Seattle Forward

Lowrise Multifamily Code Updates: Balancing Design and Density

Legislation a Council committee discussed earlier this week has been characterized by one side as a dramatic giveaway to developers and, by the other side, an unnecessary and dangerous downzone. Both characterizations are false.

The Council’s land use committee considered code adjustments to the city’s Lowrise residential zones. The multifamily Lowrise zoning category, which makes up about 10% of city land, is designed for a range of moderately dense housing types, from townhouses and rowhouses to apartment buildings.

Even though many Lowrise zones contain older single family houses, these zones are designed to be denser multifamily—not single family—zones.

Lowrise zones are often found in the City’s Urban Centers and Urban Villages, where we focus our efforts to concentrate density. Concentrating density is good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for our communities. When people live closer to work and have easier access to mass transit systems, it creates a better city for all of us. It also allows us to protect the character of single family zoned neighborhoods.

Transportation Progress

Two separate efforts by the Seattle Department of Transportation that have received attention recently should be celebrated.

First, the Council received an update earlier this month about the School Zone Traffic Safety Cameras. Nine Seattle schools currently have these cameras in place and six more schools will receive them this year. In 2013, I sponsored legislation dedicating money from school zone speed violators to safety improvements around schools. At that time, the City had a long list of physical improvements awaiting funding that could make our children safer on their way to and from school like signals, crosswalks and speed humps. This program has been able to fund 30 projects so far, with many more in the pipeline.

Not only that, but enforcement has reduced speeding dramatically. Citations decreased 34% from 2013 to 2014 for the four school zones where cameras were installed late in 2012. SDOT reports that “this equates to around 10,000 fewer speeding cars per year across all four school zones.”

Second, news articles this week reported that the first “smart” parking pay stations are being installed in Pioneer Square.

Letters from Second Grade

This week I visited a 2^nd grade classroom in my neighborhood to talk to them about life in the city. They each wrote letters to me expressing their concerns. Here are a few of them:

Dear Councilman Burgess, I am concerned about car break-ins. One day my family went out for dinner. When we came back, there was a big hole in the car window. My dad was upset that he lost his work backpack. I was so scared.

Dear Councilmen Burgess, Hi! I am 7 years old. And I am concerned about drugs. This year I have been seeing a lot of drugs. I HATE DRUGS! And I also am concerned about cars and speeding. We almost got in an accident a couple of days ago. Also, I hate trash. It can make animals sick. I am worried about animals especially the ones in the water. Can the city help?

Night Out Against Crime

Tomorrow night is the annual Night Out Against Crime, where block parties around the city bring neighbors together and strengthen community efforts to prevent crime. The police department reports that more than 1,400 neighborhood groups organized for Night Out last year.

You can register or see where there are events in your neighborhood here. 

Council Vote on Seattle Parks District

For the last several weeks, the City Council has deliberated on a proposal to create a Seattle Parks District. Under state law, the city government can ask the voters to approve this new, dedicated and sustainable funding source for our parks.

The Council will meet this afternoon to make a final decision about placing this measure before voters in August.

The Council received a proposal from the Mayor that placed a strong and much needed emphasis on major maintenance and regular upkeep of our parks system. The Council is looking at a final funding package that increases the focus on maintenance while advancing a modest reduction from the Mayor’s proposal overall.

Seattle Neighborhood Summit

Looking for something to do this weekend? Consider attending the Seattle Neighborhood Summit on Saturday morning at the Seattle Center.

The summit will include a chance to meet elected officials, learn more about the City's neighborhood District Council system, get tips from insiders about how to connect with City government, and more!

Click here for more information and to RSVP.

Annexation of Duwamish Area Takes Step Forward

The Council approved a resolution this afternoon, with the Mayor concurring, to allow the residents in unincorporated area along the Duwamish Waterway to vote to join the City of Seattle. The City’s proposal will now go before the Boundary Review Board for King County, which must consider whether to advance it to the approximately 103 registered voters in this area, commonly referred to as the South Park Sliver by the River and the Duwamish Industrial Triangle.

When you look at the map and the cultural boundaries of the South Park neighborhood, it just makes sense to give these residents a chance to be a part of the City of Seattle and to receive City services. A ‘yes’ vote would solve a longstanding anomaly in our City limits.

We heard testimony at the Full Council today about South Park residents who are just outside of the City limits and therefore don't receive emergency assistance from the Seattle fire company stationed just a few blocks away. If this annexation goes through, the emergency response times for these residents will dramatically improve.

Getting Around Town

One of my priorities as Council President for the next two years is to hold more Council Committee meetings out in neighborhoods when appropriate.

Your elected representatives are out in the community on a regular basis (see where I've been here), but it is another matter to take the official business of government closer to where people live or work. I have encouraged my colleagues to consider holding at least one of their Council committee meetings out in a neighborhood this year. Combined with the Council's two Town Halls, that would be nearly one official Council meeting outside of City Hall each month.

Seattle Night Out

Tonight is the annual Seattle Night Out, a chance to close down streets, connect more with your neighbors and enjoy potluck food. These informal block parties help tremendously with community building and crime prevention.

I will be stopping by a couple events in my neighborhood this evening and encourage you to do the same. You can check out the facebook page or this map put together by the police department to find events near you. Last year Seattle neighbors hosted more than 1,300 events, so even if you can’t find one on the map there’s a good chance one is happening close by.

Council Dedicates Camera Revenue to School Safety

The City Council passed legislation today that requires revenue from automated school zone speed cameras be dedicated to traffic and pedestrian safety improvements near schools.

These cameras were installed to keep children and families safe. Establishing a dedicated fund is the most straightforward way to put the camera revenue right back into school safety. The Council’s action will bring street and sidewalk improvements to the areas close to our schools and provide driver, pedestrian and bicyclist education — all to increase safety for our kids.

The fund will take effect January 1, 2014. Earlier this month, the Council allocated $2.5 million from 2013 speed camera revenue for these types of projects and these funds can be put to use as soon as projects are identified.