The Department of Design, Construction and Land Use(DCLU) is facing a unique opportunity and challenge: the consolidation and integration of the City's comprehensive and physical planning into one department.

As a result of Mayor Nickels' decision to reorganize the Strategic Planning Office (SPO), DCLU is in the process of melding long-range policy development, comprehensive planning, and physical planning with its current planning, urban design and development functions. In April, City Council approved the creation of a small Office of Policy and Management, which will serve the Mayor and City Council. A few of SPO's functions and staff were transferred to the Office of Economic Development, the Department of Finance, the Department of Executive Administration, and the Department of Neighborhoods. However, the majority of the planning functions were split between Seattle Transportation and DCLU.

The Challenges and Opportunities
Adding these new responsibilities marks a fundamental change in DCLU’s overall mission, moving from being primarily a regulatory agency working with current land use and construction plans and projects, to an agency that also focuses on designing and building the City's future, its desired character, and its function. Roles and responsibilities that have been scattered among departments will be consolidated. The planning division within DCLU will also be able to connect with the regulatory side, learning from and informing each other.
Long-range planning involves more than land use; it also includes transportation, housing, and the environment. Close working relationships with other City departments will be needed—particularly with Seattle Transportation—to ensure consistency with and implementation of the City's Comprehensive Plan. These relationships will also be critical to addressing issues of citywide and regional importance. One of the keys to making planning work, will be continuing to build the strong relationships among departments that are starting to emerge under the direction of Mayor Nickels.

The Structure of Planning
At this time the Planning Division will be organized around three loosely configured units. The first two units listed below include links to the new DCLU Planning Services minisite on our website, which contains information previously located on the SPO website.

• Comprehensive Planning: Primarily responsible for oversight, monitoring and updating of the City's Comprehensive Plan; the collection of Buildable Lands data; and regional growth management and growth targets issues. The Comprehensive Plan's goals and policies provide the broad framework for how the City will manage growth and maintain the quality of life in our community; keeping these goals and policies visible and relevant is a key role for this group.
• Area Planning and Urban Design: Responsible for helping to shape the vision of the Comprehensive Plan through functional and sub-area plans such as the Central Waterfront planning and urban design study, and the Center City Open Space Strategy. The focus of geographic-specific or sub-area plans will be on physical planning and urban design issues—building scale, open space, relationships between land uses, and how it all affects businesses, transportation, housing, the environment, etc.
• Code and Policy Analysis: Takes the broad Comprehensive Plan policies and the more specific neighborhood and sub-area concepts and develops them into more specific strategies and regulatory tools for implementation.

As the Planning Division charts its course for the years ahead and the planning functions evolve within the department, we anticipate that the team will be working as a single planning unit rather than the current three units. Already, it is clear that it will be necessary and appropriate to have staff in the various units work collaboratively.

The Planning Commission
A fourth and very significant element of this change is the Planning Commission. This Commission is composed of 15 citizens, including professionals in planning, architecture and design, development, housing, transportation, and other people who are active in and reflect the diversity of the community. Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor, confirmed by Council, and serve in an advisory capacity on a variety of City planning policies and projects. The Planning Commission staff will be an integral part of the department, while the Commission itself will continue to maintain its independent, objective advisory role to the Mayor, City Council and other departments, helping to guide policy across the City.

We are working with the Planning Commission as it clarifies an important role as the "stewards" of the Comprehensive Plan. The Planning division and the Planning Commission will help ensure that City departments plan and prioritize work consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and will review the Plan to make sure it continues to reflect appropriate goals for the City.