Reusing Stalled Construction Sites in Seattle

Officials are hoping to encourage food carts, retail kiosks, parking lots and other uses to fill into stalled constructions sites throughout the city. Sites near rail stations would be used as temporary parking lots.

"The legislation would allow owners of sites within a quarter-mile of the city's southeast Link stations to offer parking for three years. Each lot could have up to 40 spaces.

The success of the other piece of legislation – the effort to resuscitate vacant lots– will largely depend on property owners.

Many owners are reluctant to turn their sites into anything too permanent, such as a skate park or P-Patch, due to uncertainty on when the credit market will turn around. The city's proposal - which would be a pilot program - makes no requirements on owners to do anything vibrant or neighborly with their lots."