Seattle City Council Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan Public Hearing Session II 6/23/2025

Welcome back, everyone.

It's good to have you be here in person.

The time is 3.01 p.m.

I'm Joy Hollingsworth, Chair of the Select Committee.

It is good to see every, oh, before I start that, will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Moore.

Council President Nelson.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council Member, Council President Nelson.

Present.

Thank you.

Council Member DiVetta.

Council Member Sacca.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Solomon.

Here.

And Chair Hollingsworth.

I'm here.

Seven present.

Awesome.

Thank you all for being here.

It's good to see you all.

If you are my mom's generation who's a baby boomer and I say, hey, it's good to see you, she responds back, it's good to be seen.

So that is one thing that is good to know.

It's good to be seen.

Welcome to session two of the public hearing of both the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan and the permanent legislation for House Bill 1110. Public hearing is specifically for us to hear community feedback on each pieces of legislation before we develop amendments.

Of course, we have been engaging with our constituents, hearing what you have to say about your communities, and this is a repeat from this morning as well, but we have, the neighborhood walks we have listened to people we've received thousands of emails and will continue to receive emails and engage with people and connect with people about the comprehensive plan because we want to make sure that we are getting this right for our neighborhood as we've heard a lot of people talk about how important that this process is and also that this legislation is for the future of our city today's public hearing has been broken into two sessions we did our first session this morning That was at 9.30 and that was reserved for online.

Today, our registration started at 2.30 and will remain open until 6.30.

That means that if you are in line, you come after work, you are in line downstairs to sign up, it will remain open.

I also would like to state that we have made this public hearing, we started a little bit early so we could be able to have waves of people so it wasn't all at one time.

So if there's ever a time where we don't have a public comment speaker, if we move through folks, we will go to recess for the council, but we will continue to wait for people to sign up to make sure that we're hearing from everyone.

So this public hearing doesn't end after the last speaker.

If we are finishing before 6.30, the cutoff period for people signing up, that we will continue.

We'll just go to recess if we don't have anyone else signed up.

So we make sure that we are hearing folks.

So I just wanted to let my colleagues know.

Also, a couple things.

If you feel passionate about what a speaker is saying, I know many of you have been here before.

We're just asking you all to use jazz hands.

You can dance, you can do back flips, back behind this there.

I'm serious.

You want to do backflips?

This three doors are open.

It's a long hallway.

OK, so we could do backflips.

You could do a running start, whatever you want.

But just to show support, we just really appreciate you all honoring that as well, just so we can hear the next speakers as we are listening for as we're doing public comment.

This is also important, so before you come up to speak at the mic, if you could state your name, just so we can make sure that we are marking the correct folks, and also which council bill that you are addressing, you could be addressing the entire comprehensive plan, specifically House Bill 1110 or both, but we would love your help on that as well so you could let us know what you are addressing as well.

And I will stop there and pause to see if my colleagues have any questions that they want to ask.

No?

And let the record reflect, we're joined by Council Member Rivera as well in person.

Thank you so much.

That was her question, her to mouth, I'm here.

So that was, you are here.

Thank you, Council Member Rivera.

Are there any questions left or right?

Y'all are, it's too easy money.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you.

And then the next thing that we'll do is we will have our clerk, will you please read item one into the, well, you already read it.

Now can we have, excuse me, can you read the instructions for public comment?

Yes.

The public hearing will be moderated in the following manner.

The in-person public commenters will be called upon in the order registered.

If you have not registered to speak but would like to, you can sign up on the sign-up sheet outside chambers prior to 6.30 p.m.

Registration will close at 6.30 p.m.

Numbers will be called in groups of 10 at one time.

Please line up in numerical order.

There are two podiums.

Please adjust your mics when you are approaching the microphone.

Begin your comments by stating your name and which bill you are addressing.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left at their allotted time.

Speakers do not end their comments at the end of the allotted time provided.

The speaker's microphones will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

Awesome.

And also let me say this as well.

I know one minute is not a lot of time.

And so I get that.

I also know that last time in February 5th, we had over 400 people sign up and we wanted to make sure that we were, we didn't know how many people were going to sign up today.

And so that's why we put a minute because I wanted to make sure that we were able to hear everyone and also cognizant and knowing too that as well that the speakers, a lot of speakers who did not get to speak were more of our young folks who were working all day and didn't get a chance to speak at that public hearing as well.

Let the record reflect that we have Council Member Moore in person as well.

Thank you, Council Member Moore.

So I know that one minute is not a lot of time, but I really appreciate you all working with us.

A couple reminders, you can still email the council, you can email all of us, your thoughts about the comprehensive plan.

Also, if you are in certain people's district, I know that other people have met with people one-on-one, they've done walking tours, they've met with people, they've met with groups.

So you're more than welcome to do that as well, to get a one-on-one conversation as well.

And there's also public comment on our Tuesday meetings at two o'clock.

We also still have our land use committee meetings with the chair, council member Solomon, where people can come public comment as well.

And then there's also our select use committees that will be having public comment as well.

So there's still time to engage and connect with council members.

So I just wanted to make sure that people knew that as well.

And we will start with the first speakers.

We're gonna, one and two are cross off, so we're gonna go through three through 10. Three through 10, are they by number?

They are, okay, sorry.

Thank you.

I should have known that.

Okay, you all are by number, but number three through 10, we have Cecilia Black, number three, number four, Christina, number five, June, number six, five, June, six, Rachel, seven, Jeff, eight, Judy, number nine, another, Julie Holland.

And give us one second, Cecilia, good to see you.

All right, and then so numbers three through 10, we're going through three through 10. Hold on, we'll just make sure people are kind of getting set before we go.

And then, Cecilia, you're gonna kick us off.

You are number one today.

Number three, technically, but number one in my book.

All right.

Is this good?

Can you hear me?

Yeah, just, yeah, if, can someone with the microphone maybe just help?

Thank you, Cecilia.

We want to make sure we hear your comments.

That should be easier.

Yep.

Awesome.

Winner.

Thank you.

My name is Cecilia Black and I am testifying on the comprehensive plan.

I'm a D4 renter and community organizer at Disability Rights Washington.

And I am asking you to add a minimum restore all previous neighborhood centers to their original proposal.

This comprehensive plan was our opportunity to confront the racism and segregation that is underlying foundation of our current zoning.

And the city is failing to meet the moment.

Every person has a right to share their voice, but we don't have the right to block other community members' needs.

And the most recent scaling back of neighborhood centers shows a reference to homeowners that does just that.

Neighborhood centers are the only new complete communities we are proposing.

For people with disabilities who face extensive barriers to housing and transportation, this is a lifeline.

If you care at all about renters, about people with disabilities, you will work and expand the neighborhood centers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Cecilia.

Number four, Christina, followed by number five, June.

I am deaf.

Understood.

Thank you.

We'll go ahead and can we adjust for two minutes?

I just need somebody to let me know when my time's almost done.

I can't see that.

I'm sorry.

Understood.

That's perfect.

That'll work.

Hello, and thank you for having this today.

My name's Christina Savitsky, and I'm a homeless disabled veteran on the north end of Seattle.

And I'm talking today about the comprehensive plan.

And when reading the comprehensive plan, I did not see enough that addresses wheelchair access among housing within our community whether it's for people like me who are on the streets or even people with higher economic needs.

We need more in our plan and more reinforcement and enforcement of wheelchair access within units of our plan.

I've been homeless on our streets for almost three years trying to get into a wheelchair accessible unit for myself and my caregivers, it is almost impossible to find wheelchair accessible rentals in the city of Seattle.

We need to do more to include that in our plan so people like myself, and I'm not the only homeless person in a wheelchair, but we need to do more with ADA access within our housing, whether ADU, other property.

However, we just need to include our wheelchair, individuals with wheelchairs.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, thank you for coming.

Next we have number five, June, followed by number six, seven, eight, nine, and 10, if you could come to the front.

Hello, I'm June Blue Spruce.

I live in District Two and I'm speaking to both bills.

Our public health and anti-displacement infrastructures require tree equity.

Extreme heat disproportionately affects low canopy neighborhoods like the Central District, South Park, and Rainier Valley.

communities already bearing the brunt of historic disinvestment.

These same neighborhoods now face higher ground temperatures, worse air quality, and increased displacement pressures.

When tree canopy disappears, neighborhoods become hotter, less livable, and more expensive to cool.

That forces seniors and working families, many of whom rent or live on fixed incomes, out of the city.

A climate justice approach means embedding tree protections into our anti-displacement strategy, preserving trees on private redevelopment lots, investing in community-led greeting, and ensuring all housing, including public and subsidized housing, has real access to shade and breathable outdoor space.

Thank you, and thanks to my colleague Lois Martin for her leadership.

Thank you, June.

Followed by Rachel, number six, seven, Jeff Briggs.

I'm Rachel Nathanson.

I'm here to speak on the Comprehensive Plan.

I've previously provided my testimony for more density in the city, and I've stated that to invite this density, we must put protections in place to ensure that we don't grow into an endless concrete landscape with no tree canopy.

There is a way to support more density and create a viable pathway to the city's stated goal of a 30% tree canopy.

I come here today, along with many other in this room and even more at home, to ask you, our elected council members, to provide for a viable tree canopy in our city's future.

We are 20 organized neighborhoods with one voice.

We are the residents, the constituents.

We are the voters.

We will be here when the ink is dry, and we will live with what you create here.

The builders will take the money they make and leave.

They are not your voters.

Please do the right thing.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Rachel.

And just a reminder, when you hear the click, the ring, it means you still have 10 seconds, okay?

So it doesn't mean you're getting cut off.

It means you still have 10 seconds.

Number seven, Jeff Briggs, followed by eight, Judy, nine, Julie Holland, and 10, number 10.

Hi, I'm Jeff Briggs and I'm speaking to the comprehensive plan, specifically the parts addressing neighborhood residential.

In my Wedgwood neighborhood, the smallest, most affordable houses are being demolished and replaced.

All the trees are cut down and everything on the lot is bulldozed.

Not for something we need, but for something nobody wants.

Million dollar tombstone houses packed together shoulder to shoulder.

This is not middle housing.

This is not gentle density.

This is greed.

Trees and neighborhood character are among the victims.

And as an architect, I'm quite upset.

The One Seattle Plan is our chance to change course.

But as it stands, it might as well be called the One Big Beautiful Plan.

Another mechanism by which wealth is transferred from the many to the few.

The road to middle housing is not paved.

It is grown.

How?

The answer is not less constraints on these properties, but more.

Protecting trees and open space while promoting compact structures results in more affordable units, true middle housing with neighborhood character, the space for families, and the amenities we all deserve.

Thank you, Jeff.

Next we have Judy, and this is just a reminder too, the clock is not starting until after you start your comments.

When you state your name and what you're addressing, that's just leading into it.

So just so you all know, that doesn't cut into your time.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Judy Akulaitis.

I'm speaking on both.

State Representative Jerry Paulette's June 2nd memo states, middle housing legislation does not preempt tree preservation and explicitly allows for tree preservation ordinances to be applied.

He says that Seattle should meet its climate policies through tree ordinances that preserve from development the best remaining mature tree canopy in the face of dramatic loss of trees in recent years.

Please disregard the reckless pressure from the Master Builders Association and pass an amendment that protects and saves space for trees.

One of our most powerful and free tools for public health and neighborhood livability.

Appreciate you.

Thanks.

Thank you so much, Judy.

Next we have Julie Holland, number nine and number 10. Aria.

I apologize if I mispronounced your name.

Number nine and 10. And then on deck after that is 11 through 20.

Hi, Julie.

Hello.

Hello.

I'm Julie Holland, representing the South Lake Union Community Council on the comprehensive plan.

Recently, a significant zoning loophole was identified, the ability to insert a major zoning change into a minor amendment ordinance that can compromise the comprehensive plan.

This happened recently via the 2024 Omnibus Ordinance, when one of its 85 municipal codes did not meet the criteria for inclusion.

The purpose?

To correct typographical errors to make minor amendments.

Is a rezone from 240 to 140 feet a zoning typographical error?

The content is a non-project action applicable citywide.

Does the municipal code written in such a way that it is for one project on one block in one community meet this requirement?

We urge the city to ensure that zoning decisions are fully transparent, a standalone process, inclusive of robust multi-

No worries, thank you.

And you can also, if you want to leave your comments there, you can send them in to us as well.

Yeah, if you want to, you don't have to.

If you wrote something bad about us, we don't want to.

Okay, awesome.

No, I'm just fine.

Thank you, Julie.

Next, Aria, number 10. Hi, Aria, come on through.

Hello, I'm Aria and I'm 12 years old and I live in Northeast Seattle.

I'm here to urge you to protect our tree canopy even as Seattle grows.

While developers can clear cut entire lots, we can't replace our mature trees fast enough with the weak replanting requirements we currently have.

We can increase our housing and preserve our mature trees.

Two simple examples are requiring developers to provide alternate site plans before removing large trees, encouraging shared exterior walls and clustered homes to preserve cheap tree coverage.

The community has given you lots of suggestions and ideas for both keeping trees and building housing.

It's just a matter of commitment on your part.

As a young person speaking up for the trees and the planet, it's my generation that will inherit a city that isn't safe to live in, summer or winter, under this plan.

Awesome.

Thank you, Aria.

You are a part of the alpha generation, one of my favorite generations.

All right.

No knock on my own.

11 through 20 is next.

So Joe, yep, 11 through 20, followed by Joe is Julia, then Jennifer Godfrey, then Sean.

I don't know how I follow that.

So I'm Joe Olson and I'm addressing both, I guess.

Dan's already heard some of this, but I just want to emphasize that we can have both density and we can maintain and preserve our mature trees.

And one simple thing you can do is preserve the offsets or the setbacks that we already have, increase the height limit by two stories or three stories.

So that way you have stacked flats, you've got the same number of units, And you've got the trees as well.

Because as we know, the trees are, I've got a half a minute left.

That's all I had to say, really.

But they stop, or they reduce the runoff.

And they cool the surface water for the salmon.

really important for the ORCAS as well.

