Changes Proposed for City's "Blueprint"

Mayor Greg Nickels today encouraged citizens to help plan Seattle's future by commenting about proposed changes to the city's "blueprint" and attending public meetings. The City is reviewing and revising its Comprehensive Plan, which maps how future development occurs in Seattle.

"It's important we hear from citizens about the direction we're heading as a city," said Nickels. "The Comprehensive Plan is our strategy for building strong and healthy communities in Seattle."

This year marks the 10th anniversary since the City first adopted the Plan and its urban village strategy. State law requires Seattle to update its plan by the end of this year. The City is going beyond the state's requirements in proposing changes to make the Plan more clear and work better with regulations and transportation improvements.

The Plan's proposed changes include:

• Making sure the City can accommodate about 50,000 new households and about 90,000 new jobs by the year 2024. The majority of the residents and jobs will go to urban centers and urban villages identified in the original Plan.
• South Lake Union be designated as an urban center, able to accommodate large shares of future growth. Seattle currently has five urban centers, including Downtown, the University District, Northgate, Uptown and First Hill/Capitol Hill.
• New policies to help the City protect environmentally critical areas such as wetlands, steep slopes and stream corridors. The new regulations would be based on science and address how close new construction can go to these areas and the kinds of conditions that would have to be met.

Four Public Meetings Scheduled
Citizens are invited to four public meetings in April and May which will review the proposed amendments and take public comment. The meetings will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Bertha Landes Room, First Floor of Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Avenue (enter on 5th Avenue between James and Cherry streets). The dates and topics are as follows:

• Tuesday, April 20 - General Overview of the Plan
• Monday, April 26 - Environmental Element
• Tuesday, May 4 - Land Use Element
• Wednesday, May 12 - Transportation Element

For additional information, view PDF of event flyer.

Copies of Draft Amendments Available
Electronic versions of the staff-proposed amendments to the City's Comprehensive Plan are available on DPD's 10-Year Update webpage. Printed copies are available from DPD's Public Resource Center. Reference copies are also available in Seattle Public Libraries and Neighborhood Service Centers.