This article originally appeared in the November 5 WCC Newsletter.
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This article originally appeared in the November 5 WCC Newsletter.
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Dear Neighbors,
We want to share two important updates with you this month: first, a quick recap on recent zoning decisions that affect Wallingford, and second, an invitation to our next Wallingford Community Council meeting on Wednesday, October 1st, featuring a Public Safety focuswith speakers from the Fire Department, SDOT, SPU, and more.
The Wallingford Community Council thanks everyone who has followed and spoken up during the Comprehensive Plan and Middle Housing process over the last year. Your emails, calls, and testimony at the September 12th Public Hearing made a difference.
We are happy to report that the last-minute Amendment 34 (proposing 8 new Neighborhood Centers, including South Wallingford/Gas Works) was voted down by Council on September 18. However, Resolution 32183 directs future study on additional amendments with maps in consideration of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The amendments in the resolution did not pass, but will be up for a Council vote in November. The maps for South Wallingford/Gas Works, Tangletown, and others are found within the link to Resolution 32183.
Council Bill CB120985 adopts the final Comp Plan update, CB120993 makes permanent the provisions of HB1110. You will find the latest updates from Council votes on amendments within the links to CB120985 and CB120993 considered in the final Select Committee meetings September 17-19 that concluded phase 1 of the Comprehensive Plan.
Visit this page to see how the council voted by each amendment number for all of the amendments: Voting Results PDF.
In January of 2026, the Council will begin Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Plan — which will include any concepts studied in Resolution 32183, and specific zoning for Neighborhood Centers, Lowrise Residential zones and frequent transit zoning for bus arterials.
For now, we invite you to take a pause from zoning and join us for an important community discussion on Public Safety at our upcoming General Meeting.
📅 Wednesday, October 1, 2025 | 7:00 – 9:00 PM
📍 Good Shepherd Center, Room 202
🔥 Featured Speakers
📣 Additional Updates
🗳 Upcoming Candidate Forum
📅 Tuesday, September 30 | 7:00 – 9:00 PM
📍 Fremont Community Council, Doric Lodge (619 N. 36th St.)
Who: Mayor, City Attorney, and Citywide Council Candidates (Positions 8 & 9, including Sara Nelson and Alexis Mercedes Rinck)
We hope to see you Wednesday, October 1st for this timely and practical conversation on keeping Wallingford safe, resilient, and connected.
Dear Wallingford Neighbors,
As part of our mission to support and inform the community, the Wallingford Community Council (WCC) is sharing important updates on major events scheduled for Gas Works Park this summer.
While WCC is not responsible for organizing or managing these events, we remain committed to advocating for neighborhood concerns—including traffic, noise, and park access impacts—as we communicate regularly with city officials and departments. We’re sharing this information to help you plan your summer and minimize surprises.
For the most up-to-date information, please visit:
Seattle Parks – Gas Works Park
The Wallingford Community Council does not organize or endorse these events, but we are in regular contact with city departments to advocate for mitigation of neighborhood impacts.
If you have concerns about noise, crowd size, or other impacts related to these large amplified music events at Gas Works Park, please reach out directly to the appropriate city contacts below.
The following city departments oversee event permitting and are responsible for ensuring that event organizers conduct timely public outreach (at least 30 days prior):
We encourage neighbors to:
| Wallingford Community Council Meeting Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Location: Room 202, Good Shepherd Center (4659 Sunnyside Ave. N.) Join us on February 12 for the first WCC meeting of 2025, featuring District 4 Council member Maritza Rivera. We’ll discuss the latest updates on the Comprehensive Plan and zoning changes and their impact on Wallingford. With the Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) just released and a short window for public input, this is a critical time to stay informed and engaged. Key upcoming meetings and public hearings will shape the future of our neighborhood—get involved! Maritza is a representative of the “One Seattle Team,” and this is a critical opportunity to hear about and discuss the impacts/mitigations identified resulting from the Comprehensive Plan updates and zoning proposals for Wallingford. Maritza can review her role on the Select Committee as she and the full council review the One Seattle Zoning plans and Comprehensive Plan legislation with a public process. (The Select Comm for 2044.) Mark your calendar, bring your questions, and provide feedback to shape the future of our community. BREAKING NEWS: The FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Study) was released yesterday, Jan 30, 2025. There is only a two-week appeal period that closes on Feb 13th, 2025. This document is 1,300 pages and available for reading here: https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/one-seattle-plan?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery We recommend reading the talking points about the impacts of rezoning for upcoming Select Committee meetings and public hearings on the Comprehensive Plan 2044 Wallingford Community Council’s “One Seattle Plan-Call to Action” |
