Opinion: Voters Deserve to See the Draft ‘One Seattle’ Plan

In an opinion piece for The Stranger, Calvin Jones, Tiffani McCoy, and Doug Trumm call on Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) to release its long-awaited draft comprehensive plan update, known as One Seattle, originally scheduled for public release in April. The plan will guide housing development in the next two decades and will have a major impact on housing supply and affordability, but the public has yet to get a look at it.

“The City must complete the next update by the end of 2024, leaving the public precious little time to digest the plan, comment, and ensure that it allows Seattle to grow in an equitable, affordable, and sustainable way over the next two decades.” For the authors, a “failure to release the draft plan ahead of the November elections would amount to a loss for local democracy.” They point out that what was originally an 18-month process has now been condensed into less than a year.

In the authors’ view, “It’s never too late to do better. OPCD can release its draft One Seattle Plan ahead of the November 7 general election and prioritize public input from historically marginalized communities thereafter.”