As council organizes support for mayor’s plan, Seattle’s path to ‘Taller, Denser, Faster’ zoning changes isn’t actually that fast

The timeline for “Taller Denser Faster” isn’t really that fast

The Seattle City Council’s comprehensive plan committee Thursday heard details of Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposals to make “taller, denser, faster” zoning changes in the city.

The committee is considering passage of resolution supporting the push from the mayor’s office. It wasn’t clear Thursday if all the committee members were dedicated to the “faster” part of the equation.

CHS reported last month on the set of proposals from Wilson including plans that would surgically upzone specific, block by block, areas of the city.

The Wilson administration package includes proposals for a Fremont / Stone Way rezone, n expanded Downtown Retail Core and Belltown rezones, plus new incentives to retain a grocery store and housing in Lake City. Planners say the proposals would remove code barriers to passive house, modular and mass timber construction, make it easier to convert from commercial space to housing in more zones, and would surgically rezone select blocks to support multi-purpose redevelopment on sites with community-based uses.

One of those blocks is in the Central District. Under the proposal, the land around the Meredith Mathews YMCA and nearby Ebenezer AME Zion Church would be surgically upzoned.

Thursday, council members said they supported the idea of responding more quickly to the city’s ongoing housing crisis but some said more care needed to be paid to robust anti-displacement strategies and public transparency.

Committee chair Eddie Lin said the committee would continue to refine the resolution (PDF) — over the summer months.

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