Over Five Hours of Public Testimony Concerning Proposed Comprehensive Plan – hundreds of Seattle residents share their views

February 7, 2025. Hundreds of Seattle homeowners, renters, special interest groups and community organizations shared their views concerning the proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Plan designed to guide growth in Seattle over the next 20 years. Lines of concerned Seattle residents stood in line for hours to share their views. Below are several articles, from an array of publications representing varying political and policy positions and slants, describing the February 5th public hearing and what residents shared:

Hundreds pack City Hall, fill overflow room for final public hearing on Seattle’s growth plan – KUOW

12+ things CHS heard at the Seattle comprehensive plan update public hearing – CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News

Housing Advocates Outnumber ‘One Seattle’ Opponents, Moore and Rivera Back Opponents – The Urbanist

The Comp Plan Committee Public Comment Hearing Was a Warzone – The Stranger

Councilmembers Claim City Didn’t Do “Broad Engagement” on Comprehensive Plan – Publicola

If interested in viewing the February 5th related to the Seattle City Council’s Select Committee on Comprehensive Plan Public Hearing, click here.

First Public Hearings on Seattle’s Proposed Comprehensive Plan

February 4, 2025. The Seattle City Council is starting to take public comments in response to the proposed One Seattle Plan, the comprehensive city planning document that outlines Seattle’s vision for growth and development over the next 20 years. As proposed, the plan will be focusing on increasing housing affordability, promoting equity across neighborhoods, creating more walkable communities, and prioritizing climate-resilient infrastructure, all while guiding where new housing, jobs, transportation investments, and public amenities will be located within the city.

The Seattle City Council’s Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan, comprised of all nine council members, met today to discuss elements of the Comprehensive Plan and receive public comment. The committee is expected to vote on the proposed Comprehensive Plan package in May or June 2025, which the entire council will then vote on.

The full Seattle City Council is holding a public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan this Wednesday, February 5, at 5 p.m. In-person commenters will be prioritized between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., followed by testimony from commenters calling in by phone. Online sign-up to provide phone testimony will open at 4 p.m. that day.

The Comprehensive Plan has drawn interest from various groups, special interests, and neighborhood residents. The hearings will likely be lively, and many commenters will weigh in during the public hearing.

Seattle City Council begins discussions on proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Growth Plan

UPDATED January 27, 2025. The Seattle City Council’s first meeting of 2025 previewed the debate over Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Plan, which will guide the city’s growth over the next twenty years. We are linking several articles on the topic, representing various publications and policy positions (see below)

You can stay informed on the work of the select Seattle City Council Committee currently overseeing the 2025 Comprehensive Plan (“One Seattle Plan”) Renewal Process here. A public hearing will be held on February 5, 2025, at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers. To learn more, click here.

More concrete, less green: A cautionary tale about upzoning from South Park. Seattle Times, January 27, 2025. Alex Fryer, Seattle Times Opinion columnist

Contentious debate over the Comprehensive Plan comes to city council. KUOW, January 14, 2025. Libby Denkmann & Hans Anderson, authors

Upzoning Seattle May Trigger Political Freakouts, Post Alley, January 14, 2025. David Neiman, author.

Moore Leads Housing Backlash in Seattle Council’s First Comprehensive Plan Meeting. The Urbanist, January 7, 2025. Doug Trumm, author.

Fault lines emerge as Seattle Council takes up housing plan. Seattle Times, January 7, 2025. David Kroman, reporter.

Local Groups Push to Block Housing in Seattle’s Proposed Neighborhood Centers. The Urbanist, December 30, 2024. Ryan Packer, author.

Seattle city council member concerned over comprehensive plan update process. January 7, 2025. The Center Square, Spencer Pauley, author.

Councilmember Rivera calls on OPCD to provide more details, transparency as part of the draft Comprehensive Plan. January 6, 2025. City Council News Releases

Anti-Housing Activists Hope for Receptive Audience as Council Takes Up Comprehensive Plan Update. January 7, 2025. Erica Barnett, author.

