Apartment and Condo height limit increases

Proposed height increases: click for larger version

The City of Seattle's HALA (housing and livability agenda) is proposing zoning drastic changes in parts of our neighborhood. Neighbors in the (mostly) single family part of the neighborhood (north of John /Thomas) are concerned about the changes and are organizing to suggest better alternatives to the City. I have made the blog and listserv available to that group.

HOWEVER the City HALA proposal would also add 10 FEET to the height of any new buildings in the multifamily part of our neighborhood (the area between John/ Thomas and Madison).

What can we (in the multifamily area) do to help? 

• Get in contact with the active neighborhood group. E-mail to:  millerparkneighborhood@gmail.com
• Go to their February 15th informational meeting.

• Go to the City's February 28th meeting and share your views (RSVP to spencer.williams@seattle.gov )

What might our strategies be?

• The Single Family part of our area is facing a large upzone (from Single Family to Low Rise Multifamily 40 feet) and is considering suggesting a smaller upzone, to both preserve their neighborhood and to allow more affordable housing.
• The multifamily parts of our area are proposed to all be upzoned by one floor (10 feet) so there's no middle ground we can offer.
• The purpose of HALA is to increase density and affordability, so we could point out that we have already increased greatly in density, and have always had lots of affordable housing (thanks in main part to Capitol Hill Housing) and hence already meet the goals of HALA and so don't need to change.

Thanks,
Andrew Taylor