Dear Neighbors, The Seattle City Council is preparing to vote on more than 100 amendments to the Comprehensive Plan and Middle Housing legislation — changes that will shape how our neighborhoods grow and function for the next 20 years. These amendments are not just technical adjustments. They touch on nearly every aspect of our daily quality of life — from housing density, building heights, and parking requirements to tree canopy protections, neighborhood boundaries, and public safety priorities. * Some strengthen tree protections and support historic districts. * Others would allow taller buildings in neighborhood centers, reduce parking requirements, or loosen development standards. * Several amendments address housing affordability, setbacks, lot coverage, and retail within residential areas. Because of the scale and speed of these proposals, it is crucial that residents review what’s being considered and make their voices heard. Because these decisions will directly affect the character, livability, and environment of our neighborhoods, it is essential that residents review what’s being considered and speak their minds to Council before final votes are cast Step 17-19th. Once adopted, these rules will set the course for how our community grows for decades to come. Below you’ll find a Community Voter Guide. It organizes and distills many of the 100+ proposed amendments into categories (trees, neighborhood centers, parking, housing standards) and notes which ones neighbors suggest supporting or scrutinizing. ✍️How You Can Help 1. Review the Voter Guide Below. Research deeper into any that are of interest or concern to you. 2. Email City Council with your thoughts anytime before final voting on Sept 17-19: council@seattle.gov. State your name, neighborhood, and your views on specific amendments. 3. Testify at the Public Hearing on Sept 12 (remote or in person). Speakers get 1 minute. 4. Spread the word: Forward this email to neighbors and friends.Thank you for making these important decisions that will shape Wallingford and Seattle for decades. |
| Community Voter Guide on Comp Plan Amendments and ‘Middle Housing’ – Public Hearing Sept 12th Seattle City Council is reviewing over 100 amendments to the 2025 Comprehensive Plan and Middle Housing bill. These decisions will shape how our neighborhoods grow for the next 20 years, including what can be built in Neighborhood Residential and Lowrise zones. Several proposals—including a new “South Wallingford / Gas Works Neighborhood Center”—were introduced very late in the process, with little to no public outreach. Many neighbors are concerned that the process is inequitable and rushed. What’s at Stake * Development Standards: Height limits, lot coverage, setbacks, Floor Area Ratio (FAR), and parking requirements that shape neighborhood livability. * Middle Housing: Changes under HB1110 are already increasing density. Many amendments add additional bonuses and incentives. * Neighborhood Centers: Proposed new boundaries (including South Wallingford and Tangletown) would set the stage for upzoning in 2026. * Environment & Trees: Some amendments protect tree canopy; others loosen protections. Key Dates * Sept 12, 2025 – City Council Public Hearing (remote at 9:30 AM; in-person at 3:00 PM) * Sept 17–19, 2025 – Council final votes on amendments and Comprehensive Plan bills(CB120985 and CB120993 permanent Middle Housing.) This vote will include definitive decisions regarding the map boundaries for all urban and neighborhood centers, and policy amendments. These actions will finalize Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Plan, with the adopted policies and Future Land Use maps serving as a guide for the next two decades. For any amendment to pass, it must receive five votes from the council during the final meetings. Your input is crucial to help influence the council’s decision. The final Public Hearing is scheduled for Friday, September 12, with two sessions: 9:30 a.m. (remote registration from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.) and 3:00 p.m. (in-person registration from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.). We encourage your participation. Please review our recommended amendments and contact the Council by phone or in writing, or sign up to speak on Friday, September 12. For more information, visit the public comment website. Phase 1 involves two key items: CB 120985, related to the Comprehensive Plan, and CB 120993, which implements permanent legislation for “Middle Housing” as mandated by the state (HB1110). This state mandate allows the construction of 4 to 6 units on Neighborhood Residential lots. The exact number of units depends on the lot’s proximity to major transit. Specifically, HB1110 allows 6 units on 5,000 sq ft lots that are within ¼ mile of major transit, lots located farther than ¼ mile away from major transit allow 4 units. It’s important to note that HB1110 applies to areas outside of neighborhood centers. 30 Neighborhood centers zoning proposed to be Lowrise 2-3 and Neighborhood Commercial ( in business core) without unit density limits. 