| Key Topic for 2025: The City Council/Select Committee now focuses on the Public Process for the Comp Plan 2044 and Re-zoning Legislation. The City Council’s Select Committee launched discussions on Jan. 6 on the 2044 Comprehensive Plan and the One Seattle Plan. The “Select Committee” is comprised of all nine City Council staff members. They are responsible for final decisions on the Comp Plan legislation, the HB1110 Middle Housing state mandate passed in 2023, and the Mayor’s additional rezone map proposals. We are including the Select Committee meeting dates and times for people to participate in the public process for Phase 1 legislation through May 2025. The state deadline for the city to complete adoption legislation for HB1110 is June. All Select Committee meetings can be seen live at the time of the meeting or recordings are made available on the Seattle Channel shortly after the meeting ends. (Link: https://www.seattlechannel.org/mayor-and-council/city-council/select-committee-on-the-comprehensive-plan) Upcoming “Select Committee” Meetings. (located at City Hall 600 4th Street Floor 2) – Wednesday, February 5 at 11 am – “Public Engagement” – Wednesday, February 5th at 5:00 pm – “Public Hearing”.Pre-register to be able to make public comments either in person or remotely by signing up here. – Email: council@seattle.gov. Refer here for the full City Council Select Committee Schedule. Only two more Public Hearings are planned through May! ![]() Please review the Wallingford Community Council’s “One Seattle Plan-Call to Action” page for more details and talking points. Past “Select Committee” Meetings: Here is the link to a Seattle Times article with quotes from the council from the first Select Committee meeting on: – Jan. 6: “Comprehensive Plan” Overview: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fault lines-emerge-as-seattle-council-takes-up-housing-plan – Jan. 15: “Growth Strategy Overview & Phase 1 Zoning Preview” – Jan. 29: “Select Committee key Topic ‘Displacement’”You can watch recordings and find the presentation slides for the Jan. 6th, 15th, and 29th meetings here: https://www.seattlechannel.org/mayor-and-council/city-council/select-committee-on-the-comprehensive-plan. Future “Select Committee” Meetings: The Select Committee has announced tentative dates for future meetings in March, April, and May. – Wednesday, March 5th – “Comp Plan Issue ID Part I” – Wednesday, March 19th – “Comp Plan Issue ID Part II”April 2,16,( April 30 Public Hearing Comp Plan and Zoning) – May 16 Public Hearing, May 22,23 – May 29th – Final Vote on Phase I – Meeting the state requirements for HB1110 – June to Sept – “Phase 2 zoning legislation” Other Resources: Zoning Proposal Maps: https://one-seattle-plan-zoning-implementation-seattlecitygis.hub.arcgis.com/ OPCD Project Documents / Mayor’s Recommended Growth Strategy (2024). This contains the Draft Plan and other key related documents. Recapping the WCC November / December Meeting Information on One Seattle Plan and Rezone Maps On October 16, 2024, the city released online maps with the locations of “NR” (Neighborhood Residential) zones where formerly single-family lots outside urban villages will be converted to denser multi-family 5,000 square foot lots allowing 4-6 units per lot as required in the state-mandated legislation HB1110. Four units are now allowed in all designated NR zones, but six units are allowed ¼ mile from major transit (rapid ride or light rail). OPCD provided opportunities to comment on online maps using social media and held open houses for each city council district, distributed paper maps for neighborhoods, and closed public comment on December 2024. At our meetings, we demonstrated in our meeting how you can use the online maps to show current and proposed zoning for individual properties by address. We also distributed maps showing proposed rezone locations and differences in the lowrise and NR zones including heights, setbacks, far, lot coverage for each of the zone changes. WCC’s November presentation explained the details of the Mayor’s plan which is additional and separate from the state plan. The Mayor’s rezone proposals include expansions of 30 Neighborhood Centers and conversions of thousands of single-family lots to multi-family surrounding the 30 Neighborhood Centers citywide increasing bulk, height, and scale. In addition, the Mayor’s proposal proposes to rezone single-family lots facing arterials city-wide on the bus routes for “frequent transit” from “single-family lowrise” to 5 stories. The public comments received on the rezone maps through December 20 will be compiled and shared this coming spring 2025. The Comp Plan housing growth target from April 2024 set a target of 80,000 to 120,000 housing units. The FEIS ( Final Environmental Impact Study) just released studied the 80k to 120k impacts for that housing growth target. The Mayor’s plan released on Oct. 16, 2024, surpasses the Comp Plan housing growth target by increasing housing unit growth to 330,000 housing units. The public comments during the Select Committee hearings for the next several months will be considered before the second set of rezone maps are prepared by OPCD and released in May 2025. The vote on revised maps will follow. Michael Hubner, Director for the Comp Plan said “he guarantees there will be changes on the revisions of rezone maps. Major Wallingford Impacts Ask the city to reduce heights in the Mayor’s frequent transit plan from “Lowrise 3” 5-story/50-foot buildings to more compatible heights of “NR” (4-6 units per lot 30 height) or “Lowrise 1” (30 feet) along arterials in Wallingford of routes 62, 31, 32.Let us consider the residents who want to stay in their neighborhoods and the potential displacement