And we know that the comprehensive plan right now is being appealed.

So it's something you guys should look at to maybe correct before that's done.

Thank you.

Thank you, Joe.

Number 12, Julia, followed by 13. So we have 11 through 20. You are up.

So if you will start making your way up.

Julia, you're up.

Yes, Julia Beabelt.

I'm here to comment on the comprehensive plan on behalf of the Downtown Community Council.

With Seattle's rapidly growing population, downtown has transformed from a commercial core to a vibrant residential neighborhood.

This shift though has yet to be reflected in opportunities for residents to engage in decisions that directly impact their neighborhood and their lives.

Two points of particular concern are the comprehensive plans future land use map has yet to show any new zoning for the downtown neighborhood.

These zoning changes will be made later this year after the overall plan is approved.

This leaves downtown residents in the dark and unable to provide relevant input.

Additionally, some of the planning is being conducted directly out of the mayor's office.

So far, this has been a one-way process with the public having little to no input.

We ask you to work with the downtown and other urban community councils to create meaningful opportunities for residents to engage.

The 108,000 downtown residents activate this.

Thank you, Julia.

Speakers number 13 through 20 are up, 13 through 20. Hi, Jennifer.

Jennifer, I'm commenting on both.

So we can build needed density while protecting the environment.

Portland is doing it.

The GMA requires tree protection.

We need truly affordable housing, not Tombstone McMansions masquerading as affordable housing.

How can the city of Seattle implement the growth plan with a faulty environmental impact statement that excluded critically endangered southern resident orcas, amongst other inadequacies?

Why would a so-called progressive city block the public's right to use an established appeal process for an environmental impact statement?

My EIS appeal was dismissed with a misinterpretation of SEPA exemptions, which could set precedent so that no one can appeal a bad EIS.

This dismissal is pending appeal in the Washington State Court of Appeals right now.

Many replicated studies show that close proximity to trees within two blocks resulted in higher birth weights for babies, lower death rates, and cardiovascular disease.

Results were greater with older trees.

From the most published U.S. researcher on the subject, Jeff Donovan of the USDA.

Bigger trees are like bigger straws.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Next we have number 14, Speaker Sean, followed by Susan McCormick.

16, Doug Lindt.

Hi, my name is Sharon Doby, and I'm speaking to both.

As a former urban planner, I know we need affordable housing.

Density, affordable housing, and trees should be compatible.

So far, affordability seems to just be a buzzword in this planning.

On my street, two multi-unit lots were developed for an average of over a million each per home.

Please get real and have planners actually plan for affordability.

And I'm speaking till I'm blue in the face about trees.

Please redo the ordinance and move it out of SDCI.

Even Tier 1 trees have not been protected at all in this plan.

Look at what has come down this year.

The former NR Heights lot coverage and setbacks protect trees and more.

Madrona is slated as a neighborhood center, and it could actually extend to the flatter area along Cherry, but should not go either side of 34th because of slopes.

And lastly, the neighborhood center of Madrona includes Madrona Drive, which has a wetland at the top, steep slope,

Thank you, Sharon.

Next we have Susan McCormick, number 15, Doug Lynn, number 16, followed by Morgan Robinson, number 17. Hello, Susan.

Hello, I'm Susan from Madrona.

I'm speaking to the One Seattle Plan CB120985.

We have a petition signed by more than 1,330 concerned citizens.

We support middle housing and we're requesting a few changes.

I'd like to talk about two specific issues today.

First, we're concerned about the boundaries of the proposed Madrona Neighborhood Center, which extend both east and west of 34th Avenue into steep slope areas.

There's even a five-block stretch of 36th Avenue that's so steep there's not a single east-west cross street, only footpaths and stairs.

The boundary should be adjusted to exclude the steep slopes.

Second, we believe that the increased density does not make sense on very steep slopes, particularly in known landslide areas, such as Madrona Drive near the end of the Route 2 bus corridor.

We request that you remove the steep slope and landslide areas from any planned upzoning along the road.

Thank you.

Thank you, Susan.

Thank you, Susan.

Number 16, Doug Lind, followed by 17. Morgan, just a reminder that buzzer means you still have 10 seconds left to still talk.

It's just a timer.

Hi, my name is Doug Lind, and I'm speaking to the One Seattle Plan.

In 1989, I built a house on the last vacant lot on Madrona Drive.

It's steep, subject to landslides and underground water, and backs onto a ravine.

I planted a dozen trees, and they've now grown to over 60 feet tall.

There are many such lots in Seattle, and they are not protected under the current proposals.

When you're considering changes to the One Seattle Plan, I urge you to protect trees, to protect the landslide areas from overdevelopment, and to safeguard our common future.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next we have Morgan, followed by 18, 19, and 20.

Hi, Morgan Robinson.

Thank you city council for listening to us.

I've talked to you extensively in the past about steep slopes.

Today I'm gonna address something a little different.

The FAR question.

If you look at the coverage for a one-house lot, 5,000 square feet, and you think about the existing FAR is 0.5 and it goes to 0.6, that's a very interesting thing because what it does is it makes that lot much more developable as a single house.

And if you can imagine a middle house It looks like a teardown if you can build a much bigger house on the same lot.

I urge you for single family houses, not to change the FAR to make it attractive to tear them down and build something bigger.

Thank you.

Thank you, Morgan.

Next we have speaker number 18, 19 and 20. So 18, 19 and 20. That one might be, yeah, you're good.

My name is Augie.

I'm 15 years old.

My South Seattle neighborhood currently only has a 6% tree canopy coverage.

And because of this, we have much more concrete and pavement than actual trees.

Even in our public spaces that were specifically designed for trees, there will only be like one, maybe two.

And because of that, all of the plants have started dying.

We just end up with these fields of dry grass.

And especially in our commercial zones, this has been an issue.

We can't even walk to get groceries without just getting baked in the sun and the concrete from the roads coming back up and heating you back up.

There's like no tree cover in any of our public spaces right now.

I think we should follow Portland's example and make space for trees a very high priority and require even dedicated tree retention and planting areas.

Sea Council, if you can help these people who live in urban heat islands by maintaining space trees.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Next, we have speaker number 19, Hans, and then 20, Susan Ward.

Hello everyone.

My name is Hans Schieffer and I'm 16 years old.

I hope that the Seattle of my future still has majestic dug furs that can suck up to 100 gallons water per day because we will need them.

I hope that the Seattle of my future is a livable place with clustered housing and enough green space on every property for a big tree because we will need them.

I hope that the Seattle of my future will have laws like Portland which require between 20 and 40 percent tree canopy on each lot because we will need them.

I hope that the Seattle of my future will still have an urban forest because we will need it.

City Council, I hope that you will make a livable plan for my generation, one that preserves and makes room for trees because we will need them.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Hans.

And shout out to our young people, young people under the age of 18, but our young people who come and speak.

Susan Ward, and then before you go, Susan, on deck, ages, not ages, I'm sorry.

Numbers, ages 21, you want that age, 21?

Numbers 21 through 30, you are next.

21 through 30, Susan Ward, age 20.

Once upon a time.

Good afternoon, council members.

Amendments can protect or destroy.

Amendments placed on the current tree code made it possible to cut any tree a developer decided was in the way.

A few amendments to the comprehensive plan could preserve our urban canopy, help us reach the 30% goal, and keep our city in line with Washington state law.

Remove the loophole in section 25.11.070 that permits at will tree removal.

Cutter designs that ignore existing green space require developers to provide alternative plants which preserve a mature tree.

Reduce the proposed allowable hardscape.

Keep existing setbacks where most tall trees are.

Require 20 to 40% unpaved greenscape, depending on the number of units.

and prioritizing the retention of mature trees rather than dividing it into tiny plots.

We can increase density and keep a livable city, prevent heat islands, and protect...

Thank you so much.

Numbers 21 through 30. We have Jessica Dixon followed by Sandra Hunt, Martha, Ruth, Christy.

Yes.

So number 21. Awesome.

And then followed by 22 and 23. We can all count.

My name is Jessica Dixon, and I'm commenting on the comp plan.

We're rapidly losing our urban canopy, especially our large trees, once called exceptional and for a good reason.

These trees do an exceptional job of cooling and cleaning our air, intercepting stormwater, producing oxygen, and storing carbon.

This is perhaps the last chance that we have to protect what remains and to grow our future urban canopy, and therefore I urge you to make the following amendments to Council Bill 120-993.

Eliminate setback reductions that limit essential space for trees.

Follow Portland's example and require a dedicated tree retention and planting area on every site.

Increase tree requirements on new developments and discard the tree point system and remove section 2511070. Keep the flexible guidelines under 2511060. Encourage building to get creative with foundation systems to save big trees.

These trees are at risk in my neighborhood right now.

I'm in District 6. This is not about housing versus trees.

It's about building housing as if people and the environment

Thank you, Jessie.

Next speaker, number 22, Sandra, followed by Martha, 23. Or Sandra.

Sandra or Sandy, yeah.

My bad, thank you.

Sandra Hunt.

You've heard a lot of wonky talk here from folks that I don't disagree with any of, but I'm a 20 year resident of, of Beacon Hill and all I've really seen is tree loss.

Tree loss when McMansions or whatever you wanna call them in our neighborhood are put up and all the trees are cut around them.

My neighbors stand around and they're arguing with the developer over where their lot line is.

Is this the way to run a city?

I mean, when trees are on the edges of lots, We need to look comprehensively at how they're impacting all the people around them, not just the person who owns that lot and that developer who's trying to build one of those million dollar boxes there.

So please come up with strategies that allow us to keep the trees that are at the edges, that protect our south end residents from the air...

pollution that is raining down on us, and those trees are critical for us, for our health and our safety.

Thank you so much.

Speaker number 23, followed by 24.

All right, good afternoon.

Thanks for taking the time for these important issues.

I'm speaking to both the Comp Plan and HB 1110. My name is Martha Baskin, but my writing, I guess you can't read it, can you?

Healthy communities, environmental justice, climate resilience, protections for trees, and housing for every income level are interconnected.

They're a constellation of achievable goals for an emerald city where economic and health disparities will no longer be accepted.

The state's middle housing bill, legislation HB 1110, which prompted proposed changes to zoning, doesn't tell cities to ignore protecting trees and green buffers.

Instead, it explicitly allows for tree preservation ordinances, as has been mentioned, as Representative Jerry Paulette wrote to you on June 2nd.

Preservation of trees is, in fact, part of the state's mandate in the middle housing legislation.

H-1110 requires allowing four units per lot, he noted, but the legislature took special action to ensure that tree preservation ordinances were not preempted.

Leave it at that.

Thanks so much.

Thank you, Martha.

Next, Ruth at number 24. Awesome.

And then number 25, Christy, you are up after Ruth.

Hello, my name is Ruth Deit, retired planner with Friends of Queen Anne.

The 330,000 zone development capacity estimate is based on the 2024 zoning code.

Recent code changes are not included because unit capacities in NR and LR zones have since doubled and tripled.

Existing zone capacity is now at least two to three times higher.

Was this explained to you?

Doesn't it change the whole picture?

Isn't it worth asking again if we need to break 100-year-old building standards that will take the green out of our streets and expand high density so deeply into our neighborhoods?

For 10 years, my four-person family lived in an 800-square-foot home, a great starter home.

You could get six units in a building under our old NR code, bigger than my first home.

Ask staff to update its capacity estimates.

So we really know what we're doing and let's rethink everything.

Thank you, Ruth.

We have Christy, number 25 and then number 26, Kathleen.

So just, we are 25 through 30 is where we're at, 25 through 30. All right, awesome.

Are you Christy?

Yes.

Awesome.

I'm Christy Lommers.

I'm a Seattle Public Schools teacher.

I'm married to a retired Seattle Public Schools teacher.

The Lommers family are members of District 5, the Pinehurst neighborhood.

We could not afford a home in Seattle that a growing family could live in.

So in 2007, my father-in-law, a small town carpenter, volunteered to rebuild our tiny home during my father-in-law's last year of his career.

We expanded our home from 840 square feet to 2,300 square feet with these hands.

We kept every Douglas fir in our home design.

But now, after the sale of my neighbor's lot, The lot next door will be cleared of every tree including five native Douglas firs with an average tree trunk diameter of almost three feet.

The developers site plans show the new single family home and two ADUs will have almost no green space.

The health of every Douglas fir in our grove that extends over three neighboring lots and therefore the safety of my home that my family built.

Please amend the zoning bill to retain

Thank you so much, Christy.

Next, we have Kathleen, number 26, followed by 27, Don Silver.

Siller, I apologize.

Put a V on your last name.

Kathleen.

Good afternoon.

I'm Kathleen Southwick.

I'm speaking to both bills.

I am one of more than 600 neighbors on the north section of of 10th Avenue West who opposed the rezone of our street to LR3 based on OPCD's determination that the number one bus route offers frequent service, and that the arterial connects urban centers or to a major park.

This is not the case for this section of 10th Avenue West.

Based on our research, this is the only up zone where this criterion has been incorrectly applied.

We support Councilmember Kettle's Amendment 4 regarding setbacks on Queen Anne's Historic Boulevard, which includes our section of 10th Avenue West.

and ask that this be included in the permanent legislation.

When zoning changes are considered, we ask that all on the Queen Anne Boulevard be designated neighborhood residential.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kathleen.

We have Dawn Siller, number 27, and then followed by Thomas Kennedy, 28. 29, Nancy, you are gonna be up, and then 30,

I'm Dawn Seiler.

I'm speaking on the comp plan.

Thank you.

Queen Anne's comp plan.

Queen Anne Hill is an island in Seattle.

Within five blocks, the hill rises 450 feet.

Due to its sharp acceleration, there are only five arterials on and off the island, all single lane except Queen Anne Avenue.

Because there are no major highways through Queen Anne like 15th Avenue West, traffic is trapped on and off like sand in an hourglass.

In this 1,800-acre island, about 36,000 people live or 20 people per acre.

The mayor's plan calls for an increase of at least 20,000 or 31 per acre.

That's a 50% increase, increasing safety risk while reducing greenscapes and livability.

