Seattle is planning to add height and density in "urban villages" around the city—part of the growth and affordability goals targeted by previous planning efforts by the city.
"The Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement [pdf] (EIS) for the zoning changes its proposing in urban villages as well as commercial and multi-family residential areas outside of them across Seattle," reports Doug Trumm.
The proposed zoning changes will occur in neighborhoods identified in the Seattle 2035 comprehensive plan as a key part of the city's Mandatory Housing Affordability program. According to Trumm's assessment, the EIS "would clear a major hurdle on the path to greater affordability by increasing development capacity and implementing mandatory inclusionary zoning (a.k.a. MHA)."
The EIS currently includes three alternatives, including changing nothing. Trumm details the distinction between the other two alternatives: MHA rezones without a 'displacement analysis' and MHA rezones with a 'displacement analysis.'
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