Hi Neighbors,
Please read for some important information regarding the Seattle Rezone.  To make a difference call and email the Council immediately, and give comment at the Friday, September 12th, Public Hearing.  The Council will be voting Sept. 17-19th.
Please submit written public comments ASAP by emailing: council@seattle.gov or writing to: Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan at: 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 2 PO Box 34025 Seattle, WA 98124-4025. Written comments should be received by Friday, September 12, 2025, at 5 p.m.
As you may know the City Council is barreling forward with passage of the One Seattle Plan – the Comprehensive Plan – that will change zoning across nearly every residential parcel in the City.
Some of these changes were mandated under State law. Yet, the City decided to go well beyond what is required and has proposed even more amendments to the bills that would increase density sprawl even more.
Right now, there is an opportunity to provide the Council with feedback on over a 100 proposed Amendments to the bill. Unfortunately, none of the Amendments scale back any of the frequent transit routes (FTRs). Our Council Members did not feel there was sufficient (5 votes) interest in scaling anything back, except for several Neighborhood Center boundaries. There will be a second phase in 2026 where the Council will address specific zoning within each FTR.
Additionally, several Council Members included multiple proposed Amendments that, if passed, will increase permissible density and height of structures in neighborhoods and remove parking from residential areas. Because the bills include State mandated changes to density (see HB 1110), there is almost no chance the Council will not approve the bills. However, the City chose to go well-beyond those legal requirements and create even greater density sprawl throughout the City.
Right now is our opportunity to speak up about the proposed Amendments. If you’re generally concerned about the breadth and depth of the Comprehensive Plan – it is much more than what Washington State law requires, what other Washington cities are doing, and what the predicted growth mandates – it would be good to let the Council know that its residents are displeased.
There are three immediate actions items:
  1. Email or call every Council member with your opinion as to the Plan and Amendments,
  2. Participate in over phone at the September 12th public hearing remotely, or
  3. Participate in person at the September 12th public hearing.
If there are Amendments that you support, or do not support, then we’ve been told to email every Council member to express your opinion, call their offices, and provide comments at the September 12 public hearing. The most vocal will ultimately be heard.
The Council will be voting on the Comprehensive Plan from September 17 – 19th.
Below is:
I.     Background – A Summary of the Rezone and Key Legislation.
II.   Amendments – The Sept. 12th Public Hearing & the Sept 17-19th Votes.
III.  How to Contact the City Council.  
If you participate in the Friday, September 12th, Public Hearing by phone or in-person, comment is limited to 1 minute.  So write up a longer version of your public comment and email it to the whole Council.
I.  Background – A Summary of the Seattle Rezone and Key Legislation:
If you don’t know about the rezone, it’s because over the last 2 years the city has not sent one piece of mail to all residents informing them of a massive rezone that affects all of Seattle.  Key elements of the rezone are below.
  • Washington State passed HB 1110 – “The Middle Housing Bill”.  HB 1110, says that for large cities, such as Seattle, ALL residential lots are rezoned to “NR” (Neighborhood Residential).  NR allows for 4-6 units/lot and reduced off-street parking requirements.
  • Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan 2025.  The State Growth Management Act, requires updated growth comprehensive plans (a 20 year vision for growth), thus Mayor Harrell and the OPCD (Office of Planning and Community Development) published the “One Seattle Plan” (OSP) with the goal to create an excess of needed housing and areas of density that allowed for “walkable communities”, where residents could walk to needed services and amenities and thus would not need a car.  To achieve this goal, the OSP went beyond the States HB 1110’s NR additional housing zoning, and created new density “place types” including 7 Regional Centers, 25 Urban Centers, 30 Neighborhood Centers, and numerous Major Transit Service Areas (MTS) and Frequent Transit Routes (FTR). These density place types were designed to concentrated density (multifamily buildings) with minimal to no parking, in areas with access to services and transit, thus creating walkable communities (pg 20).  https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/OPCD/SeattlePlan/OneSeattleComprehensivePlan.pdf
Below is the link to see the Place Type map, and what it means for your community.  https://one-seattle-plan-zoning-implementation-seattlecitygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/zoning-map
  • CB 120985 – ORDINANCE – In summer 2025, the CC passed CB 120985 land use and zoning; repealing and replacing the previous Seattle Comprehensive Plan pursuant to a major update, with new goals, policies, and elements and a new Future Land Use Map.  Below is the link to see the “Place Type” map, and what it means for your community.  This map DOES NOT reflect the proposed Amendments the CC will be voting on Sept. 17-19th.  https://one-seattle-plan-zoning-implementation-seattlecitygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/zoning-map
  • CB 120993 – ORDINANCE – In summer 2025, the CC passed CB 120993 land use and zoning; implementing a major update of “Neighborhood Residential” zones and modifying development standards in other zones to comply with various state laws. This brought Seattle into compliance with State HB 1110 (The Middle Housing Bill), and further loosened development standards to allow more dense development.