📌Many proposed amendments seek to modify current development standards for Neighborhood Residential zones by introducing bonuses and incentives for developers. These incentives could significantly alter existing codes related to height, setbacks, lot coverage, Floor Area Ratio (FAR), Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), parking, and trees. The passage of these amendments impact what can be built in Neighborhood Residential and Lowrise zones. Reviewing the condensed list of amendments below can help you make informed decisions to preserve Wallingford’s character. These changes are occurring while simultaneously adding significant density per lot through a combination of HB1110, the Mayor’s plan to rezone 30 neighborhood centers (with more detailed zoning to be revealed in January), for proposed five story upzones to frequent transit arterials citywide. State legislation, specifically HB1110, will by itself significantly increase density. We advocate for maintaining the current standards for building heights (30-32 feet), front setbacks (minimum 10-20 feet), side setbacks (5 feet), and lot coverage (35%). Additionally, we support requiring 20% of lot area for open amenity spaces to be used for trees and recreation. Your comments to the council on proposed amendments are crucial to influence and ensure these standards are upheld. To understand the impact of proposed amendments and their bonus/incentive tradeoffs, you can compare them against the current development standards. A cheat sheet is available for this comparison below. The Comprehensive Plan website references the full 110 amendments in greater detail as released by Council on August 4, 2025. You can shape the Comprehensive Plan and influence development by making a list of amendments that you support, and those that you don’t, and send that list to council@seattle.gov by Sept. 11. Each amendment in the condensed list below will note the Council Member who proposed it. Below are amendments that should be scrutinized with caution, followed others that should be supported Amendments to Scrutinize with Caution 📌 Short List: #7, #33, #34, #47, #54, #55-59, #60, #63, #65-67, #72, #74, #76, #84, #86, #95, #96, #99, #108, #109 These additional amendments below propose the biggest changes to current development standards for Neighborhood Residential areas (outside centers) and lowrise lot zoning designations (inside 30 neighborhood centers and centers everywhere). Deeper Analysis: 📌#34 (Council Member: Rinck) Adds 8 NEW neighborhood Centers (For Wallingford specifically, it designates South Wallingford/Gas Works as a new location for a 79 acre, 27 block rezone). Introduced at the last minute on August 4th, 2025. * Creates new neighborhood centers across Alki, Broadview, Dawson, Gasworks, Loyal Heights, Nickerson, Roanoke, South Wedgewood). These 8 neighborhoods were dropped from the list of identified locations for 30 neighborhood centers in October, 2024 when the Mayor’s Plan was released. * Background: The Mayor’s plan introduced 30 neighborhood centers with maps accessible on the city website and distributed at OPCD open houses. None of the 8 neighborhoods, particularly South Wallingford/Gas Works has seen a map circulated by OPCD for this location until August 4, 2025. In the 10 months since October 2024, The community was NEVER advised of a possible Gasworks Neighborhood Center location. The residents, homeowners, renters and businesses in South Wallingford have been denied 10 months of opportunities to engage with the city. We must hold the city government to higher standards. * We recommend that you write to council@seattle.gov to withdraw Amendment 34 for consideration of a South Wallingford / Gas Works Neighborhood Center location due to a non-transparent and inequitable process. council@seattle.gov. 📌#76 (Council Member: Rinck) Amend the definition of “major transit” to include ”frequent transit”. * This would be a mistake as it contradicts the intent of HB1110. * “Major transit” is light rail and rapid ride with dedicated bus lanes. HB1110 “Middle Housing” stipulates that six units can be built near Major Transit if they are within ¼ mile, and that four units can be built anywhere outside the ¼ mile. 📌#47 (Council Member: Strauss) Tangletown area. * No final map boundary is available to date after Strauss offered three new map boundary choices and the original as choices. Strauss will submit one final map soon. 📌#7 (Council Member: Rinck) Amend the Comp Plan to remove parking requirements city wide 📌#33 (Council Member: Strauss) Allow buildings taller than 6 stories in Neighborhood Centers (8 stories) 📌#34 (Council Member: Rinck) (see above) 📌#47 (Council Member: Strauss) (see above) 📌#54 (Council Member: Rinck) Allow unit lot subdivisions for ADU’s (refers to second lot subdivision) 📌#55-59 (Council Member: Rinck) related to ADU’s increasing size from 1000 -1500 sq. feet in lowrise, Exclude ADU’s from FAR / Floor Area Ratio (exemption from FAR), 1,000-1200 if three bedrooms, exclude ADU’s from density calculations, Exempt ADU’s from MHA affordability requirements 📌#60 (Council Member: Nelson) Expand the affordable housing bonus in neighborhood residential 📌#63 (Council Member: Nelson) Expand the affordable housing bonus for FAR / Floor Area Ratio in LR zones to waive development standards (Applies to