here. Many blocks of the formerly single-family zoned lots located along these bus routes in Wallingford have naturally affordable older homes. Many homes are family-sized rentals, including duplexes, triplexes, small apartments, and businesses. The Mayor’s plan is proposing city-wide upzoning on all “frequent transit “arterial facing streets encouraging demolitions, not rehabilitation. These proposed high unit capacity zone proposals at LR3 allow 5-story/50-foot buildings to offer more built-in profitability for developers and will likely accelerate demolitions. This can displace and force out occupants of all ages, races, and incomes who reside in these homes facing arterials citywide. Rezoning for greater unit capacity and jumping to the highest residential zones can increase land values and property taxes for homeowners, renters, businesses, and those on fixed incomes who simply can not keep up with these increases. Assessors base property values on market sales on “highest and best use”. That means you can have property tax increased on the rezoned potential capacity of your lot even though you choose not to redevelop it. The 5-story city-wide plan for rezones citywide along “frequent transit” bus routes…. – Lack of nuances of various neighborhood street considerations – Ignore direct outreach by the city to neighborhoods – Lack of consideration of context and existing heights – Create corridor and canyon effects – Shadow neighboring homes – Devalue investments in solar panels – Reduce access to air and light – Create a loss of trees with an increase in lot coverage from 35% -50%. – Decrease front setbacks for larger tree retention and planting – Create a scarcity of amenities like parks, libraries, and grocery stores for increased populations. – Lack of mitigations for traffic, and parking congestion – and overall is a very weak plan for truly affordable housing A win/win can be achieved with either an NR designation (Hb 1110 4-6 units per 5,000 sq. foot lot) or a Lowrise One zoning designation both blending in with existing heights of 30-foot maximum in the context of older neighborhoods instead of such a height jump to 50 feet to large 5 story buildings on the bus route arterials described below. NR zones 4-6 units per lot or Lowrise one zones increase unit housing capacity and density at heights, but are more compatible with the existing context of these blocks. Ask the council about revisiting and implementing impact fees for parks, fire, schools roads instead of more levies which could help reduce property taxes. Many other municipalities outside of Seattle collect impact fees for infrastructure. Ask for reduced heights from LR3 /5 story /50 feet zoning proposed to NR or LR One /3 story/ 30 feet zoning for residents of these specific streets impacts for arterials on Wallingford bus routes 62, 31,32. 1. Route 62 proposes to upzone properties to Lowrise LR3/5 stories, 50-foot buildings along Meridian north/south from 50th- 56th 2. Routes 31 & 32 propose to upzone properties to LR 3 5 stories, 50-foot buildings along 40th east/west from UW to Wallingford 3. Routes 31 & 32 arrive at the 40th and Wallingford intersection then travel south on Wallingford to 35th 4. Routes 31 & 32 at 35th and Wallingford intersection the bus travels west/east to Fremont Ave. |


Email all city council: at council@seattle.gov or contact them directly by phone with your concerns.
Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to making Wallingford a thriving community. Our goal is to update you on the Select Committee meetings and public hearing dates so you can be a part of the public process before final maps and policies for the Comp Plan 2044 are voted on in 2025.
Warm regards,
The Wallingford Community Council
Visit our website | Contact Us
We have several critical updates and upcoming events to share with you, including an important discussion on the “One Seattle Plan” zoning changes that will significantly impact our neighborhood.
Join us at our upcoming WCC meeting on Tuesday 11/12 for a comprehensive review of the proposed “One Seattle Plan” zoning maps and their impact on Wallingford.
The “One Seattle Plan” (youtube overview) proposes sweeping zoning changes for formerly single family lots outside the Wallingford Urban Village and across all Seattle neighborhoods.
The plan is to increase density by authorizing the construction of 4-6 units on remaining single family lots as mandated by the State’s Middle Housing Bill HB1110.
Date: Tuesday, November 12
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Good Shepherd Senior Center, Room 140
Key Topic: “One Seattle Plan” Zoning Changes
Some Key Details:
Key Resources:
The city website has a consolidated page with an interactive Draft Mapping tool, the Neighborhood Residential Housing Models proposed for HB1110, and an Engagement Section with a listing of the seven in-person information sessions with the OPCD staff. (Office of Planning and Community Development) There is also a helpful video on how to explore the maps and comment on them directly.
https://one-seattle-plan-zoning-implementation-seattlecitygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/zoning-map
(Please note, these Zoning Maps are available for Public Comment through 12/20.)
As mentioned, OPCD will host meetings on this topic from Oct. 30 to Dec. 12 across in-person and virtual meetings:
Other key resources and opportunities to engage:
Please note that Public Comment Closes on Dec. 20, 2024
Following our October WCC meeting with SDOT representatives, please review the following links to find answers to any outstanding questions or decisions on this ballot issue.
Thank you for your continued engagement in shaping our community’s future.