade ago,” Rico Quirindongo, director of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development, told the Seattle Times. “I think that as people continue to move into the city and try to find a place to rent or a place to buy, it is really hard to do. And so what has come out of that is that the typical city resident in this town is more interested in having more housing choices.”
Some lawmakers, however, question if the plan does enough to combat Seattle’s housing shortage. Projections show that King County will need over 112,000 new homes in the next 20 years — that puts Harrell’s plan at about a 12,000 home deficit.
“I don’t think it goes far enough to enable the actual construction of housing,” Washington House Representative Jessica Bateman told the publication.
Council members have until Dec. 31 to approve or decline the Harrell’s Comprehensive Plan update. Residents are invited to learn more or share their thoughts on the One Seattle plan at several open houses put on by the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development.