The mayor's plan is a major update that aligns our city's values to make Queen Anne Avenue more livable, sustainable, and resilient for generations to come.

But I ask, does this plan really achieve the goals for Queen Anne Hill for generations to come?

Thank you, Don.

Next, we have 28, Thomas Kennedy, followed by 29, and then 30.

Hi, my name is Thomas Kennedy, and I'm here for the comprehensive plan.

The first thing I want to say is we need more housing because we're years, if not decades, behind.

The second thing I want to talk about is stacked flats.

I have a lot of mobility issues with my feet and legs.

For this reason, much of our current housing stock poses a significant challenge for me.

If medium density options existed that would allow me to not need to go up the stairs to use the bathroom or the kitchen, it would take a huge weight off my shoulders.

I'm lucky enough to be renting a 1900-era duplex where my home is on the bottom floor, but these places are rare across the city and too hard to build now.

Stack flats also allow for the most tree coverage and greenery of any medium density housing option.

Please consider allowing stack flats, reducing setbacks, and increasing the floor area ratio to increase the housing stock for people like me.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Thomas.

Appreciate you coming.

Next we have 29, Nancy, followed by number 30, Megan.

I'm Nancy Gentow.

I live in Queen Anne, and I'm speaking to both bills.

I'm also a retired hospital administrator.

And I know if you have a heart attack or stroke, timeliness of first responders means the difference between full or partial recovery or death.

Permanent damage to heart muscle begins within 30 minutes of a heart attack.

Every minute delay in restoring blood from a stroke leads to 2 million dead brain cells.

City records for our fire station show emergency calls have almost doubled in the past five years, and travel time on narrow streets has increased with more pedestrians and traffic.

Last year, first responders were unavailable 14 percent of the time.

That's one day a week.

There's no emergency facility on Queen Anne.

Our closest hospital is in Ballard over a bridge often jammed with traffic.

Travel time to downtown hospitals is even worse.

Put safety first as you consider setbacks in urban centers that drive density and already crowded neighborhoods.

Someone's life depends on your decision.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nancy.

We have number 30. And then after 30 on deck, 31 through 40. So 31 through 40, you all are next.

Number 30, Megan.

Hi, everyone.

Good to see you again.

It's good to be seen.

My name is Megan McKiernan.

I'm from District 5. We frequently hear the comment that we need a bold plan to increase density and that protection of trees increases housing costs.

In 2022, Seattle was prepared to pass a tree ordinance that actually protected trees.

This was challenged by the Master Builders Association on the grounds that it would increase the overall cost of housing.

the city's hearing examiner ryan vancel wrote in his decision and i quote appellant's arguments that the draft proposal will increase the cost of development and will have negative impacts on the city housing supply were based on speculation not any actual quantitative analysis that was introduced into evidence So let's put this argument to bed and instead go bold on protecting our irreplaceable urban canopy.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Megan.

Next we have speakers number 31 through 40. If you could make your way.

31 through 40, we start with Dave Glogger.

followed by Sean, and I apologize if I mess up your name, Naomi, number 33, number 34, Sandy, and so 31 through 40.

Good afternoon.

My name is Dave Gloger from District 5, and to talk about both ordinances or both bills.

But specifically, I want to talk about 2511.70, the basic tree protection area in Seattle's tree ordinance.

This area is delineated using a radius that is equal to one foot for every inch diameter of a tree.

So if I have a two-foot diameter tree, This says we have a 24-foot tree protection area, which is going to go almost to the edge of the room.

Usually the tree is nowhere near the property, but that gives the developer the ability to cut the trees down.

This is not tree protection.

This is tree removal for developer convenience.

I ask you to remove 251170 from the tree ordinance and allow the standard tree protection area.

to be used.

This is what arborists use and even SDCI uses this when defining an area of protection during construction.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Dave.

Are you all going to leave the tape measure?

No?

Okay.

I'm just playing.

I'm just playing.

But that was the first time I've seen that.

Thank you for that visualization.

That was really good to see.

Thank you for that.

Dave, number 32. Is it Sean?

It is.

Awesome.

Sean, welcome.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Sean Holland.

I'm speaking on the Comprehensive Plan.

I'm one of 850 North Seattle residents who oppose the Bryant Center.

Bryant Center should be dropped from the Comprehensive Plan.

Unlike every other proposed center in North Seattle, Bryant Center lacks a commercial district.

There is one grocery store and one restaurant.

The ten other proposed centers average 23 retail establishments, including seven restaurants or other establishments serving food.

No other proposed center in North Seattle has fewer than 15 retail establishments.

Increasing residential density in Bryant Center without a local retail district will mean more people driving somewhere.

Bryant lacks a major transit stop, another one of the criteria to be a neighborhood center.

There's a single frequent transit bus line, no rapid ride center.

Their transit connections are not anything like what OPCD claims on the neighborhood profile.

The average actual transit time to and from Bryant to UW is fully twice with OPCD claims.

The tune from time to downtown is almost twice with OPCD claims.

Travel times can be verified on metros,

Thank you, Sean.

Next, we have Naomi.

Good to see you, Naomi, 33, and then followed by 34, Sandy.

So we're between 33 and 40 right now, numbers 33 and 40. Naomi, floor is yours.

Good afternoon, City Council.

It's nice to see you all again.

My name is Naomi Lewis, and I'm here to speak to both pieces of legislation about how density can create a more affordable city for everyone to live in.

I moved to Seattle in 2022 from Las Vegas because of the unique mix of urbanism and nature.

I stayed in Seattle because of the amazing community of people I've met here.

Every day people are being pushed out of the city because it's becoming more and more prohibitively expensive to live here.

If we want Seattle to continue to be the world-class city that it is, we need to allow for more density so more people are able to live here.

Personally, I love the thought of having more new neighbors.

Because of these reasons, I am asking you to use this once in a decade opportunity to support amendments to restore the neighborhood centers that we're taking out and to eliminate parking minimums.

Thank you so much for your time.

Awesome.

Thank you, Naomi.

Sandy?

Actually, we switched.

Oh, you switched.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

No, thank you.

What number?

Number 34?

34. Okay, awesome.

All right, go right ahead.

Hi, my name is Sarah Lapis, and I'm talking about the comp plan.

I'm from District 6. My son Ezekiel has spoken to you a few times about trees in the city, and I'm here to do the same.

Please amend your plan to include green space and tree retention requirements.

This is a picture of Ezekiel and his brother Arsenio climbing in a local western red cedar we love.

It's one of only 250 heritage trees in the city, but this lot just got bought by a developer, and sadly, nothing in our current tree code is guaranteeing that even a tree as exceptional as this one won't be cut down.

We plant a lot of trees, but that's not a solution for the climate challenges we face as a city.

Already, my kids can't even take an afternoon walk in many parts of our neighborhood for three months out of the year because it's too hot.

And we live in North Seattle.

What are the kids and what are the elders in Central and South Seattle experiencing where it's 13 degrees hotter because they don't have trees?

This is our chance to have basic common sense protections for our urban canopy like so many other cities.

The health of our city depends on it.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Sarah.

Thank you, Ezekiel and your brother.

Those are really nice shirts y'all have on today.

Sharp, sharp, sharp.

Number 35. Awesome.

Hi.

Hi.

Good afternoon.

My name is Regan Miedema, and I'm Erica Evans for city attorney's campaign manager with a statement from Erica.

When we talk about housing affordability, we talk about the statistics and environmental impact plans and eliminate the human cost of unaffordable housing.

This comprehensive plan is a once in a decade chance to address our housing crisis and open up our city to those of us who make too much to qualify for low income housing, but not enough to be homeowners.

It should not be a fight to acknowledge that limited housing creates higher prices and makes the dream of home ownership out of reach for most Seattleites.

Growing up, Erica moved eight times before she was 12 because of the housing cost crisis.

That crisis has not improved in the least since she was a child.

Instead, we have made it worse by sticking our heads in the sand and refusing to take actions like we see in this plan.

Building more homes is good for the environment, not a detriment to it.

When we have dense housing around transit centers, as is laid out in this plan, we can work to eliminate our car dependency and improve Seattle for everyone.

Please support the comprehensive plan and keep Seattle affordable for the rest of us.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Next we have number 36, Gregory Bell, followed by 30. Before you start, Gregory, one second.

36, followed by Dorothy, number 37, 38, Miles, 39, Patricia, and 40, Jackie.

Gregory, floor is yours.

My name is Gregory Bell, and I'm here testifying on both bills.

I'm a homeowner and member of the board of the High Point Homeowners Association in West Seattle, where I live with my wife and kid.

I'm here today on my own behalf to advocate for more homes in our city.

The national news makes my heart sick.

The way trans people are being treated in large parts of this country is appalling.

Just last week, the Supreme Court ruled that states can ban medical care for trans children, the latest in a long parade of abuses.

Seattle can be a haven for trans people, but only if there's room for them.

I have twice helped trans friends move cross-country by letting them crash in my guest room for a few months while they apartment hunt.

It was incredibly difficult because there simply aren't enough apartments.

We can save people's lives by making room for them as they move here from Texas, Florida, or Tennessee.

I urge the council to ask how many more neighbors can we welcome and build upon the mayors by upsoding all residential neighborhoods in Seattle above and beyond the requirements of the state, more larger and denser neighborhood centers, more larger and denser transit corridors.

Thank you and happy pride.

Thank you, Gregory.

Happy pride as well.

37, Dorothy, followed by 38, Miles, 39, Patricia, and 40, Jackie.

Dorothy.

Hi, my name is Dorothy Neville, and I live in what they call the Bryant thing, but I actually live in Hawthorne Hills.

So I agree with the last Bryant person that we don't have a neighborhood center, but I totally disagree with them on the conclusion.

We actually, I've lived there for 35 years, and right around the perimeter, we have tons of buses, we have tons of restaurants, we have a pharmacy, we've got a library, we've got plenty of stuff.

So that goes with my idea is I think all of these zones should be bigger.

I don't know why they're so small.

We don't actually have that much inventory of teardowns that would be turned into apartments in the very small zone.

I think if you make the zone bigger, you're much more likely to have better results within the next five years.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Dorothy.

And thank you for y'all doing the jazz hands and the dances.

That was nice, Gregory Bell.

Miles?

Hi.

I'm 17. I'm in high school.

I am in District 4. I am here on the NR Zoning HB 1110. And if I was given an assignment like this to read 600-ish pages, I think that that in high school is very challenging.

And if we were to do this type of assignment, we would have A lot of essay writing and a lot of deliberation and talking to decide whether or not this is a good thing.

I think in the past eight days, that is a too short time frame to do this sort of thing.

And typically in high school, and I know this isn't high school, but we talk a lot more.

We have a lot more time.

We spend months on something this long.

We would have multiple conversations hearing everybody out, which we're doing here today, but we need to do more of it.

And I also here want to vote for the trees because in my neighborhood, we have a lot of trees.

We have big parks.

And I think that I know that there are not a lot of big parks in neighborhoods, but we need more big parks.

It's really important.

Thank you.

You set up 10 seconds, Miles.

You're good.

I also want more people in my neighborhood and a bigger community.

And the flat homes are very important because it allows more people to move in and middle income.

Awesome.

Thank you, Miles.

And again, just thanking all the young people that took their time out, whether they're in high school or grade school.

Thank you for being engaged in a comprehensive plan.

You're probably the only person in your high school who knows what a comprehensive plan is, for real.

Number 39, Patricia, followed by Jackie, number 40. 39 and 40, and then y'all know the drill.

41 through 50, y'all are on deck.

Patricia.

Hello, council members.

I'm not asking you.

I'm imploring you, don't take away the things that make the Pacific Northwest this desirable location that people are moving here for, our gorgeous emerald tree canopy A healthy Puget Sound, the orca whales, the gorgeousness of our neighborhoods, big leaf maples, trees, birdsong.

Now, I grew up in, I've lived here my entire life.

I live in Magnuson Park, and I grew up near Lake City.

went to Nathan Hill, et cetera.

Lake City at the time was a lower to middle income neighborhood full of trees, grass.

Now it's a troubled area and there's a lot of low income housing there and not one blade of grass is in these complexes.

There's no trees and it's a very troubled area full of a lot of crime.

We can't ignore trees in order to put up big soulless complexes for low-income housing.

We can have both.

We can have density and we can have trees.

I'm begging you to keep them.

Thank you, Patricia.

Next we have Jackie, number 40. Hi, Jackie.

I'm just here with some math.

We've talked about whether we need 80,000 homes or 120,000 homes or 330,000 homes.

And when I do the math, there's 135,000 NR lots.

You multiply that by a capacity of three more on every lot, you get to 405,000.

If you go all the way up, just to stretch it out a little bit, you get to a four to six homes means five times more homes.

You get to 675,000.

So I'm wondering why do we have both HB 1110 and the One Seattle plan when we have enough zone capacity with HB 1110 by itself?

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Next we have members 41 through 50. So that starts with Adam Bartell, 41 through 50. Hi Adam, give me one second.

Let me shout out the next person.

Michael is next and then Suzanne Grant followed by Garrett.

So 41 through 50.

Hi Adam.

Hi, I'm Adam Bartell.

and I am speaking on the comprehensive plan.

When I moved to West Seattle, I had never lived within walking distance of a grocery store.

Now, I don't know if I could ever go back to driving to the store whenever I need milk.

I love my neighborhood, and it wouldn't be half as good without all the apartment buildings.

As renters, we are the customers, we are patrons, we eat at local bars and restaurants, we provide tax revenue.

I love seeing townhomes, duplexes, apartments getting built because we have a housing shortage.

We need more homes.

I would like to see the council strengthen the comprehensive plan, not water it down.

Specifically, I would like to see stacked flats near transit regardless of lot size, expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide without parking mandates, more neighborhood centers, and expand current centers to support grocery stores so anyone can walk to the store.

Also, you can just plant more trees.

Thank you.

Thank you, Adam.

Next we have number 42, Michael, and then followed by Suzanne Grant, 43, and then 44, Garrett.

Hey, City Council.

I'm here.

I live in North Ballard, D6.

