In an effort to stimulate and enliven Seattle's neighborhood business districts--the neighborhood centers where people interact and essential goods, services, and jobs are provided--the City is proposing a new strategy to reflect changing conditions and neighborhood plan goals.

Seattle's regulations play an important role in maintaining the vitality and character of these business districts. To effectively accomplish Comprehensive Plan and Neighborhood Plans goals, Mayor Greg Nickels directed DPD to work with citizens (see public involvement) to improve pedestrian and transit orientation, support job creation, enhance housing opportunities, and maintain compatibility with surrounding residential areas. This Neighborhood Business District Strategy provides a blueprint for revisiting policies and regulations in mixed-use commercial centers outside of downtown, and will provide an opportunity to update cumbersome and outdated zoning regulations.

The amendments to the commercial section of the Land Use Code being proposed include:

  • Map pedestrian-oriented commercial cores in business districts.
  • Remove unnecessary obstacles to residential uses in commercial areas.
  • Strengthen pedestrian-oriented street front development standards and guidelines.
  • Refine categories of uses and establish new allowed mazimum size of businesses.
  • Revise requirements for residential amenities.
  • Control the impacts of building size by means that encourage wider sidewalks, plazas, ground-level open spaces, or view corridors.
  • Lower parking requirements based on local demand and to support alternative transportation.  In Urban Centers and high capacity transit station areas, allow the market rather than the code to determine appropriate parking supply.
  • Encourage customer or short-term parking over commuter or long-term parking.
  • Balance auto access and parking with the needs of pedestrians and transit.
  • Simplify the City’s regulations so that they are easier to understand.

View the proposed materials. 

The Neighborhood Business District Strategy objectives are intended to ensure that Seattle's mixed-use neighborhood centers continue to evolve as desirable places to live, work, and conduct business by:

  • Supporting job creation and business vitality
  • Protecting and enhancing neighborhood character
  • Improving the pedestrian environment
  • Providing housing growth in neighborhood business districts
  • Achieving quality design through development flexibility
  • Supporting transit connections
  • Balancing parking needs
  • Making the Land Use Code easier to use

For more details on the Neighborhood Business District Strategy, explore this website and read the proposal brochure (1.2 MB PDF).