Land Use
Committee regular meeting days and time:
2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 2:00 p.m.
Committee Members:
- Chair: Dan Strauss
- Vice Chair: Tammy Morales
- Member: Teresa Mosqueda
- Member: Alex Pedersen
- Member: Sara Nelson
Committee Scope:
To provide policy direction and oversight and to deliberate and make recommendations on legislative matters relating to:
- planning and land use, including comprehensive planning, community development, zoning, design, and land use regulations, including the Office of Planning and Community Development, and the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, except for issues related to rental regulations;
- Major Institution Master Plans and quasi-judicial land use decisions; and
- the equitable development initiative (EDI) and its projects.
Meeting Schedule for the Tree Protection Ordinance
The Land Use Committee is holding a series of committee meetings in 2023 dedicated to discussing the proposed tree protection legislation, Council Bill 120534. Many of the meetings will solely focus on the tree bill. The full schedule can be found below. Please note that dates are subject to change:
| Date | Time | Committee | Topic |
| Tuesday, March 21 | 2:00 PM | City Council | Introduction and Referral of bill to Land Use Committee |
| Wednesday, March 22 | 2:00 PM | Land Use Committee | Policy discussion: Overview of the entire bill |
| Wednesday, March 29 | 9:30 AM | Special Land Use Committee | Policy discussion: Tree Protections & Tree Protection Standards |
| Friday, April 7 | 2:00 PM | Special Land Use Committee | Policy discussion: Tiers of Tree Protections, Budget Allocations, & Central Staff Analysis |
| Tuesday, April 18 | Amendments due to Central Staff | ||
| Friday, April 21 | 2:00 PM | Special Land Use Committee | Vote on Substitute Bill |
| Monday, April 24 | 10:30 AM | Special Land Use Committee | Public Hearing |
| Wednesday, April 26 | 2:00 PM | Land Use Committee | Vote on Amendments |
| Thursday, May 4 | 9:30 AM | Full Council | Vote on Amendments and possibly Vote Bill out of Land Use Committee as Amended |
| Thursday, May 4 | 2:00 PM | Special Land Use Committee | Vote on Amendments and possibly Vote Bill out of Land Use Committee as Amended |
| Tuesday, May 9 | 2:00 PM | Full Council | Vote on Final Passage of bill as amended if additional committee time is needed |
Meeting Schedule for the Industrial and Maritime Zoning Legislation
The Land Use Committee is holding a series of committee meetings in 2023 dedicated to discussing proposed updates to industrial and maritime zoning, a suite of legislation comprised of 5 bills, with abbreviated summaries of each:
- CB 120567 - Updating industrial zones to implement the Industrial and Maritime Strategy
- CB 120568 - Amending the Seattle Comprehensive Plan to incorporate changes proposed as part of the 2023 Comprehensive Plan annual amendment process
- CB 120569 - Amending the Official Land Use Map to rezone land in Seattle’s Industrial areas
- CB 120570 - Removing certain existing provisions for the Industrial Commercial zone
- CB 120571 - Relating to noise in industrial shorelines
The full schedule can be found below. Please note that dates are subject to change:
| Date | Time | Committee | Topic |
| Tuesday, May 9 | 2:00 PM | City Council | Introduction and Referral of bill to Land Use Committee |
| Wednesday, May 10 | 2:00 PM | Land Use Committee | Policy discussion: OPCD Briefing |
| Monday, May 15 | 9:30 AM | Special Land Use Committee | Policy discussion: Tree Protections & Tree Protection Standards |
| Wednesday, May 17 | - | Amendments Due to Central Staff | |
| Monday, May 22 | Publish List of Amendments | ||
| Wednesday, May 24 | 2:00 PM | Land Use Committee | Public Hearing |
| Thursday, June 8 | 9:30 AM | Special Land Use Committee | Vote on Amended Bill in Committee |
| Wednesday, June 14 | 2:00 PM | Land Use Committee | Meeting time reserved in case additional committee time is needed |
| Tuesday, June 13 | 2:00 PM | City Council | Vote on Final Passage of Bill as Amended |
| Tuesday, June 20 | 2:00 PM | City Council | Vote on Final Passage of Bill as Amended if additional committee time is needed |
Downtown Seattle Environmental Review Thresholds
Land Use Committee Chair, Councilmember Dan Strauss is considering a proposal to adjust the thresholds for environmental review of development in Downtown Seattle under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The proposal would exempt residential buildings with up to 200 units and buildings with up to 30,000 square feet of non-residential space from environmental review based on new provisions in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) section 197-11-800. Currently those thresholds are 20 residential units or 12,000 square feet of non-residential space.
The proposed new thresholds are needed because downtown Seattle exceeded the anticipated levels of growth that were estimated under Seattle’s most recent Comprehensive Plan. Before downtown Seattle exceeded that level of growth, projects with 250 residential units or 30,000 square feet of non-residential space were exempted from review under SEPA.
Please see the Draft Bill here.
Please see a report on how the requirements for environmental analysis, protection and mitigation for impacts to elements of the environment are currently addressed through other City, State and Federal regulations here.
Councilmember Strauss welcomes your input. Written comments on the legislation will be accepted through 5:00 PM on June 5, 2023. Please send comments to Kate Hoffman in Councilmember Dan Strauss’ office, via e-mail at: Kate.Hoffman@seattle.gov or by mail to:
Councilmember Dan Strauss
Seattle City Council
600 4th Avenue, 2nd Floor
PO Box 34025
Seattle, WA 98124-4025