lowrise 1 and higher for new broader affordable housing bonus with greater FAR, higher heights and units at 60%-80% AMI) 📌#65 (Council Member: Nelson) Allow retail stores to be located anywhere on any lot on a block 📌#66 (Council Member: Rink) Allow more commercial uses in more locations in neighborhood residential areas (not the corner store anymore, no size limit, bars, restaurants) 📌#67 (Council Member: Strauss) Allow stores to be located anywhere in NR zones, NOT JUST CORNERS 📌#72 (Council Member: Rinck) Amend density development standards to allow portions of a lot with environmentally critical areas to count toward density calculations (steep slopes for example) 📌#74 (Council Member: Nelson) Increase residential and lowrise height limits from 32 ft (increased by 2 ft already in interim legislation) now this proposes another 3 feet of height 📌#76 (Council Member: Rinck) (See above) 📌#84 (Council Member: Rinck) remove off street parking requirements CITYWIDE 📌#86 (Council Member: Nelson) Remove parking regulations/requirements within frequent transit areas of neighborhood residential 📌#95 (Council Member: Rinck) Reduces setbacks on small lots near transit (under 5,000 sq. feet) 📌#96 (Council Member: Rinck) Reduces side setbacks from 5 feet to 3 feet (maintenance areas, open space) 📌#99 (Council Member: Kettle) Eliminates amenity area requirements now 20% of lot for development in NR zones (space for trees, recreation) 📌#108 (Council Member: Hollingsworth) Exempt ADUs from FAR calculations in lowrise zones for legacy homeowners 📌#109 (Council Member: Hollingsworth) Reduce setbacks in lowrise zones for legacy homeowners Amendments to Support: Short List: #77, #93, #102, #5, #6, #10, #11, #14, #28, #29, #30, #32, #38, #40, #81, #110 Detailed Summary: Quick Grouping of “Pro for Trees for Livability”: ✅ #77 (Council Member: Saka) Cottage Housing Bonus This amendment would make development standards more flexible for “cottage housing” which would be defined as “development consisting entirely of one or two story dwelling units arranged on two sides of a common, ground level amenity area equal to at least. ✅ #93 (Council Member: Rivera) Tree canopy requirements Effect: Modifies tree planting requirements, grants reduced setbacks, additional FAR / Floor Area Ratio and increased height for developments that preserve at least one Tier 2 tree. ✅ #102 (Council Member: Rivera) Tree Protections Tree protections SDCI alternate site plan authority and procedural discretion for development that encroaches on tree protection areas (could authorize SDCI Director to require alternate site plans to demonstrate that trees can be retained). Pro Comprehensive Plan Policy: ✅ #5 (Council Member: Strauss) Support grocery stores in food desserts and 27 Hollingsworth (same idea) ✅ #6 (Council Member: Strauss) Amend the Comp Plan to support multi-generational housing diversity for all ages and encourages renovation ✅ #10 (Council Member: Saka) Amend the Comp Plan to add a policy on transit security ✅ #11 (Council Member: Saka) Amend the Comp Plan to revise a policy on missing sidewalks ✅ #14 (Council Member: Saka) Amend the Comprehensive Plan to add policies on pavement and bridge construction ✅ #28 (Council Member: Strauss) Amend the Climate and Environmental Element to highlight trees, bees, salmon, orca and herons ✅ #29 (Council Member: Strauss) Amend the Comp Plan to support the development of parks in regional and urban centers ✅ #30 (Council Member: Strauss)Amend the Comp Plan to support the development of community centers in regional and urban centers ✅ #32 (Council Member: Kettle) Add a Public Safety Element to the Comprehensive Plan ✅ #38 (Council Member: Hollingsworth) Adds protections for steep slopes in environmentally critical areas ✅ #40 (Council Member: Rivera) Amend the boundary map of the Ravenna Neighborhood map to support a National Historic District (shrinking map boundary to honor work of establishment of Ravenna Historic Districts) Important move in the right direction! ✅ #81 (Council Member: Rivera) Design Standards for Historic Districts ✅ #110 (Council Member: Saka) Requires mailed notices of area wide rezones (notice to lot owners of businesses, apartments, and residences must be notified of a rezone for properties resulting from residents being blindsided by the city’s intent to rezone (costly $500,000) project Take Action: * We encourage you to send your list of what you support by number and what you support and do not support to council@seattle.gov anytime before the Council’s final vote on Sept 17-19th. * Please also consider attending the Public Hearing on Friday, September 12th at either 9:30 (remote) or 3:00pm live at City Hall. https://www.seattle.gov/council/committees/public-comment Key References: * Link to CB 120985 Comp Plan bill * Link to CB 120993 Middle Housing bill * Link to Development Standards reference with current (heights, FAR, setbacks, for Residential ( HB1110) Lowrise, Midrise and Neighborhood Commercial zones) * Wallingford community built flyer on Gas Works zoning changes * Article: The Best Cities for Low Carbon Emissions Aren’t the Tallest (Bloomberg) |
Wallingford Community Council
A neighborhood voice in Seattle, Washington, USA