II.  Amendments – The Sept. 12th Public Hearing and the Sept 17-19th Votes.
The City Council (CC) voted on Phase 1 of the rezone this summer, which adopted HB 1110’s NR zoning changes (CB 120993) and the OSP “Place Types” maps (CB 120985).
And in August, the CC published a list 110 Amendments (430+  pages) to Phase 1 of the plan. The City will take public comment on the Amendments on Friday, Sept. 12, and vote on the Amendments Sept 17-19th.
In general we do not support any Amendments that expands the density or development standards of the passed Phase 1 legislation, as the current passed Phase 1 already creates major zoning changes and more housing than the Growth Plan forecasts is needed.  Additionally, the public has only had 1 month to review and understand the proposed Amendments, and our questions to the City Council and OPCD about the Amendments have not been answered.
Amendments we SUPPORT and OPPOSE are listed below with a brief explanation.
District 4 – Council Member (CM) Maritz Rivera, our representative, has worked with the neighborhoods to adjust Neighborhood Center (NC) boundaries and protect trees.  We support these amendments, specifically amendment #:
#39 – Amend the boundary of the Bryant NC. — SUPPORT.
The amendment adjusts the NC boundaries to include more transit, services, and commercial area to support the NC density that will have little to no required parking, so will need to park in the surrounding residential neighborhood or rely on walking and transit.
Position 8 (Citywide) – CM Alexis Mercedes Rinck, has submitted numerous amendments, that at the last minute greatly expands the scope of density allowed, removes all parking requirements, and in general allows for a boon for developers with no consideration for the residents that will be living in this housing and the services, transit, parking, and amenities they will need.  We specifically oppose:
#7 – Amend Comprehensive Plan polices to remove parking requirements citywide. — OPPOSE
Seattle average car ownership is 1.3/household and 1.8/homeowner household, therefore we support a minimum of 1 space/dwelling.  However, given the recent passing of State SB 5184, which says a city can not require more than 1 space/single family residence and 0.5 spaces/multifamily unity, we support the city require the SB 5184 parking requirements.
And even requiring SB 5184 maximum parking allowed will leave a parking deficit of 0.8 spaces/single family residence (= 1.8 car average less 1 space required) and a parking deficit of 0.8 spaces/multi family unit (= 1.3 car average less 0.5 spaces required). – The result will be urban parking conditions in residential neighborhoods, and parking blocks from single family homes.
#34 – Add eight Neighborhood Centers (including one at NE 65th St & 35th Ave NE, “South Wedgewood”). — OPPOSE
This NE Seattle already has a Ravena, Wedgewood, Bryant and University NC’s.  Adding a South Wedgewood NC would create development sprawl, versus the clustered density envisioned in the OSP, that would concentrate services and amenities to allow for walkable communities.  Additionally, the affected community has not had adequate time to evaluate the proposal and respond.
#76 – Amend the definition of Major Transit Service (MTS) to include Frequent Transit Routes (FTR). — STRONGLY OPPOSE
This is a MAJOR CHANGE! It would allow for Major Transit zoning, high-rises multifamily buildings with no parking, ½ mile in on both sides of all FTR’s.  This means all along NE 65th Street (from Roosevelt to Sand Point Way), 35th Ave NE (from NE 45th St to NE 125th St), Sand Point Way, etc, ½ mi in from theses streets developers could build high-rise buildings with no parking.
Major Transit zoning is for the most densely populated areas within ½ mile of Major Transit (ie. commuter rail, light rail, or bus rapid transit).  FTR zoning, is capped at 5 stories, and is for areas ¼ mi from FTR’s.  FTR’s are single bus lines that run every 15 minutes during week daytimes, and less often during evenings and weekends.
Allowing Major Transit density along FTR’s would place high-rise multifamily buildings with no parking in neighborhoods with no commercial or public services.  The result would be high-rise multifamily carless residences stranded without adequate transit or residents of these high-rise buildings parking their cars in front of neighbors houses.  This is a give away to developers, allowing them to make more money by not providing onsite parking.  It is also not realistic given Seattle’s average car ownership (1.3 to 1.8 cars/household). And while being carless might make sense for single 20-somethings that live in densely populated areas with close major transit, it does not make sense for those living in neighborhoods without adequate transit, those with families to manage and drive, and the elderly or disabled who rely on their car for mobility.
The result of this amendment would be to open most of Seattle’s residential neighborhoods to high-rise buildings with no onsite parking.
#84 – Remove off-street parking requirements citywide. — OPPOSE.
(See Amendment #7 above.)
Position 9 (Citywide) – CM Sara Nelson, while we don’t support any of CM Nelson’s amendments, we specifically oppose amendment #:
#86 – Remove parking requirements within Frequent Transit Service (FTS) Areas. — OPPOSE.
