One Seattle Comprehensive Plan

In a letter approved this week, the Seattle Planning Commission expressed disappointment that the draft One Seattle Comprehensive Plan doesn't go much beyond state mandates, and pushed for changes to make the housing plan bolder and more forward-thinking.

Proposed Phase 2 One Seattle Comprehensive Plan changes would focus on midrise zones, in hopes of adding additional housing capacity in existing urban centers and the 30 proposed “neighborhood centers.” OPCD hopes to introduce Phase 2 legislation in May, with council passage expected around September 2025. Public comment is open until December 20.

Seattle must embrace bold zoning changes in Queen Anne and similar neighborhoods to preserve our city's promise for future generations. We need a lot more housing in all parts of Seattle. Seattle isn’t full. Queen Anne isn’t full.

Despite being a longtime parking reform leader, Seattle is set to require off-street parking, even as it unlocks significant housing capacity near transit. This will make housing harder to build.

An updated version of Seattle's 20-year growth plan includes additional opportunities for housing density, but mostly retains the city's longstanding pattern of walling off lower-density areas of the city.

Seattle's 20-year growth plan doesn't do enough to ensure that lower income residents will be able to access the vast majority of the city's residential neighborhoods, according to King County's Affordable Housing Committee.

Seattle's single family areas have seen their Black population plummet by 9,126 since 1990. Meanwhile, "urban village" neighborhood have added more than 8,000 Black residents in that span. Why then is low-density zoning expected to blunt displacement?

Seattle needs to allow more housing in today's single family zones if it's serious about its housing crisis. Strict multiplex size restrictions need to go from the Mayor's growth plan.