The Seattle Planning Commission met last Thursday with three items on the agenda: approving the discussion papers for the multifamily code update; a briefing on neighborhood plan updates with representatives from the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) and the Department of Planning and Development (DPD); and a briefing and discussion on the 2011 update to Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan with long-range planners from DPD.
Perhaps the biggest news of the day for the Seattle Planning Commission came from another wing of City Hall, where Seattle’s Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee acted on the Planning Commission's recommendation, and voted to send a proposal for expansion of backyard cottages to Seattle City Council.
The commission was briefed by DPD Planning Director Ray Gastil and DON Neighborhood Plan Manager Lyle Bicknell on the status of neighborhood plan updates in North Rainier, Beacon Hill and Othello, and on how those plan updates would be implemented.
A slideshow presentation showed highlights from the recent public open houses where community members could review and give feedback on drafts of the plan updates. Gastil and Bicknell also spoke about the role of City Hall in the process. They acknowledged that it’s not traditional for city officials to be the ones compiling data and enacting updates on behalf of the neighborhoods, but classified the role as merely interpretive.
Transparency is the key, said Gastil: “You will be able to see for yourself whether DPD has been a fair interpreter of neighborhood opinion.”
Both officials said that the next big challenge is taking steps to make sure the changes to the neighborhood plans are actually enacted in some tangible way. They said plan enactment can be achieved via the upcoming comprehensive plan updates, with liaisons between city departments and community organizations, and via allotment of city resources to achieve neighborhood plan goals. For instance, they said one plan could use Parks Levy funds to put a park near the light rail station in North Rainier.
Seattle's 2011 Comprehensive Plan Update
Tom Hauger and Kristian Kofoed of DPD spoke about Seattle's upcoming comprehensive plan update process. In accordance with the State's Growth Management Act, the council must adopt an updated plan with a 20-year planning horizon by December of 2011. The proposed plan updates fall into three categories:
- Growth targets
- Land use/transportation elements
- Revising the respective visions and big picture goals of individual departments.
According to Hauger and Kofoed, this means that the heavy-lifting must be done by August 2011, allowing room for the council to debate. DPD would like to have a final draft completed by the start of 2011, in order to undergo SEPA review early that year.
DPD requested the Planning Commission’s help in engaging citizens, especially young ones, to participate in the comprehensive plan update process.
