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City of Seattle
Seattle City Council
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: City Council to Hold Public Hearing on Comprehensive Plan 10-Year Update
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
3/12/2004 11:50:00 AM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Neil Powers (206) 684-8804
Nancy Roberts (206) 684-8146
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CITY COUNCIL TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARING ON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 10-YEAR UPDATE
Plan guides decisions on where, how much growth will occur in City
SEATTLE - The Seattle City Council Urban Planning & Development Committee will hold a public hearing on the first stage of the City's 10-year update to its Comprehensive Plan. The hearing will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16 in Council Chambers.
The hearing will be to determine which Comprehensive Plan amendments should be considered for further review in the 2004 update of the plan. The proposals that the Council agrees to consider will be analyzed, environmental and public review will be conducted, and proposals may be modified. The Council's decision to consider a proposed amendment does not constitute a decision or recommendation that the proposed amendment should be adopted. The Council will make a final decision on each amendment in the fall of this year.
The state's Growth Management Act requires a ten-year update to the plan. Under state guidelines, a number of amendments must be considered, some examples of which are:
· Amendments to accommodate new targets for households and jobs for the period through 2024.
· Review of Environmentally Critical Areas policies and regulations to ensure consistency with the best available science.
· Updated technical appendices, including adding Level-of-Service standards for some state transportation facilities.
Among the proposed amendments the City has received from neighborhoods are to:
· Add goals and policies from the South Wallingford Neighborhood Plan.
· Amend the telecommunications policies to restrict cell towers in single-family neighborhoods.
· Change the designation of properties within the North Rainier Hub Urban Village from single-family to multifamily, and designate Rainier Avenue South as a "principal commercial street."
In addition, the City's Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has submitted amendments for consideration, including:
· Adding an Urban Village Strategy Element to describe the overall concept for managing growth (taking it out of the Land Use Element).
· Determining whether South Lake Union should be an Urban Center rather than a Hub Urban Village.
· Designating two new Potential Annexation Areas (North Highline, between Seattle and Burien and West Hill, between Seattle and Renton).
· Revising the Neighborhood Planning Element to incorporate Northgate Neighborhood Plan goals and policies into the Comprehensive Plan.
Some unresolved proposals from prior years may also be considered, such as:
· Clarifying the role and function of urban centers, hub urban villages and residential urban villages.
· Encouraging or requiring that capital facilities improvements keep up with growth in population and employment.
· Changing the Future Land Use map to allow zoning changes from an Industrial Commercial (IC) designation to Neighborhood Commercial/Residential (NC/R) and Neighborhood Commercial (NC) in the International District Urban Center Village.
· Amending the Shoreline Master Program to limit the number of days and hours in which tall cruise ships can tie up at the Bell Street pier, amending height limits for view and shoreline protection, and simplifying the definition of Puget Sound and Elliott Bay.
· Designating corridors across the City for intermediate capacity transit and regional light rail improvements.
Finally, Council members may propose additional amendments for consideration. Several documents that describe the proposed amendments in full or provide information on related issues include:
1. A summary of potential Comprehensive Plan amendments to be considered in 2004.
2. Preliminary scopes-of-work for the 10-year update of the Comprehensive Plan for each element for which significant revisions are proposed.
3. DPD issue papers concerning key Comprehensive Plan amendment issues.
4. Copies of the amendments submitted in the 2004 annual amendment process.
5. A list of unresolved amendments from prior years.
The summary (item #1) can be found under "Hot Information" on the City Council's Web site at www.cityofseattle.net/council/. The remaining documents may be viewed and/or downloaded on DPD's Web site at www.seattle.gov/dclu/planning/comprehensive/Cpupdate.htm. All documents are also available from the DPD Public Resource Center at Key Tower, 700 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000, 206-684-8467.
City Council Chambers are located on the 2nd floor of Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue. The entrance to City Hall is located on Fifth Avenue between James and Cherry streets. For those who wish to testify, a sign-up sheet will be available outside the Council Chamber one-half hour before the public hearing. Questions concerning the public hearing may be directed to Neil Powers in Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck's office, by calling 206-684-8804 or via e-mail at: neil.powers@seattle.gov.
The hearing will be cablecast live on Seattle Channel (21/28) and Webcast live at www.cityofseattle.net/council.
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City Council
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