I'm here to speak on both measures.

Seattle urgently needs more density, not less.

We need to create more housing options like three-bedroom stacked flats that can accommodate families and flats with elevators for seniors and folks who can't use stairs.

not more luxury apartments or narrow townhouses.

I've had many friends leave Seattle because they couldn't find or afford suitable housing to raise a family.

I've seen many beloved local businesses close due to high rent thanks to limited supply.

We can make this a more diverse and vibrant city for all income levels and lifestyles if we want to, while conserving some trees when we can and planting new trees.

Please consider removing lot minimums and setback requirements to allow for the construction of stacked flats throughout the city.

Thank you.

And since I have some more time, Joy, you're doing a great job running this.

I now know why nobody complains about you as a council member, so yeah.

Thank you, Michael.

You can get another minute.

Go ahead.

No, I'm messing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michael.

I'm just playing.

Suzanne Grant, followed by Garrett, number 44.

I'm Suzanne Grant.

I'm commenting on both bills.

I can't breathe when you cut down the trees.

You don't see what the whole world sees that we need to retain our big trees, contain all the greed, refrain from cutting the trees.

Are you going to heed the June 2nd letter from Representative Jerry Paulette to the council, pointing out that the Growth Management Act mandates that comprehensive plans include preserving urban tree canopy as part of the city's mandatory climate change resiliency plans.

This includes setback requirements, limiting lot coverage and stormwater runoff, and tree canopy and retention requirements.

Or are you going to listen to the master builders who are trying to persuade you otherwise?

Where do you live?

Do you have trees?

Would you be so cruel as to deny our children the life-saving, yes, life-saving benefits and oxygen that trees provide?

Until you stop paving Seattle and start saving our trees, I can't breathe.

Thank you, Suzanne.

Next, we have Garrett, number 44, followed by, hold your thoughts right there, Garrett, followed by Greg Smith, 45, 40, or yeah, 45, I'm sorry, 46 through 15. Sorry, let me rewind.

My apologies.

Garrett, you're next, right?

Let me reset the table.

Garrett's next.

45 through 50, you are up next.

Number 45 after Garrett is Greg Smith, followed by number 46. I don't know if that's a Zane, but that's number 46. Zarin?

Zayn, Zayn.

Amen, thank you.

Okay, Garrett, you're up.

Hey there, Chair Hollingsworth Council members.

I feel like I don't quite have the pipes to follow the last speaker, but I'll give it a shot.

So my name is Garrett Plesko-Moore, and I'm addressing both bills today.

My partner and I are renters in District 3. And we are deeply engaged in our community, from helping redevelop a local park to going to neighborhood coffee shops and breweries and hoping to soon have kids here.

But given the current shortage of housing, I don't currently see how we can continue to be able to live here affordably, much less have a family here.

So I'm really asking council to please expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide, create a similar bonus for low-rise zones, increase the stacked flat bonus, remove lot minimums, and increase height limits.

Expand neighborhood centers, especially in areas that have not carried the heavy weight of displacement historically.

bring back smart, proven anti-displacement strategies like community, connected communities.

I'm a passionate runner who loves the outdoors and needs the trees to address chronic disease.

If we don't build here, we will sprawl and cut more trees outside the city.

Thank you.

Thank you, Garrett, for your comments and for coming down.

Next, we have Greg Smith, followed by Zane, number 46. 45 through 50, you're up.

I'm Dr. Greg Smith, and I spent years working in programs for people who are homeless.

In 2015, there were around 7,000 people living homeless in Seattle.

That year, Seattle and King County declared an official homelessness emergency.

Over the next 10 years, Seattle spent over a billion dollars on homelessness.

Last year, a homeless count was $12,000.

12,000 people, that's an increase of 60% over 2015. So how do you spend over a billion dollars and end up with more homeless people, 60% more homeless people?

You do it by refusing to do what really matters for homelessness, and that's build enough housing.

Homelessness is caused by not having enough housing.

Any proposals that decrease the amount of housing is going to increase the amount of homelessness.

Strengthen the comp plan.

Thank you, Greg.

Next we have Zane, number 46, followed by Julie, number 47. Hey, Zane.

I'm Zane Muller, and I'm here to speak, I think, to both issues.

I'm a renter who recently returned to Seattle after more than a decade.

And one of the reasons I drag my wife and one-year-old back here is that I think people in the city are unusually conscientious and empathetic and open.

It's the kind of community I want to raise my daughter in.

So as I've gotten reengaged in conversations about housing in the city, I've been struck by a disconnect between some local concerns and the big picture.

You know, the link between floor area ratio restrictions and the desperation of the unhoused isn't obvious, but the truth is that even well-intentioned zoning requirements become tools for cynical opponents of housing density to reduce the amount of housing available and to hoard the privilege of living in this beautiful city.

So if you're opposed to the comprehensive plan for whatever specific reason, I would ask you to be open to seeing those connections and to be open to reflecting also on how your position aligns or doesn't align with your other values.

Thank you, Zane.

You still have 10 seconds.

Oh, I'm just, you're doing great, Joy.

Okay, awesome, thank you, Zane.

Next we have Julie, number 46, or 47, I'm sorry, Zane was 47, 46, followed by number 48, so again, we're 47 through 50.

Hello, my name is Julie Scrivner, and I am commenting on both.

I'm a homeowner in Fremont, and my number one priority for the comprehensive plan update is to make stacked flats viable across every single street in Seattle.

In my 10 years living here, my husband and I have seen mostly townhomes being built.

Townhomes primarily cater to wealthier, childless professionals like us.

But we want to live in a city where our friends who are therapists and artists and teachers and civil servants can afford to grow their families and age in place, not just tech workers.

We don't want to become San Francisco.

To prevent this, we need stacked flats on quiet neighborhood streets.

I urge you to remove lot minimum requirements, relax setbacks, and double the bonus for stacked flats.

Further, let's expand the number and size of neighborhood centers and invest in planting public trees everywhere so we can create a city that is affordable, diverse, and green for everyone, not just North Seattle.

Thank you, Julie.

Next, we have number 48, 49, and 50. So 48, Kirsten, Sage Miller, and then number 50, Susan.

I know I butchered your name.

I'm so sorry.

You know, if somebody just stutters, I think, that's me.

My name's Kirsten Gemeiner, and I'm here for the Comprehensive Plan.

I'm a physician in District 5. Thank you, Kathy, for being here today.

The reason I'm not in my practice today, and I'm here instead, after a lifetime of delivering babies and helping people die at home, is that the decision you'll make with the comprehensive plan will affect more health than I have done in my lifetime practicing on three continents.

So I know trees, you know, yeah, yeah, more trees.

We actually can't afford to cut down any more mature trees.

We've got a heat dome in the Midwest.

Alaska's recording 80 degrees in June, which it's never done before.

And Washington has a fire season, which didn't exist when I grew up here.

I loved the person who cited that trees increase healthy baby weights.

It's true.

The health statistics go on infinitely.

Make a decision to keep all the mature trees and find the will to make dense houses.

Thank you, doctor.

And thank you for all the babies you delivered as well.

We have Sage Miller, number 49. Yes, ma'am, one second, Sage.

And then we have, I think this is Susan, number 50. So 49 and 50, you're up.

Yes, well my name is Sage Miller and I live in the Cascade neighborhood.

I'm a registered voter and I'm here to advocate for changes in the CB 120993 to protect trees.

I know that you all have heard the talking points, the recommendations for protecting trees, and I'm also hoping that you've opened your hearts up to the public comments for everybody's concern for a tree canopy in Seattle.

As a citizen, as a private person, I know the value of the 30% tree canopy.

in Seattle for the health and welfare of all the people that live here.

So I'm hoping that you will not chop down these recommendations and that a tree canopy and affordable housing can exist together.

Thank you, Sage.

And before, is it Susan?

Yeah?

Okay, awesome.

Before you go up, Susan, we have, after Susan, we're going to call up 51 through 60. So 51 through 60, you're on deck.

And then Susan, whenever you start, you're all good to go.

Susan Fedor, West Seattle, here to talk about HB 1110. Seattle's urban forest, 50% of which is on private property, exists in setbacks.

Our tree canopy is one of our most powerful tools for climate resilience, public health, and neighborhood livability.

The legislation has currently written fast tracks tree loss by incentivizing edge-to-edge development.

The increase in hardscaping will make our city hotter, more polluted, and have severe impacts on stormwater and sewage.

This hurts residents and compromises the long-term health of Puget Sound and our endangered orcas and salmon.

Given the potential scale of impact, City Council has the opportunity to exercise true leadership and innovation in the face of an uncertain future and climate implications of hotter summers and more intense rainfall.

In conjunction with HP 1110, the City Council is equally mandated by the state's Growth Management Act to formulate zoning that mitigates displacement and avoids creating or worsening environmental disparities.

Please work toward a sustainable future for all of us by following the GMA mandate and to achieve an equitable, livable, and healthy Seattle.

Thank you.

Thank you, Susan.

So we have speakers 51 through 60, and I will shout your names out.

I won't shout them out, but we'll say them, sorry.

Jennifer, number 51. 52, Henry.

Number 53, Kim Gould.

number 54 calvin jones 55 kathleen 56 penelope 57 britney 58 jasmine 59 scott and 60 ryan okay so 51 jennifer awesome welcome give me one um so 51 through 60 you are up floor is yours jennifer

Okay.

Good afternoon.

Thank you, council for listening to us today.

My name is Jennifer Nadelchev.

I live in district five.

Thank you, council member Moore for your service.

I'm here to actually make a plea.

Oh, sorry.

I'm addressing the comprehensive plan.

And my plea is actually to increase city managed drainage infrastructure.

Where I live, it's a little bit, well, I'm close to city limits and we don't have as much.

And unfortunately the road behind me slopes down.

And so everything sort of gets sent into my backyard and I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom this happens.

So I'm a little bit concerned with the greater construction and the bigger multifamily houses, wonderful, but that's going to lead to more stormwater drainage going down the public right away and ending up in maybe where it shouldn't be.

So I just wanna make a plea that the city consider updating in North Lake City, the public drainage systems, or at the minimum consider a bioswale to sort of mitigate the effects of the large amounts of water cascading.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Number 52, we have Henry.

Hi, Henry.

And then after Henry 53, Kim Gould, followed by Calvin Jones.

Henry, the floor is yours.

Hi, my name is Henry.

I'm a homeowner of District 7. NIMBYism and opposition to common sense zoning and land use is strangling the future growth and economic viability of Seattle, much like a plastic six-pack ring around the neck of a sea lion.

There needs to be more mid-rises, more high-rises, more stacked flats.

The boundaries of neighborhood centers and urban centers need to be expanded.

When Seattle residents can walk, bike, and take public transit to their jobs, schools, restaurants, and stores, the quality of life improves.

Walkable neighborhoods reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

Local businesses will thrive when more customers live in their neighborhood, since their housing increases much-needed tax revenue per square mile without necessarily raising taxes per person.

Building vertically allows Seattle to accommodate more residents and preserve more green spaces and trees.

The city council needs to strengthen the one Seattle plan in order to bring Seattle zoning and use into the 21st century.

Thank you.

You still have 10 seconds, Henry.

Oh, okay, sorry.

I didn't want you to feel like you needed to get cut off with that buzzer.

That was it.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Thank you, Henry.

Just a reminder, when you hear that buzzer, you still have time.

So thank you, Henry.

Kim Gould, followed by Calvin Jones.

Good afternoon.

I'm speaking on both bills.

My name's Kim Gould.

I live in D3.

I'm going to talk about equity.

Keeping the HV 1110 setbacks and lot coverage enables ownership for young people, families with kids, and promotes diverse neighborhoods and racial equity.

And here's why.

Reducing setbacks encourages teardowns, resulting in a $1 million home being replaced by three or four $1 million homes, or a single $3 million large home.

Keeping the setbacks will incentivize conversions of single-family homes to add rental units.

The result?

Young people with moderate incomes can afford to buy this home thanks to built-in rental income.

Families have room for their kids.

Multi-generation immigrant families have the flexibility to split up the house.

Let's incentivize conversions as a critical housing option thereby diversifying our neighborhoods by age, by income, and by race.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kim.

Next we have number 54, Calvin Jones.

Before you go, Calvin, followed by Calvin, we have Kathleen, number 55, and Penelope, number 56. Hi, Calvin.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Calvin Jones.

I'm a renter in District 6, and I'm here to speak on both bills.

I'd like to urge this council to amend both the One Seattle Plan and the HB 1110 compliance legislation to prioritize housing abundance as much as possible.

Specifically, I'd like to see the number of neighborhood centers expanded.

I'd love to see the affordable housing bonus spread to all lots throughout the city and expand it as well so the Seattle social housing developer can benefit from it.

I'd love to see the stacked flat bonus expanded to all lots as well, corner stores allowed on all lots and not just corners, and the elimination of parking mandates citywide.

I think housing abundance is such a core part to our affordability goals, our climate goals, and our local commerce, and we have a huge opportunity to make housing much more affordable for generations of Seattleites to come.

Thank you.

Thank you, Calvin.

Next we have Kathleen, 55, followed by Penelope, 56, 57, Brittany.

Hello, I'm Kathleen Kirkhoff.

I'm in District 6, and I want to address probably both bills.

As you'll notice, we've got over 30 states in our country right now that are under heat wave concerns.

If we do not plan for increased heat waves here, we are really endangering our local population.

I also want to point out that we cannot rely on electrical air conditioning to save us, given that AI is going to suck up a huge amount of electricity and the cryptocurrency is sucking up that energy.

And I feel that what will happen is that we'll get priority and the rest of us will be scrolling for the little bit that's left.

Trees provide cooling without having to rely on electricity.

Please give them space to live.

Awesome.

Thank you, Kathleen.

Next we have Penelope, number 56, followed by Brittany Brose, 57, 58, Jasmine, 59, Scott, and 60, Ryan.

Penelope, hello.

Hello.

I'm Penelope Nichols, and the reason I'm here is I'm seeing one element of the Open, the One Seattle program, that is not included, and that is collaboration.