Magnolia Streetlight Pilot Project 95% Complete

January 16, 2025. The Magnolia Chamber of Commerce reports that the Seattle City Light (SCL) pilot program to replace aging streetlighting in Magnolia is 95% complete. Magnolia Chamber board member Dave Goodell has worked tirelessly to assist SCL, providing collaborative opportunities for community members to decide on a new streetlight model that meets environmental standards and the preferred warmer color output levels appropriate for a residential area like Magnolia.

In 2023, many Magnolia residents participated in a survey to help select the attractive “post-top” design that met new energy-saving requirements. It is exciting to see the new beautiful streetlights featuring the Ancestra fixture in a light grey color chosen by the neighborhood!

Thank you to Dave Goodell for his leadership in working with Seattle City Light, helping to guide the survey, seeking public input, and supporting our community. The result is beautiful, functional, and sustainable community lighting that improves driving visibility, pedestrian safety, and crime deterrence.

Orange highlighted area show locations for new streetlights.
Ancestral LED streetlight fixture selected by the community and installed by Seattle City Light.

Update on Land Use Planning Proposals – public comments due Dec. 20th

December 19, 2024. Public comments are due tomorrow, Friday, December 20th, concerning the proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Plan, which guides the city’s decisions on where to locate specific types of housing in neighborhoods such as Magnolia. In addition to the Comprehensive Plan, the Mayor proposes the Fort Lawton Redevelopment project, which began planning in 2019. The goal is to build as many as 500 new affordable housing units and add 22 acres of parkland. With several processes yet to go, the city is drafting a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that will likely go out to the public for review and comment in early 2025.

The Magnolia Chamber offered comments on the proposed One Seattle Comprehensive Plan. We focused on better understanding and encouraging transparency in the city as the plan proposes upzoning and the doubling of available housing in Seattle. We want to learn more about how the city will invest in transportation, public utilities, public education, environmental protection, and other public assets to support the proposed plan’s goals and objectives.

Magnolia, Interbay, & Queen Anne Hubs – emergency preparedness and actions for our neighborhoods

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Queen Anne Hub

       Located next to the Queen Anne Community Center at 1901 – 1st Avenue West

Magnolia Hub

     Located near the Magnolia Community Center at 3301 West Smith Street

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November 18, 2024. Following a major disaster, city services in Seattle will be overwhelmed. A network of about 60 organized Hubs, including the Magnolia, Queen Anne, and Interbay or MIQA Hubs, will activate in predetermined locations.

The MIQA Hubs are activated near community centers, including the Magnolia Community Center, to exchange information and provide neighbors with a place and process for matching their skills and resources with other neighbors’ needs.

Our neighborhood Hubs use two-way radios to get news from adjacent hubs and to support mutual aid around the neighborhoods and from adjacent hubs. Seattle Emergency Hubs network is independent of the city of Seattle, but coordinates with local and regional emergency services where possible.

To help our neighborhood BEFORE a crisis, MIQA Hubs provide periodic drills, preparedness materials for renters, homeowners, buildings, businesses, and organizations, and free training. This includes stocking basic supplies like water and food, each person’s responsibility. We are linking a PowerPoint with information, volunteer requests, and other details we should all know about and engage in as a community: MIQA Hubs

MIQA Hubs is operated solely by neighborhood volunteers who plan for risk reduction and resilience. Everyone’s welcome to join us to learn and practice together. Click here to learn more.

Make your safety and policing concerns heard in Seattle Safety Survey

November 18, 2024. We cordially invite all Magnolia Chamber of Commerce members participate in the 10th year of the Seattle Public Safety Survey, We suggest that it is vitally important that the city hear from all who live and/or work in Seattle about their experiences and views of public safety in neighborhoods.

The Seattle Public Safety Survey, conducted by the Seattle University Crime & Justice Research Center, is collecting responses through Nov. 30 at publicsafetysurvey.org. The survey informs the Seattle Police Department’s Micro-Community Policing Plans, which aim to meaningfully address public safety by understanding and directing resources reflecting the unique needs of the city’s neighborhoods.

