Plans and Policy

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) set a new record of 52.6 million passengers in 2024, and the Port of Seattle is advancing an improvement plan to better accommodate 56 million passengers by 2032.

The appeals, filed by residents in Madison Park, Mount Baker, and Hawthorne Hills, seek to require additional environmental review, pushing back the City's plan to allow more housing.

Housing advocates outnumbered opponents by a margin of 89 to 75 during a five-hour public hearing Wednesday on the One Seattle housing growth plan. Nevertheless, several councilmembers made it clear they sided with slow-growth advocates, rather than the majority demanding more housing options.

The 1,300-page environmental review of the One Seattle plan shows that the Mayor's preferred plan would increase hardscape, tree removal, and greenhouse gas emissions, while decreasing affordable housing over broadly supported Alternative 5.

Seattle has set a goal of 112,000 new homes over the next 20 years, but is that really enough to meet demand?

With housing advocates and the Port of Seattle divided on the issue of allowing housing near Seattle's sports stadiums, councilmembers are being forced to pick sides, after Sara Nelson reintroduced the proposal earlier this month.

The release of the city's final environmental review of the One Seattle growth plan is likely to be followed by an appeal, in an attempt to stop neighborhood-level zoning changes. But while an appeal may add time, it's likely to ultimately fail.

The Harrell Administration has proposed changes to the Multifamily Property Tax Exemption (MFTE) that housing advocates warn could cause the affordable housing program to “collapse entirely.”