It feels like it's a top-down thing that's sort of like, here it is, here it is, here's the unit, blah, blah.

Yes, we need those spaces.

We need the urban area.

We need the density.

We need all that.

But if you don't include the people, the neighborhoods in particular, especially those neighborhoods who already have their own character, then you're just trashing it all.

And you're going to end up with one mono culture of Seattle.

So we need to work with those folks that want to see the density.

We want to work with the people who'd like to include the green space.

We'd like to work with, and I'm speaking from Maple Leaf, we like to work with developers who actually don't just come in, rip out their houses, and put their great big things on there, or their little things, and make it unaffordable for any teachers, for our firepersons, for our medical care people.

Thank you, Penelope.

Appreciate you.

Next we have Brittany, number 57, followed by 58, Jasmine, 59, Scott, 60, Ryan.

Hi, Brittany.

Hello.

Welcome.

My name is Brittany, and I'm here to talk about the comprehensive plan.

I live in District 7. I am a lifetime renter because I will never be able to afford a home, a condo, or anything in this city.

I am urging the council to please bring back all the original neighborhood centers in this bill.

If you do not start building housing now, we will be here at the next comprehensive plan having the same conversation again.

But quite frankly, I probably won't be here because I probably won't be able to afford to live in this city because rent keeps going up.

To quote somebody, the rent is too darn high and I left out the swear word because my dad is watching this right now and I don't wanna have to put a quarter in the jar because I'm a Midwesterner by heart and quite frankly, he'll get upset.

But I'm also gonna say something's gonna upset him because he's a boomer.

We are all aging and stack flats are great because quite frankly, you don't have to use stairs.

And if you ever see my toes that don't see sandals, as somebody who's legally blind, stairs and sometimes other things suck.

As you get old, you have issues and aging and sometimes you use a wheelchair.

And stack flats are great because they're on one level.

It's perfect.

Please consider doing those throughout the city.

Thank you.

And with the last non-millionaire, please turn off the coffee pot in the city.

Thank you, Brittany.

Jasmine, you are next, and then followed by Scott and then Ryan.

Jasmine, the floor is yours.

Thank you.

My name's Jasmine Smith.

I am the Director of Local Advocacy at FutureWise, co-chair of the Complete Communities Coalition and proud D7 renter.

We're really excited for the opportunity to shape the future of our city and undo the harm of the past.

By adding neighborhood centers, we're able to make sure that everyone has a place to call home, and as we figure out how to address the housing shortage, we need yes and, bold neighborhood residential and bonuses for stacked flats and affordable housing, corner stores and neighborhood centers, anti-displacement and more opportunities citywide.

I love living in Queen Anne, and everyone should be able to stay and live there, whether it's along the 1, the 31, the 32. We have a lot of frequent transit that I really can't wait to add more neighbors around.

Restricting our city keeps out our neighbors and clear cuts more traffic.

You still have 10 seconds.

Oh, that's right.

There's a lot of incentives that we can put forward to ensure that we're able to keep our trees, that we're able to really maximize the opportunity that we have in front of us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jasmine.

Just a reminder that Buzzer, you still have 10 seconds, okay?

Scott and then Ryan.

I know it's confusing because it rings so loud and it makes you feel like, stop, but it's not.

It's just a nice reminder.

Scott and then Ryan, number 59, then 60.

Hi, my name is Scott Hattlesey, speaking to the Comp Plan on behalf of Beacon Hill Council.

We have two asks.

Prioritize and accelerate housing levy investments for low income and workforce housing in Beacon Hill.

And two, incentivize the building of additional detached dwelling units and DDUs.

There's a cost of about $60,000 to $70,000 at the point of sale.

Please defer that.

until later on.

This will help residents generate income to stay in place while providing additional fill-in housing for families and newcomers.

The Beacon Hill neighborhood is historically majority working families.

As Seattle has evolved and rents have increased, the viability of working class incomes has plummeted.

To combat displacement and gentrification, we need affordable housing, not luxury mid-rise after luxury mid-rise with permanently vacant commercial spaces.

The theory under which luxury apartments were built is that any increase to housing supply would reduce the overall pricing in the market, but that logic assumes profit-driven developers will outpace population growth, which they have not.

The free market is neither responsible for nor interested in providing shelter for the people whose labor the city is built on.

It is your responsibility to wield the office.

Thank you.

Thank you, Scott.

Thank you, Scott.

Next we have Ryan.

Thank you, Chair Hollingsworth and council members.

My name is Ryan McKinster.

I've met a few of you a few times.

I'm currently the advocacy and policy manager for Habitat for Humanity.

I'm also a resident of District 6. Thank you.

Nice to see you, Councilmember Strauss.

My comments refer to both pieces of legislation.

I'm here today to urge you to consider the current version of proposed changes as kind of a floor, somewhere we should look up from, and to basically address the housing needs of our fellow Seattleites.

Our neighbors, many who are very, I would say, very affected by the crisis we're currently experiencing.

By allowing stacked flats throughout the city, along with more extensive affordability bonuses, we can create more homeownership opportunities, like the two stacked flats we recently completed in the Capitol Hill area.

These projects have created homes for 31 families in the heart of Seattle, with households made up of social workers, journalists, educators, medical professionals, and even a pastor.

And I say families, not just single or small couples.

As you can share these changes in the comp plan, please look at creating more affordability across the city and stacked flats everywhere that could be produced.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ryan, and great work on the stacked flats that you all produce.

And for the record, you did say it was only good to see Councilmember Strauss, not any.

I'm just playing.

I'm messing with you.

We gotta keep the mood light.

He did say that, Ryan, right?

He did say, Councilmember Strauss, it's good to see you.

It's good to be seen.

I'm just playing, Ryan, thank you.

Okay, numbers 61 through 70 are next.

That is Alyssa.

You are next, followed by Michael, then Jesse Simpson.

I'm going to read off the names through 70 so you all know who you are.

Joanna Cullen, 64, 65, Jess Yang, 66, Brittany, 67, Sarah, 68, Thomas, 69, Liam, and 70, Kim.

So 61 through 70, awesome.

You're next.

Hello, my name is Alyssa Rose.

I am a homeowner and a business owner in District 5. I may lose a client who's here after what I have to say, because I know we don't agree.

But I'm here randomly.

I was at the federal building, realized this was happening, and had to come.

I am going to ask all of you to be visionaries, really.

true visionaries and think about the future of this city and think about future generations.

And that doesn't mean going tree by tree.

It means designing a comprehensive plan that provides more than adequate housing in whatever ways we get there.

I'm not a shill for the Builders Association at all.

but we need to be visionary about the amount of homes we need and not stifle ourselves on a lot of people who just want to keep their neighborhoods exactly where they are.

You know, they like living in single-family neighborhoods.

Seattle will not have a tax base.

We will not have a future without homes.

Thank you, Alyssa.

Next, we have Michael, number 62, followed by Jesse Simpson, 63. Hi, Michael.

Hello.

Hello, counsel.

Michael Gellinwater addressing both bills.

I applaud the improvement that the mayor's draft comprehensive plan represents relative to the status quo.

But we know that the status quo has created a housing and homelessness crisis, as well as car dependency doing so much harm to our health and the climate.

So I encourage you to seize this opportunity and go bigger.

Show Seattleites and those outside Seattle that our government, city government, is a world leader.

I'll highlight a couple of examples of going bigger personal to my family.

First, make it easier and cost-effective to build stacked flats, including increasing the bonus on all lots.

And second, establish eight additional neighborhood centers as proposed by FutureWise so more people can live near schools, transit, parks, Golden Gardens near me and Lowell Heights Elementary, which both of my kids attended.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michael.

Next we have Jesse Simpson.

And just a reminder, please state your name, what you're addressing, and then the timer will start.

So it will not start while you're saying that.

We just need your name and the bill that you're addressing.

You can say both bills and then your time will start.

Jesse, good to see you.

Yeah, good to see you too.

Good afternoon, council members.

I'm Jess Simpson.

I'm addressing both bills.

I'm here to speak in support of a bold, comprehensive plan that tackles Seattle's deep housing shortage.

The status quo is not working.

Our neighbors are being priced out, left behind, and forced to question whether they have a future in this city.

If we want to be a truly welcoming place, we need to allow for more housing in every neighborhood.

The draft plan is a major step forward, but we must go further.

I urge you to adopt amendments that make stacked flats an accessible family-friendly housing type more feasible across the city through additional height and floor area ratio bonuses paired with incentives for preserving trees.

I also ask you to create more neighborhood centers throughout the city to create mixed use hubs in low displacement risk and high opportunity neighborhoods.

This comprehensive plan is a once-in-a-decade chance to undo the legacy of exclusionary zoning to allow for abundant housing and create a more just, sustainable, and equitable city.

Let's meet the moment by putting housing first.

Thanks for all your work on this.

Thank you, Jessie.

Next we have Joanna Cullen, 64, and then Jessie Yang, 65, followed by Brittany, 66. Miss Joanna, welcome.

Hi, Joanna Cullen.

I'm speaking to the Comprehensive Plan.

I'm a resident of the Central District since 1977. reject expanding the CD urban-village center boundaries into the neighborhood residential areas, and reject annexing the central area to Capitol Hill-First Hill.

The Central Area Design Guidelines clearly claim this area for the central area, not Capitol Hill, and it is part of the Central Area Arts District.

These designations represent decades of work by many community members to preserve the history and culture of the area along with building a connected, livable community with trees and environmental justice.

Reject expanding the urban village center boundaries into the current neighborhood residential areas.

This formerly redlined area has already been up-zoned, densified, and taken more than its share of disruption and displacement, sometimes resulting in a glut of affordable studio apartments.

And this is not...

Thank you, Ms. Joanna.

Next we have Jess Yang, number 65, followed by Brittany, 66. So we're between number 65 through 70. Hi, Jess.

Hi, hi Council, good to see you all.

I'm Jess Yang, I'm the HTC Community Organizer, speaking with Complete Communities Coalition, and I'm speaking on both bills.

I support a strong comprehensive plan that incentivizes affordable housing development throughout the city.

As a new homeowner in Ballard, hi Dan, I love the walkable transit accessible neighborhood that I live in.

To create more opportunities for my friends and family to live in neighborhoods like mine, I encourage you to increase the number of neighborhood centers, boost the affordable housing bonus, and increase incentives to build sack flats throughout the city.

In particular, we need more neighborhood centers.

This means housing near restaurants, grocery stores, and schools, creating more complete communities that everyone can enjoy living in, just like mine.

This is a generational opportunity, and I want to ask you all to combat our housing and homelessness crisis and strengthen the comprehensive plan this summer and throughout the process.

Thank you all so much.

Awesome.

Thank you, Jess.

Next we have Brittany, number 66. So now we're on 66 through 70. Brittany, followed by Sarah, then Thomas, number 68, 69, Liam, 70, Kim.

Hi, Brittany.

Hi.

Good afternoon, Council.

Thank you for your patience and listening to all of us.

I'm here to speak about the comprehensive plan.

My name is Brittany.

I am a longtime resident of District 7. I own a home off of Nickerson Street.

I've lived there almost 20 years, and I am here to advocate for a neighborhood center on Nickerson.

love where I live.

It has ridiculous access to buses.

I have seven buses, I think, within a 10-minute walk from my house.

There's two major bike trails.

I can walk to multiple grocery stores.

It's a great place, and it's a great place to put more homes.

So I think we should do it.

I would love to have more neighbors.

I would love to have more neighbors to support small businesses around me, to support more bus service, to walk their cute dogs past my house, to go see the Sonics when we bring them back.

So yeah, let's make more homes for more people because I want more people around.

Awesome.

Thank you, Brittany.

Next we have Sandy.

Who's number 67.

I'm not renamed Sarah.

Yeah.

No, no, no.

We traded because her kids needed to go.

So, hi.

Yeah, I'm Sandy Shetler and I'm addressing HB 1110. So, the new tree planting requirements in this bill reduce the number of trees required by 65% and the total tree volume required by 90%.

This is the wrong direction for a city in the top five nationally for urban heat islands.

So I thought it would be easier if you could visualize the trees in this space.

So the last time I was here, I paced out the room.

And if you count the dice and this seating area and the lobby, that's about the size of a 4,000 square foot lot, a typical city lot.

So the old formula required eight two inch diameter trees for this room.

So that would be one, sorry, two for every thousand square feet.

The new formula requires three one inch trees for this room.

It's on a point system, one point equals one inch trunk for every 750 square feet.

So please restore common sense replanting requirements.

Thank you, Sandy.

Speaker number 68, Thomas, followed by 69, Liam, and number 70, Kim.

Hi, Thomas.

I'm Thomas Zug.

I'm a 20-year-old born and raised right here in Seattle.

I'm here today in support of expanding the comprehensive plan.

Call me brash, but youth is the time for brashness, so I would like to first point out that many of those advocating for delays today are as old as the historic trees and homes that they speak for.

As a kid, I lived in a duplex in Upper Queen Anne, where walking to school took mere minutes and proximity to businesses freed me to navigate childhood without reliance on adults.

That lifestyle was only possible for my family because of affordable, dense housing in an otherwise single-family zoned neighborhood.

Young people like me are not a guarantee in Seattle.

If this city remains unaffordable, we will continue to leave.

We will leave for places like Texas and Florida, for Arizona and Indiana, places where housing is abundant and affordable.

Already dozens of my peers have left.

This is bigger than Seattle.

It's a national emergency.

When 2028 comes, don't act surprised when red states see a surge in young voters.

The trend is already clear.

If you don't make room for us here, we'll build our lives and our futures elsewhere.

Thank you, council members.

Thank you, Thomas.

Appreciate you coming.

All of our young people, thank you, Thomas, for coming and speaking up.

Appreciate you.

Number six, that was 68, 69. Liam, how you doing?

And then followed by Liam is 70. And then we'll go numbers 71 through 73. And then it skips a little bit because we had different people.

We had different...

sign up, you know, I can't really explain, but just trust me.

Okay.

You're not Thomas, you are Liam.

Awesome.

All right, go ahead, Liam.

