Late-Breaking Comp Plan Change Would Restore Low-Density "Donut Hole" Between Capitol Hill and Central District

A separate "consent package" includes bonuses for stacked flats and social housing, but does not include proposals to reduce or eliminate mandatory parking requirements.

By Erica C. Barnett

The city council's comprehensive plan committee will spend the next two days debating and voting on amendments to the zoning template that sets the bar for how much housing can be located in neighborhoods across the city. As of this week, the potential changes include a late-breaking proposal from committee chair Joy Hollingsworth to exempt nearly 50 blocks in the middle of the city from zoning changes that would allow more housing there. Earlier this week, Hollingsworth introduced her "chair's packages" (first one here, second one here) of potential changes to the plan proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell earlier this year. The two lists—46 amendments, whittled down from the 110 proposals the council discussed last week—are designed to move forward together as a "consent" package, unless any councilmember asks to pull one out for an individual vote.

Two additional lists, totaling 45 amendments, aren't included in the consent package, and will each come up for individual discussion and potential vote. (First one here, second one here.)

That second group includes Hollingsworth's new amendment, which would preserve a 173-acre area of low density, commonly known as the "donut hole," between Capitol Hill and the Central District. The area is currently mix of neighborhood residential (former single-family), low-rise, and institutional zoning. Under Mayor Bruce Harrell's comprehensive plan proposal, the western half of this area would become part of the the First Hill regional center, and the eastern would link up to the District urban center.

Regional centers and urban center allow significantly more housing than neighborhood residential or low-rise areas.

Hollingsworth's amendment would restore the donut hole, preserving existing prohibitions on dense housing in the middle of some of Seattle's densest neighborhoods. A half-dozen bus routes run through or directly adjacent to the area, including the new RapidRide G route on Madison, which skirts the northern (Capitol Hill) section of the donut hole.

Another last-minute Hollingsworth proposal would change the name of the Judkins Park Urban Center to the South Central District Urban Center, in order "to reflect the area's connection to the Central District," according to a summary of the amendment.

Hollingsworth's proposed consent package includes density bonuses for stacked flats and social housing, an amendment to allow corner stores throughout neighborhood residential areas, and a new section of the comprehensive plan on public safety. It does not include proposals to lift mandatory parking minimums for new development, a proposal to allow bars and restaurants in residential neighborhoods, or any of the proposals to shrink or increase the size of specific neighborhood centers—a new zoning designation that will allow 3- to 6-story apartments within 800 feet of about 30 locations around the city.

Notably, not one Councilmember Maritza Rivera's amendments ended up in Hollingsworth's consent package. (Every other council member has multiple amendments in the package.) Many of Rivera's amendments would impose extreme limitations on new housing, including an out-there proposal to empower city planning officials to stop any development that would result in the removal of any tree.

The committee has meetings planned today and tomorrow, starting at 2:00 this afternoon.