As editorialize in the Seattle Times, results from years past show that perceptions of crime and public safety change from year to year, differ across neighborhoods, and that what people think about crime and police, their neighbors, and their ability to play a role in public safety affects their neighborhood quality of life.

Participants and police discuss the survey results in dialogue sessions and look for ways to work together to increase public safety. Survey results are available on SPD’s Micro-Community Policing Plans site (st.news/communitypolicing).

Take the Seattle Public Safety Survey today. It’s an opportunity for everyone who lives and/or works in Seattle to identify public safety concerns. Respondents can share more detailed thoughts about public safety in an open-ended question at the end of the survey.

The Felines Have It – “Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe” is the winner of the 2nd Annual Pet Costume Contest

November 4, 2024. The Magnolia Chamber of Commerce is delighted to announce that two adorable kitty cats have won the Second Annual Pet Costume Contest. The “Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe‘ entry was far and away the favorite of all the voters attending the annual Halloween Trick & Treat in the Village, who not only had fun visiting all the Magnolia Village merchants but stopped by our booth to cast their votes.

The 2024 Pet Costume Contest Winner – “Lion, Witch, & Wardrobe”

The votes tallied for second and third places were very close, indeed — separated by just two votes. But after careful counting, the second-place entry was “Inmate Juniper,” and third place went to “Up Russell.” Fourth place went to “Hansel & Gretel,” and fifth place was “Benny Mummy.”

Thank you to those who visited our voting table to cast their ballot for their favorite pet costume finalist. We thoroughly enjoyed all the voting enthusiasm and Halloween fun. And, of course, we thank all our brave and creative contestants – felines and canines alike, who willingly let their owners dress them up and sit still for a photo! Great job, everyone.

2nd place – “Inmate Juniper”
Third place – “Up Russell”
Fourth place – “Hansel & Gretel”
Fifth place – “Benny Mummy”

Revised Draft Comprehensive Plan proposes changes to the Magnolia neighborhood zoning plans

October 18, 2024. On Wednesday, October 16th, Mayor Bruce Harrell released new details of the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan Update and proposed zoning maps. Though the first draft of the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan Update, released in March 2024, offered little change to the growth patterns of Magnolia and the peninsula, the latest draft proposes significant changes that would affect Magnolia Village and the surrounding neighborhood as well as the surrounding neighborhoods in north Magnolia along 34th Ave. W from W. Barrett to Government Way.

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s latest iteration of his growth strategy and zoning plans proposes more housing supply for all affordability levels across Seattle and in every neighborhood, including Magnolia. The significantly changed proposal from March purports to meet future growth demands while improving affordability for all. The proposal seeks to reduce the areas designated for single-family homes while increasing multi-dwelling housing and affordable units within multi-storied buildings.

For Magnolia, the newest plan would add new zoning for multi-dwelling, multi-story buildings around Magnolia Village, thereby upzoning many streets to allow for higher-density housing. These residential streets are currently zoned for single-family homes, many 50 to 100 years old, with a distinct residential flavor. In addition, the same upzoning is proposed along several streets north Magnolia from W. Barrett St. and several blocks east and west along 34th Ave. W. to Government Way. The proposed upzoning would affect blocks of single-family residential lots and allow for the building of multi-story, multi-person dwellings. The plan also allows for multi-homes to be placed on currently single home lots throughout the neighborhood.

The Magnolia Chamber plans to learn more about the proposal, seek input from our members, and collaborate with other community groups to address the proposal. We strongly urge our members to review the newly released plan and share your thought both with the Chamber and most importantly, the city using their various forums and tools for commenting.

For more information, here are some articles and sites:

Join the QA Community Council on Oct. 2nd – District 8 City Council Debate – virtual!

Join the Queen Anne Community Council virtually on Wednesday, October 2nd at 7 pm for an engaging discussion with Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Tanya Woo, candidates for Seattle’s City-wide Council Position 8.

After hearing from both during the primary, this hour-long event will allow virtual participants to delve deeper into community-driven concerns and hear their perspectives.

Don’t miss this chance to get informed and involved. Sign up HERE to attend.