Hello, my name is Liam Nea Staub, and I'm a renter in the Roosevelt neighborhood here to address the comp plan in favor of it.

I used to live in the same apartment building as a few of my friends, but annual rent hikes have priced them out of the neighborhood and maybe soon the city.

I see the comprehensive plan as our opportunity to legalize the construction of affordable housing we need and to reduce displacement pressure.

But I believe the council can further strengthen the comp plan to make Seattle even better by expanding affordable housing density bonus citywide and by creating a similar bonus for low rise zones.

We could also ensure that all publicly owned social housing is eligible for the density bonus too and increase the bonus for stacked flats to be on all lots, not just the largest ones.

I hope that 10 years from now, my friends and I will be better able to afford to live in this wonderful city of Seattle rather than be priced out of it.

Thank you all.

Thank you, Liam.

Number 70, Kim, followed by Harper, number 71, followed by 72, Linda, followed by 73, Colleen.

So now we're on Kim, number 70.

Hi, council.

My name's Kim Butler, and I have lived in the city of Seattle my whole life.

I have lived, currently I've lived in District 4 with Maritza Rivera's governance, but I've also lived in Dan Strauss's for 20 years.

I've lived in Joy Hollingsworth district when I went to college, and I've lived in Kathy Moore's district growing up as a child.

I have raised my children in this community as well, and I've seen a lot of changes that Seattle has made.

And one of the most concerning things that I'm seeing right now is a proposal here for the comp plan that does not consider the retention of our trees.

Seattle is a beautiful area.

We have a beautiful environment.

We have a beautiful Puget Sound.

And we need to do better in preserving the exceptional trees that we currently have.

We need to go back to a plan to encourage developers and give them incentives and give SDCI allowance to give these developers guidance to preserve the trees that are being lost.

I brought my friend, Grace, who's a giant sequoia that was lost here at Green Lake this last year.

She was on a lot with 18 other trees, 13 of which were removed.

And this was for a single family home.

This was not for affordable housing.

Awesome.

Thank you, Kim.

And for the record, all the districts she lived in, District 3 was her favorite.

71, Harper.

I don't know about that.

I'm the chair.

I decide.

I'm just playing.

Harper, thank you so much.

Hold on.

Let's make sure the timer is good.

71, you're good.

I live in District 3, and I'm here to advocate on the behalf of more housing.

There is an immense attack on civil rights in the United States, and many people are looking for a place to flee.

Right now, Seattle is near the top of their list as a sanctuary, and it is accepting.

However, Seattle is becoming less affordable as rents rise.

Many of you have heard from homeowners who shudder at the idea of their physical appearance of their neighborhood changing or losing their view of Bellevue.

Many of you have heard that.

This selfishness is a rot in Seattle.

We must fix the problems many of these people have brought up as excuses for why their neighborhoods cannot accept more density.

And we must increase areas for zone density housing beyond just the pittance in the plan.

We must allow for the density we need by increasing heights, floor ratio, and decreasing setbacks.

You still have 10 seconds, Harper.

More housing.

Awesome.

Thank you, Harper.

Next we have Linda followed by Colleen, 72, 73. Linda followed by Colleen.

And then we will jump to speaker's number.

Before you start, Linda, give me one second.

And then we will jump to speakers 81 through 97 we have next.

81 through 97. So this is Linda followed by Colleen.

Yeah, well, good afternoon, council members, especially Dan.

I'm Linda Overly, and I'm in District 6. And I have been a resident of Ballard, born and bred all my life.

I'm 69. And I'm going to talk about affordable senior housing.

I'm going to sound the alarm on this one, because boomers are going to need assisted living by 2050. So right now, you've heard the King 5 News.

They booted everybody out of the North's home, retirement home.

And they had 87 residents, and now half of them had to leave and find other places.

And it's just some have died because of moving trauma.

And it's...

Not a good thing.

And I just really wish you would remember two words, transforming age.

Thank you.

10 seconds.

Oh, well, yeah.

And I'm also a life member of the nurse home.

Awesome.

Thank you, Linda.

Next we have Colleen.

And before you start, Colleen, numbers next will be 81 through 100. So 87 through 100. And that 81 is Noah Williams, followed by Kathy Carpenter, 82. And you are up.

Good afternoon, City Council, and thank you for your patience.

Colleen McAleer here for Laurehurst Community Council and representing 2,200 residents and my grandchildren as well, two who live in Seattle.

We support the housing of HB 1110, adding three more units, and that will project out to over 300,000 units in the next 20 years, far exceeding Seattle's goal right here for 120,000 in the next 20 years.

HB 1110 also requires compatibility of scale, form, and character when adding that middle housing, and currently the One Seattle plan omits that compatibility clause.

We'd like that to be back in there.

Otherwise, developers will have free reign to decide what to put in there.

There'll be a turnkey project without regard to the city's whole look and feel, from tree retention to piecemeal aesthetic incompatibility.

Secondly, HB 1110 supports highest density at major transit sites, and we do too.

And we just ask that OneSeattle use that instead of the frequent bus service to make it compatible with the state's legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Colleen.

Now we're on numbers 81 through 100. So we have 81 through 100 are up next on deck, but we'll call 81 through 90. So 81 through 90, that is Noah Williams.

Before you start, Noah, give me one second.

I'm gonna read off everyone's name so they know, okay?

Noah Williams, we have Kathy Carpenter.

There's no 83, then there's 84, Austin, then 85, Julia, 86, Laura, 87, Lily, 88, Daniela and 89, Kate and 90, Anne.

So Noah, you are up.

So 81 through 90.

Noah, welcome.

Council members, thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name's Noah Williams, and I live on the sea line.

I'm here today to share that I simply don't care what the rich Karens and Kevins think, and you shouldn't either.

And the reason is that they're sabotaging transit right now in the same way that the Freeman family sabotaged transit in, sorry, they're sabotaging housing right now in the same way that the Freeman family sabotaged transit in decades earlier.

Today, the Freemans are hated.

They're the piranhas of the region, and they've lost most of their power and credibility, but we are still paying for their decisions.

The one line was down this weekend because of decades of neglect, because of design compromises introduced by those malicious actors who sabotaged transit, and the tunnel buses, Metro's ingenious hack around the problem required weaker embedded rail that cracked recently for the second time in as many months requiring emergency replacement.

And people are pissed about that.

If you cave to their demands and weaken this housing plan as previous councils did, the voters will realize that and in time take it out on you.

So ask yourself, at the end of this story, do you want to be the Claudia Balducci's of this story, beloved by the voters, or do you want to be seen on the Kemper Freeman side?

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Noah.

Next we have Kathy Carpenter, 82, followed by 84, Austin.

Hi, Kathy.

I'm Kathy Kappeliner, by the way, not Carpenter.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

If you just pull it closer to you and just speak a little louder.

How do I follow that?

My name is Kathy Kappeliner from District 6. Like the lady who sang before, Being able to breathe is my paramount issue.

So I am here asking for seven actions slash changes to keep trees.

One, oh, these actions I'm asking do not prevent density.

They improve livability.

So please, one, amend CB 120993 to A, include tree retention requirements, B, include green space requirements, C, require stack flats, and D, to keep the trees that have grown in the infill spaces of lots.

to please amend section 251107 of the Municipal Code A in such a way that developers cannot justify removing trees because, quote, they can't protect them, unquote.

Please keep the flexible guidelines of section 251160 and require developers to prepare alternate site plans that retain trees up front in the process.

Thank you all very much for all you do.

Thank you, Kathy.

Next, we have Austin, number 84, awesome, followed by Julia, 85. Hi, Austin.

Either one you're most comfortable with.

Hi, I'm Austin.

I'm here to talk about the comprehensive plan.

I live in Ballard near Market Street.

I'm in an apartment next to another apartment, and I'm here to say it's not that bad.

During the lockdowns, we go out on balconies and chat.

There's another apartment going up after, I think, four years of unexplained delays, I assume caused by design review and other restrictions.

So...

I'm living in one of those horror stories of development and urbanization, and folks, it's not that bad.

Apartments are not scary.

What is bad is that you're trying to shove 20 years of unmet demand into a few areas like mine to use renters, frankly, as living barriers for car noise and car exhaust to protect the quote-unquote real residents whose biggest worry is landscaping.

For every person who speaks here today, there are about 200 homeless people who don't get to speak.

This has to be our priority.

It has to.

The only way to address this is more housing, way, way more than the current plan will allow.

Increased housing stock applies downward pressure on rent.

Lower rent applies downward pressure on homelessness.

Ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

If you don't do serious upsoding citywide, the homeless problem will get worse.

Sprawl will increase in excerpts, which will incidentally bulldoze millions of trees.

This is happening today.

You're good.

Thank you.

Thank you, Austin.

Number 85, Julia, followed by 86, Laura.

Hi, yeah, my name is Julia, and I'm gonna be speaking on 129.93.

Seattle's existing tree code has fueled the removal of at least 3,200 trees to date, and the removals this year have outpaced last year by over 50%.

All the while, your constituency has consistently asked for better tree protections, overwhelmingly in 2023, when the initial bad tree code was passed, and in every comp plan hearing this year.

Instead of seeing action, we've seen the removal of huge trees with large climate, archaeological, and community significance.

Strawman arguments that our climate is better without tree protections fail to realize the simple changes to existing and planned codes that can allow us to have housing and trees.

Please, increase tree requirements and remove the tree point system, add green space provisions, require site designs to build around trees,

add requirements and close existing loopholes in our tree code thank you thank you julia number 86 we have laura followed by 87 lily followed by 88 daniella followed by 89 kate and then ann hi laura

Hi, my name is Laura Gardner.

I live in West Seattle, and I support a bold, comprehensive plan with more and larger neighborhood centers.

I grew up and lived my whole life in various suburbs made of single-family homes, large yards, and spread out people and places.

Last year, my husband and I very intentionally moved from Bellevue to a place with more people closer together, aware and excited about the changes proposed in the comp plan.

For the first time in my life, I run into people I know while going about my daily life.

I walk to the dentist, the doctor, or the vet.

I live less than a mile from seven grocery stores.

We instantly became a single-car household.

In terrifying times, I know I am close to people with diverse skills who will help me and who I can help.

This is the neighborhood character I was missing my whole life.

I live between the Admiral and Alaska neighborhood centers, and I would love to see their boundaries grow.

More people should be able to live here on calm streets near amenities.

More neighbors will help support our precious small businesses and foster a stronger community to navigate the storms ahead of us.

You still have 10 seconds.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you so much.

Next we have number 80, are we on 88?

Was that 86?

That was Lara?

Just, no?

Okay.

That was 86, Laura.

Okay, my bad.

Lily is next, 87. Hi, Lily, followed by 88, Daniela, 89, Kate, and 90, Ann.

Awesome.

Great, good afternoon Chair Hollingsworth and committee members.

My name is Lily Hayward speaking on behalf of the over 2,500 members of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce to urge you to use our comprehensive plan as a tool to expand opportunities for density across the city and support an accessible and affordable Seattle.

Housing continues to be one of your constituents' top priorities.

In our latest index polling, 66% of voters agreed that increasing housing supply will help slow down our housing crisis, and 74% said that the city needs to make it easier, not harder, to build more housing citywide.

Housing is a top priority for our members, too, because it is a workforce development, recruitment, and retention issue for businesses of all sizes.

And our city and economy thrive when communities are walkable and accessible by transit and people can live close to where they work or operate a business.

As you consider this comprehensive plan legislation, we ask that you support amendments that expand our housing stock, like including expansion of the stacked flat and affordable housing density bonuses and neighborhood centers.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Awesome.

Thank you, Loli.

Number 88, I probably butchered your name.

I apologize.

Hi, this is Daniela Lopez-Salcedo.

Awesome.

All right.

Hello, council members.

I am here to ask you to consider making it so that we can build more housing.

A lot of the anti-housing rhetoric has revolved around environment and health.

And I just want to flag that when we expand our, when we make it harder to build it densely or we make the zones much smaller, we actually end up sprawling a lot.

And that actually means that We kill more trees to build the same number of housing.

Then we have to kill more trees to build hospitals, schools, grocery stores for those people, more trees to build the roads to get to them.

Then we all, as taxpayers, end up having to pay more on our utility bills because we have to build the infrastructure to get to them.

The environmental people who study this, like RMI, which is Rocky Mountain Institute, a well-established think tank that creates nationwide policy, they will even have papers that will prove this, that well-designed codes can have a bigger impact or as big of an impact as well-designed transit.

So please consider this if you really care about public health and accessibility.

So thank you.

Thank you, Daniela.

Next we have number 89. Did I say your name Kate?

Yeah, okay.

I didn't know if this was a F or a T.

88, you're all good.

88, oh 89, sorry.

That was 88, 89 then 90.

Yes, my name's Kate.

Yes, ma'am.

I'll have better...

No, it was fine.

I just can't read.

You're good.

Yes, I am here to say that I believe in increased housing and tree protection.

And the two are not mutually exclusive.

I'm asking and I'm speaking on HB 111, no. 1110, there we go.

I'm asking that the Seattle City Council include green space requirements in its plan.

And without requiring these green space requirements, or without requiring developers to make space for trees, they will not.

And they will raise our trees and put up big, huge homes.

Also asking that you have tree retention requirements.

and that you require stacked flats, and that you require developers to prepare alternative site plans to retain trees up front in the building process.

If they are open and they are flexible, then we can retain the tree.

Awesome.

Thank you, Kate.

Next, we have Ann, number 90, followed by Ann.

We have numbers 91 through 100. So you all are next, 91 through 100. Hi, Ann.

Hi there.

My name is Ann Bicklay, and I'm a longtime resident of Tangletown in District 6. My comments pertain to both bills.

The proposal to designate Tangletown and Neighborhood Center is poorly conceived and needs modification.

Let me explain.

We have a tiny commercial area and a quirky street grid.

As a consequence, we are neither on the way to anywhere, nor a natural geographic center, and we lack robust services.

I'll provide some granular details so you see what I mean.

Our commercial core is only two blocks long.