The FTS areas in NE Seattle include ¼ mile from NE 65th Street, 35th Ave NE, Sandpoint Way, NE 55thSt, etc.  These are streets that run through residential neighborhoods and have bus service every 15 minutes during the weekday daytime, and less frequently in the evenings or weekends.  We believe there are not enough services or amenities along these bus lines, and the transit is not frequent enough to realistically allow residents to not have a car.  Removing the off-street parking requirements from these areas just means all residents in these FTS areas (within ¼ mile of the Frequent Transit streets) will be parking further into the neighborhood in front of single family homes, creating a parking mess and neighbor tension over parking spaces.
And see Amendment #7 above.
III.  How to Contact the City Council by September 12th.
If you can, attend the public hearing on Friday, September 12, either by phone or in person.  Tip for in person public comment: there can be a lot of people giving in-person public comment. Try to line up to register at 12:30pm, 2 hours before registration begins, to make sure you are not giving comment at 10pm. Also, public comment is limited to 1 minutes.  Keep your statement short and simple.  And write a longer version to put in the basket after giving comment or email it to all CM’s.
And if you can’t attend the public hearing, you can make your voice heard by email or phone.  All info is below.
We encourage neighbors to contact the CC and give comment for:
1) REQUIRE – State SB 5184 parking of 1 space/single family dwelling and 0.5 spaces/multifamily unit.
2) SUPPORT – Amendment #39 – That changes the boundaries of Bryant NC.
3) OPPOSE – Amendment #76 – That would allow high-rise multifamily buildings with no parking, basically anywhere in residential neighborhoods.
4) OPPOSE – All Amendments that expands development density or building standards.
Below, are the Amendments sorted along the lines of if they increased or decreased the density and height of buildings and parking in residential neighborhoods, and we are recommending the Council should vote against those amendments. However, if it is a proposal that has the potential to decrease density, such as, through more vegetation or tree protections, then we recommended a vote for those amendments.
The bold typeface proposals appear to have far-reaching ramifications for the View Ridge and surrounding Neighborhoods, i.e. sprawling density, inadequate parking. – We strongly oppose those.
Recommendation to Seattle Council
Amendment No.
Vote No
2, 7, 17, 34, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 101
Vote Yes
28, 39, 40, 41, 81, 102, 103
Note that some of the proposals are very neighborhood specific, so I included no recommendation for those.
Comprehensive Plan Feedback
Here is how to make your voice heard.
https://www.seattle.gov/council/topics/2025-comprehensive-plan
    • Attend the public hearing on the Comp Plan – either in person or online – on Friday, Sept. 12. (Details below) Register to submit public comment at the public hearing.
    • Email all nine councilmembers at Council@seattle.gov
    • Call Councilmembers’ offices, their numbers are below:
Rob Saka, District 1                (206) 684-8801
Mark Solomon, District 2         (206) 684-8802
Joy Hollingsworth, District 3     (206) 684-8803
Maritza Rivera, District 4         (206) 684-8804 – Our NE Seattle CM.
Debora Juarez, District 5         (206) 684-8805
Dan Strauss, District 6            (206) 684-8806
Bob Kettle, District 7               (206) 684-8807
Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Position 8      (206) 684-8808 – Citywide
Sara Nelson, Position 9                    (206) 684-8809 – Citywide
Public Hearing:
On Friday, September 12, the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan will be hearing public comments on the more than 100 amendments for two pieces of legislation: the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan and the Permanent HB 1110 Legislation. The Select Committee’s goal is to have a final vote at the Select Committee level in mid-September, between the 17th and the 19th.

Overview
The Sept. 12 public hearing will be broken into two sessions and there are separate registration windows for each session:

    • Session I will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be reserved for remote public comment.
    • Session II will begin at 3 p.m. and will be reserved for in person commentors.
Each speaker will be provided with one minute to comment at the public hearing. Individuals will only be permitted to comment at one session (no double-signups allowed!)
How to Register
https://www.seattle.gov/council/topics/2025-comprehensive-plan
Session I:
    • Registration for remote speakers will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 10 a.m.
Session II:
    • Registration for in-person speakers will begin at 2:30 p.m. and end at 6:30 p.m.
    • In-person public comment will be accepted beginning at 3 p.m. in Council Chambers, at City Hall
Submit Written Comment
Please submit written public comments by emailing: council@seattle.gov or writing to: Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan at: 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 2 PO Box 34025 Seattle, WA 98124-4025. Written comments should be received by Friday, September 12, 2025, at 5 p.m.

Thanks,
Audrey – View Ridge CC, Committee for Zoning & Development, Chair
Trish – Hawthorne Hills CC, Board of Trustees, Treasurer