It contains a few bars and restaurants, dental and hair services, and a coffee place, among several others.

A corner store provides non-perishables, a few potatoes and onions, booze, and some other beverages.

To put a fine point on it, this is definitively not a grocery store.

Our so-called frequent transit service is similarly depoperate, meaning, sure, you can get somewhere, but how much time do you really have?

All right, me and other Tangletowners have better, more logical ideas for how to increase middle housing in Tangletown that is proportional to our commercial area,

Thank you, Anne.

Before you go, Riley, let me just read off the names to the people behind you.

Thank you so much.

So we have Riley, number one.

Number two, we have Nicholas.

Number three, we have Chun.

Number 94, we have Cheryl.

Number 95. I'm sorry, I can't read your handwriting, so I'm going to say number 95. And no knock on you, I just can't read.

And then number six...

Okay.

Molden?

Nolan.

It says Nolan.

Molden?

Nolan?

Okay, my bad.

Thank you.

And then number, no, number 96 is Nolan.

Number 95, I can't pronounce.

And then number 97, Amy.

So we have numbers 91 through 97. You are up.

And Riley, the floor is yours.

Remember, we're not going to start the timer until Riley states their name and all their intro stuff, and then they'll get into their comment.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Riley Avron.

I live in West Seattle, Councilmember Saka's district.

I'm here to ask for more homes and more housing choices in every neighborhood, including mine.

My landlord is in the process of raising my rent.

And he understands, in fact, specifically said, the shortage of units and the one or two that won't last long.

That was his justification for raising my rent.

So he understands when there's a shortage of units, he can raise my rent and he has all the power.

And you know what?

He got the rent increase he wanted.

I had no power because I couldn't go anywhere else.

There was no units like that anywhere in my neighborhood.

Our housing shortage, it's urgent.

It affects me, and it affects all of your constituents.

Please pass a bold, comprehensive plan, the most popular option during the three years of public outreach we've already done, and get it done.

Thank you.

Thank you, Riley.

Number 92, Nicholas, followed by number 93, Chun.

Hi, Nicholas.

Hi.

Hi, I'm Nick.

I'm here in favor of the comp plan.

I'm a mental health therapist.

I grew up and live now currently in in Seattle and currently work here in the Northgate area.

My family's been here for four generations now, yet as even going to grad school, being a therapist, over half my income goes to rent.

I've watched many of my young clients who grew up in this city be priced out and have to leave the city.

I've seen how this impacts their lives.

I know many other social service workers that support the community, residents that want to live and work in Seattle, but can't because of the cost.

Please support this comp plan.

I think it would be really helpful to a lot of that.

And I think it does make me sad that sometimes I feel people care more about trees than actual humans and their own life experiences.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Nicholas.

We have number 93, Chun, and then number 94, Cheryl.

Hi, Chun.

Hi, my name is Chun.

I'm a homeowner in District 1. I'm here to address the comprehensive plan.

I asked the council to adopt the most generous possible options in a comprehensive plan to build denser housing and neighborhood centers for our communities, removing setback and parking requirements.

Too many of my friends are either planning to or dread having to leave the city with how expensive it is to have a roof above our heads, much less starting families and raising children.

Their jobs are essential to us, a restaurant chef, an office admin, an editor.

I work in tech, and with all due respect to my colleagues, I don't want to live in a city of just tech workers and their bosses.

I want my own retired parents, my younger friends, my service industry friends to afford to be my neighbors and thrive.

Trees can be replanted and regrown.

I've done that.

All homeowners here can do that.

Trees for Seattle, thank you.

Please build more housing, and so we will.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chun.

Next, that was number 93, 94, Cheryl, followed by number 95, 94, Cheryl.

Hi, my name's Cheryl Hargesheimer.

I've never come before a council before, but I feel so strongly about what's happening with the tree canopy, and I'm hoping that you will realize that the building affordable housing and having a tree canopy are not mutually exclusive.

As I was speaking to 120993, there's some really good recommended changes for it.

And one of them being not allowing the setback to be decreased, but be sure to have enough room for trees.

I think you can all agree that cutting down a tree that has a 62 inch diameter, yeah, 62-inch diameter, being replaced by a couple of two-inch diameter trees doesn't really cut it.

And so please consider keeping our tree canopy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Cheryl.

Next we have number 95. I butchered your name.

I'm so sorry.

It's all good.

My name's Holden.

I'm a resident of D7.

You're Holden.

OK, OK, I got you.

You can make it out now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

As long as it's Hayden or Colton, you know, those are my least favorites.

Holden, I got you.

All right.

But I'm talking in reference to the comprehensive plan.

So in Seattle, there's about 460,000 cars.

It takes about 240 trees to offset a single car in a given year.

In order to offset all of those cars, we would need 110,400,000 trees.

There are about 4.5 million trees in the city of Seattle.

So in a forest, you got about 150 trees per acre, and at that scale, we would need about 736,000 acres in order to offset all the cars in the city, which is about 1,150 square miles.

We have 84 square miles in the city of Seattle.

It's unreasonable to expect that we have that many trees in the city, but it is reasonable and sensible to build denser housing, making it easier for folks to walk, bike, take transit.

Let's see more neighborhood centers, especially over on Nickerson.

Let's see some stacked flats, some density bonuses.

Support a bolder comprehensive plan.

Thank you so much, council.

Thank you, Holden.

I can make it out now since you said it.

I got you.

Perfect.

Yeah, no, you're good.

Thank you, man.

Next, we have Nolan.

Hi.

And then Amy, number 90. Awesome.

Number 97. All right, 96. Nolan, all you.

Thank you.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Nolan, and I'll be speaking in favor of a bold, comprehensive plan.

I am a renter living in Wallingford, and I am fortunate that I can afford to live in a neighborhood where I can walk to work and have access to reliable transit.

Many people in Seattle, teachers, retail workers, neighbors here that are essential to our communities cannot afford to live near where they work.

We need reform to fix this.

More people should be able to enjoy what I can enjoy in my neighborhood.

We can make this possible with bold action in the comprehensive plan by adding more and bigger neighborhood centers and building more housing, especially dense housing, in walkable, transit-rich areas.

People want to live in Seattle.

Let's welcome them with a plan that makes room for all of us.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you, Nolan.

We have number 97, Amy.

Height adjustment.

Okay, so I am Amy Bailey.

I'm a District 4 homeowner, a former landlord, chair of the Housing and Homelessness Task Force for the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

I'm speaking as an individual, although the Human Rights Commission is a signatory to the Complete Communities Coalition's letter.

So housing policy is a matter of racial and gender equity and of social justice, and I give my strongest endorsement for increased housing density, transit-oriented development, and affordable housing.

We must have more density and also require more from market-based developers, including, in absentia, Councilmember Rivera, in our neighborhood.

Seattle made a similar mistake relying on market-based solutions when it changed code regulations to allow for ADUs and DADUs, and many of these were built and transitioned quickly, not into long-term affordable housing, but turned into Airbnbs.

The current proposal allows too few affordable housing units by building, fails to mandate equivalency between affordable and market-based housing, and we need housing that meets the needs of all Seattleites in all family forms and across all income levels.

Lower-income workers who are disproportionately people of color and white women must be able to remain in the city and contribute to our...

Thank you so much.

Next, we have speakers 101 to 102, 103, 104, and 105, and I will call off your names.

So we have Brandon.

Brandon is at number 101. Give me one second, Brandon, because I'm going to say other people's names as well.

Thank you.

We have 102 Hunter.

Number 103, Katie Wilson.

104, Zach Hanson.

And number 105, I think Emily.

All right, awesome.

So Brandon, you have the floor is yours.

My name is Brandon Derbletcher.

I live in Beltown, which is District 7. I have a plan that will save trees, save the orcas, and reduce housing prices, all without evicting anyone from their home.

My plan is to vastly increase allowed density across the entire city, keep all neighborhood centers, and add new neighborhood centers.

Zoning for dense, affordable housing in the city prevents up to hundreds of trees per lot in the suburbs where people will move to if they can't afford to live in Seattle from being destroyed to make way for single-family homes.

If you want to plant more trees in the city to offset trees removed for developments, may I suggest removing parking spots and planting trees there?

These trees can grow to be much larger in just a couple of decades.

It's also more effective to plant mini trees than to just save one or two.

Zoning for dense, affordable housing in the city will cut down on the amount of driving that people have to do, which saves orcas.

Zoning for dense affordable housing will allow developers to build more homes and drive down housing costs.

We desperately need more housing in the city.

Please vote to allow it to be built.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brandon.

Next we have Hunter is next.

Hi Hunter.

Hey.

My name is Hunter.

I live in District 1. And I'm here for more affordable housing.

We need stacked flats.

We need bigger neighborhood centers.

And it just feels like we're stuck between two political parties, one where Democrats refuse to do anything and Republicans who want to destroy everything.

And so what I'm asking is that you make bold change so we don't lose our country.

I mean, if we think climate change is bad because of loss of trees, if we can't get Democrats in the House and the Senate, I mean, none of that matters.

So what I'm asking is to please make bold change for housing.

for our country.

Thanks.

Thank you, Hunter.

Number 103, we have Katie Wilson followed by Zach Hansen and Emily, number 105. Welcome, Katie.

Hi, council members.

Katie Wilson, great to be here.

I'm a renter on Capitol Hill.

Previously in Seattle, I was a renter in Greenwood and Finney Ridge and the Central District.

Over the time that I've lived here, I have watched and felt rents climb and climb and climb.

The cost of everything is out of control, from childcare to groceries.

And the common denominator is housing costs.

People are gonna keep moving to our region, and we need to plan for that growth.

So I'm here to urge you to adopt a strong, comprehensive plan that allows for more housing in neighborhoods throughout our city.

I urge you to expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide, make that available for social housing as well.

increase the bonus for stacked flats and allow it to be used on all lots, and establish more neighborhood centers in neighborhoods throughout our city so that we can welcome more neighbors to our city and make sure that people like my daughter can grow up and build a life here.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Katie.

Next, we have Zach 104, followed by Emily 105.

Hello, council members.

My name is Zach Hansen.

I'm a renter in Fremont.

The comprehensive plan update is our once-in-a-generation chance to fix our broken housing system.

Zoning restrictions have held us back for decades, and you all have the power to change that.

We need denser neighborhoods so people can live near parks, schools, jobs, and transit.

Ending parking mandates, reducing arbitrary setbacks, and allowing more housing per lot.

Let's expand neighborhood centers, legalize stacked flats near transit, and make family-sized middle housing possible in every zone.

This isn't just about housing supply.

It's about affordability, opportunity, and fairness.

We shouldn't aim for the state minimums.

Please support bold change, zoning, and land use.

That will build a city where everyone across all incomes can find a home.

We can choose to shape change now or spend years wishing we had.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Zach.

Next we have Emily, Speaker 105. Hi, Emily.

Hi.

Good question.

I'm a renter in Wallingford, and I would like to stay in Wallingford someday.

I'd like to buy something, maybe a little cottage or a unit in co-housing development in a multiplex.

Please make it easier to build middle housing all over the city.

Please expand the neighborhood hubs, especially in Wallingford.

And just as a follow-up, Tangletown already is a neighborhood hub.

It is an excellent one, and I think we should share it with more people.

It will grow as it needs to grow.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Emily.

Next, we have speaker 121, Brendan Wallace.

Brendan, welcome.

Come on down.

The price is right.

Hi, thank you.

I'm Brendan.

I'm a PhD student at University of Washington.

Could you pause there?

Could you talk more into the mic?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Into the mic.

Yeah, yeah.

You're good so we can hear you.

No, perfect.

We'll restart your time.

You're good.

Hold on.

Thank you.

No worries.

Give me one second.

All right.

And you're going to say your name and then what bill you're speaking about, and then we'll start the timer.

Perfect.

Awesome.

OK.

Hi.

You're good.

I'm Brendan Wallace.

I'm speaking about the comprehensive plan.

So I live in Upper Fremont, which is one of the rare neighborhoods that allows small apartment buildings off of the arterial.

So there's a good mix of single family housing.

There are stacked flats.

There are slightly bigger apartment buildings.

I live in one of those mid-size apartment buildings.

It's actually really nice.

So I walk to the grocery store.

I walk to the coffee shop.

I ride my bike to school.

I get that change can be scary for people.

But I actually think that this kind of gentle density is super nice.

So I'm just here to speak in support of expanding the neighborhood centers, having more and bigger neighborhood centers, and more support for the stacked flats.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brendan.

Thank you so much.

You can tell you have good energy, Brendan.

I just want to say that.

Seriously, I could tell from y'all who got good energy.

All y'all have good energy, but Brendan has good energy.

So I can't play favorites.

Everyone has great energy.

Okay, so right now, We are going to wait for more people to sign up, but what I'm going to do is repeat back what I have been hearing and what my colleagues have been hearing from you all regarding the comment.

And then if there's no one that signs up, we'll go to a recess because the sign-up period is until 6.30.

So I realize that some people are getting off 5, 5.30.

They're going to make their way down here.

As long as you're in line by 6.30, you will be able to speak for public comment.

So we just want to make sure that we are honoring everyone.

So what I heard was, obviously, we heard a lot about trees.

We heard a lot about abundant housing.

That word abundance, we've heard that a lot.

We've heard a lot about stacked flats.

We heard from a young woman about accessibility and having...

Units that have wheelchair accessibility, wide doorways, hallways.

We heard about walkable neighborhoods from folks.

We also heard about lot coverage.

We heard about parking minimums.

We heard about transit opportunities.

So housing on transit corridors, but also into neighborhoods as well.

People wanna be able to live in neighborhoods.

We talked about expansion of neighborhood centers.

We also heard about for us to pedestrianize more of the city.

I'm seeing a lot of hands wave, so that means we must be on the right.

I heard correctly, yes?

Awesome, I have really good listening.

ears.

We heard the yes and approach from folks.

We also heard about people with social housing that said that people wanted opportunities for social housing.

Type of housing, we've heard about that, duplexes, triplexes.

We also heard about also AI pollution as well.

Someone talked about that.

That is real.

Right now going on in Memphis, Elon Musk is polluting a bunch of black neighborhoods with 30 combustible gas turbines that are constantly running 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Memphis, Tennessee.

And there are black neighborhoods that are being polluted by AI currently right now.

So I had to say that because I have been reading about that for months now.

And there are people that are dying and getting asthma and getting lung disease currently right now in Memphis, Texas, from these massive amounts of AI turbines that are going constantly with gas.

So I had to say that because someone said AI pollution.

That is true.

Um, also, um, we've also heard about, uh, the rent is too darn high and we heard about someone getting priced out because there wasn't enough, uh, apartments in their neighborhood and their landlord was able to up the rent.

Um, I think that gentleman lived in West Seattle.

So we've heard about a lot of these things, um, today and I know that we'll continue to hear more from you all and how we can address these things in the comprehensive plan.

So we have one speaker that signed up while I was rambling, so we will get to that speaker, and then we will go into a recess and wait for more speakers.

I don't have that person's name, but I'm assuming they're number one.

What number are you?

122. That is the lucky number for the lottery today.

How you doing?

Hi.

My name is Simon, and I am a young Seattleite.

Very proud young Seattleite, actually.

I'm here today to speak highly in favor of any amount of housing, anything that can make rent cheaper.

Because right now, for families like mine who are low income, and for my future, and for whatever, anyone else, or people I went to high school with.

I recently graduated from Lincoln.

It is very do or die right now.

We have a lot of issues here, like a ton.

And one of them is homelessness.

And one of the things that jumps out is that we need housing.

We'll talk about how this is such an issue, or X is such an issue.

But it really is.

I personally cannot afford to live outside of my home right now with my family.

And they can barely afford their rent.

And it's very, the situation is really dire is what I guess I'll say.

And thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Murphy.

And I had a signal that there's another person as well.

So I think that's 122 and we'll wait for them.

And then after this person, we will go on a quick recess while we're waiting.

Hello.

I know you'd walk right into public comment and you get the red carpet treatment right to the front.

What luxury.

Yes.

Any mic, you can do that mic.

Or if you want to use the middle mic, you can use whichever one is most comfortable for you.

No, no, no, no.

Yeah.

Yeah, this mic.

You just come.

Yeah.

I just got here.

Yeah, you're good.

We thought you were coming back here to give us something.

No, you're good.

Yeah.

I'll give you some snacks here.

Yeah.

No, you're good.

Just right there.

I did bring the cords if anyone needs some.

All right.

So hi.

I've had zero time to prep, and that's not a problem.

My name's Dan.

I just hiked up the hill.

I'm a little bit tired, but that's OK.

Want to catch your breath, Dan?

Sorry?

You can catch your breath before you start.

Just take a, you're good.

We have time.

So my name's Dan Love.

I am a D4 resident.

I live in Maple Leaf.

I think you guys have heard a lot from Maple Leaf for this round.

I'm a combat veteran, father of three.

at least fourth generation Washingtonian, third generation Seattleite.

And I don't feel like...

The reality here is matching with what a lot of people wish they saw in Seattle.

I think I lived in Germany for four and a half years, and Germany had this level of density in public transit that everyone here seems to love, and we just don't see a lot of that in what our council's decisions have reflected.

So I would love to see a little more of acting like we're Germany and being a better place for people to live and a little bit less .

acting like we're trying to make corporations lots of money.

And that's all I have to say.

Thanks.

Awesome.

Thank you, Dan.

And thank you for your service.

Thanks for your support.

Thank you so much.

And so right now, if there's no objections, we're going to go into a quick recess while we wait for more people.

And we will return.

Let me look at the clerk, because I'm not sure.

I'm going off the top of my head.

15 minutes.

OK.

So we're gonna do 5.45 where we're gonna return.

So 5.45 is when we will return.

We are gonna be at recess till 5.45 p.m.

and we get more people signed up.

Awesome, thank you all.

Yeah, come on down to the store park.

Try that shit there.

Awesome.

Welcome back, colleagues.

I believe that we have to take a roll real quick.

Would we?

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Kettle.

Here.

Council Member Moore.

Council President Nelson.

Council Member Rink.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Sacca.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Solomon.

Present.

And Council Member Hollingsworth.

I am here.

Five present.

Awesome, five present.

Thank you colleagues.

We have returned from recess and we are gonna continue our public hearing.

Remember just for the public, that public hearing signup is open until 6.30, right now is 5.51.

So if you come down and you are in line by 6.30, you're able to sign up and be able to give public comment.

We have had, Our morning public comment that started at 9.30 this morning.

We heard over 80 plus speakers.

And then today we had a number of people sign up.

And so we took a little recess and now we are back and looking forward to the speakers that are here today.

And so we will get started with those.

So this is officially, we've come back to, this is the public hearing for Council Bill 120985 and Council Bill 120993. So we have two speakers, number 141, number 142 you all are next speaker 141 and 142 welcome so much so what you'll do is you'll just say your name which council bill if you're doing both bills that you're addressing you can say hey i'm here to talk about both bills and then the time will start so you'll get a full one minute of your comments okay awesome thank you

Okay, hi, my name is Ian Crozier.

I am here to comment on both bills.

I live up in Capitol Hill.

I'm an urban planner.

I work with cities all around the state.

I see a lot of comprehensive plan land use maps.

And I think the thing that's really easy to do, always as a decision maker, when you know that you need housing, is to put the housing in places where people don't really wanna live.

um and i think looking at at our at our our map i think um there's a lot of great great stuff in the plan but i think you might draw the conclusion that people like living near near freeways near industrial areas inland people people in seattle don't want to live near the water um and i think that that's those are those are not really true and i think that it's it's really um important that we add the neighborhood centers back into the plan especially places like alki that are In fact, neighborhood centers, you go there and there are businesses, there's a diversity of amenities and everything.

And also add to that the affordable building bonus for the middle housing, otherwise the middle housing bill looks great, so you should pass it.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you, Ian, and thank you for coming for your comments.

We have speaker 142, welcome.

Hey, my name is Jason Lee.

I am a homeowner in Capitol Hill, so Chair Hollingsworth, your district.

I am here to speak in favor of more housing for the comprehensive plan.

I love Capitol Hill.

I think it's a great walkable neighborhood.

I've lived in Capitol Hill for five years without a car.

And unfortunately, during those five years, I've seen a lot of my friends and neighbors get priced out of Capitol Hill.

And I think it is a great neighborhood that people should be able to, you know, people of all income should be able to experience.

And not only that, I think that we should be able to bring this experience to more areas of Seattle.

The reason why Capitol Hill is so popular is because there's a large density in the area that allows businesses to thrive there, allows people to just walk around.

You don't have to go very far to get to what you need to get to where you need to go.

And if you expand more neighborhood centers in Seattle, then you can bring this to more areas of the city.

We have larger neighborhood centers.

That means that instead of just being able to walk for like a quarter mile around you, you have a lot more area to work with in terms of business and housing.

So yeah, thank you and more housing.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

We're though we have 141, 142. I'm looking at over at our staff.

Yeah, I see Murphy going, shaking his head.

No, that was a nice no.

Okay.

Thank you Murphy.

So just for the record, we're joined by council member Rivera and council member Saka.

Awesome.

Welcome.

So just for, so we can just do a reset here.

The public comment period is open for people to sign up until 630. We've heard from speakers 141 and 142 while we were at recess.

And so I'm going to move that we go into another recess because I know we'll have another wave of people coming.

And I know that you all don't want to see my face on the Seattle channel anymore, which is fine.

Maybe you do.

Maybe you don't.

I hear people in the crowd saying yes, yes.

They do, they do wanna see my face.

Okay, that's good, nice.

So anyways, thank you.

You all want another minute?

You wanna, no, I'm just fine.

Just fine.

So what we'll do now is we're gonna go into recess.

We're gonna go into recess until six, 20 colleagues.

Are there any objection to that?

620, we're going to keep the lines open.

I want to first thank our volunteers.

You all, you had your staffs volunteer to help with the management and our central clerk.

They will be out there waiting for people to sign up and usher them in.

We will return at 620 to hear the second wave of folks that are coming in.

People are just getting off work now and coming down.

So really appreciate everyone's time and attention to this.

So if there's no objection, I'm gonna move that the council be in recess until 6 20, 6 20 sign up is until 6 30. So 6 20, we will be in recess and returning.

Thank you.

Thank you, council president.

Was that a mic check council president?

Yes.

Thank you.

So welcome back everyone.

We are still in our session two.

We did two, this was our second recess.

We're back from recess.

Thank you for your patience.

Can we go ahead and call the roll?

Council member Kettle.

Here.

Council member Moore.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Council member Rink.

Present.

Council member Rivera.

Council Member Sanka.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Solomon.

Here.

And Chair Hollingsworth.

Here.

Seven present.

Awesome, seven present.

I'm looking forward to hearing our public commenters.

Thank you for coming down.

We still have six minutes that we're keeping open for people to sign up.

Please remember that you can still sign up until 6.30.

Even if you're in line, you'll still get a chance to speak.

So we have some public commenters that signed up.

So you're gonna call up numbers 161 to 164. So we have, is it Marty?

161, it is awesome, 161. And then we have 162, Alec, followed by 163, which is Leo, followed by Scott Berkeley, 164. And just a reminder, please tell us your name and which bill that you're speaking on.

It could be both bills.

You could say just, hey, both bills, comprehensive plan, both bills.

And then we'll go ahead and start the clock so you'll have your full one minute.

Okay, awesome.

And we've been joined by council member Rivera online.

Thank you.

Okay, hold on Marty one second.

We got to put up the clock.

Thank you council member Rivera.

We have to put up the clock one second.

You don't get one second, you get one minute, but.

So we have currently have five speakers.

Yeah, five speakers, but there could be some that sign up between now and 630. Awesome.

Marty, you're ready to go.

Yes, hi.

I'm Marty McHugh, and I happen to live in Green Lake.

But really, what I want to address is citywide.

We have at West Green Lake put together a proposal as an alternative, and we've given it to Dan in District 6, and I just emailed it to all of you to have a look at, and you can see it at westgreenlake.com, and it's a compromise proposal for the neighborhood center at West Green Lake.

Now, we at West Green Lake are all in favor of people having a place to live that's affordable and comfortable and et cetera.

I have in my hand right here though, or maybe in addition, attachment one, council work program, city council topics for permanent legislation.

And one of those is helping to prevent predatory development.

I feel very strongly as do all of us that those of us

I know it was a quick minute.

Thank you, Marty.

And if you have additional comments, thank you for sending us those emails.

I will make sure that we read that.

If you have anything additional, you can throw in the bucket if you had anything.

Yeah, if you wanted that to be part of the record more than that.

All right.

Thank you, Marty.

Oh, sorry, go ahead.

162, Alec, followed by 163, Leo, and then Scott, 164, and then we have 181, Sanders.

Hello, I'm Alec Musante, and I want to speak on that comprehensive plan.

Hold on, if you could pull that mic towards you and speak in that so we can hear you.

Awesome, perfect.

All right.

So I just wanna encourage, oh, it's time to start?

Yeah, you're good, yeah.

I just want to encourage the council to don't compromise on the comprehensive plan, like expand out these neighborhood centers, because what will help Seattle's housing problem, and also help me as well, because I would like to afford a house here one day, currently rent.

Just increase the density in housing, keep them next to transit so that it's easy to get around the city.

don't cut back on the neighborhood centers as they are.

They can be so much better and I don't wanna see them like only half-baked when they actually are built sometime in the future.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you so much.

Next we have speaker 162, awesome.

163, that was Alec, now we have Leo, my bad.

Hi Leo, welcome.

Speaking on both bills.

or proposals.

Hi, my name is Leo Kitchell.

I'm a longtime resident of Seattle.

I live in Madison Park.

I want to speak in favor of a bold, strong, comprehensive plan.

Zoning is a pernicious issue because it involves a large but diffuse benefit and a concentrated cost or perceived cost.

As council members, I assume you hear the specific concerns, particularly of those with the time, money, and other resources to make those concerns heard.

I urge you to think more holistically.

Council Member Hollingsworth, I urge you specifically to help make our district more affordable, for example, by strengthening our neighborhood centers and not paring back Madison Park, Majorna, et cetera.

Council President Nelson, As a citywide representative, the challenge of diffuse benefits is even more significant.

I was heartened by the pro-housing statement in the candidate forum.

All of the leading candidates were strongly pro-housing.

Please live up to this moment and your campaign statements.

All please rise to this opportunity to build a Seattle that works for all.

Thank you, Leo.

Next, we have Scott Berkley followed by Sanders.

Hi, Scott.

Hi, everybody.

My name is Scott Berkley.

I am a District 1 resident in the beautiful West Yaddle.

And I am a member of a group called Tech for Housing.

So you can call me a tech bro.

That would be a fair characterization.

And as such, I've had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time in San Francisco, which we can think of as maybe a comparable city to Seattle, our older sibling on the West Coast, and a cautionary tale of what can happen to a city if they make it too hard to build housing.

just incredible rates of inequality, of homelessness, of all sorts of dysfunction.

And so I'd like to inspire us to a sense of civic pride that Seattle should be the shining beacon on the West Coast of what it looks like when we run a city well, when we build enough housing.

just that everyone can talk about Seattle as the example of success and we can make it happen in this comprehensive plan.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you, Scott.

Next we have Sanders.

Hi, Sanders, welcome.

Whichever mic is most comfortable.

Hi, my name is Sanders.

I'm speaking on the interim HB 1110 legislation.

While the state law is a great first step in allowing housing citywide, I think it's important for the city to make sure that what gets passed in HB 1110 aligns with what will be in the comp plan when that legislation is passed.

In this chaotic time nationally, housing builders need stability in their city.

If HB 1110 aligns with the future comp plan, builders can get started now versus waiting for the comp plan to get implemented before starting future construction plans.

Thank you.

Awesome, thank you, Sanders.

And I will check with my team over there.

Okay, awesome.

So that was our last signed up public speakers was Sanders.

Thank you so much.

And I know that the public comment period is now well this is the public hearing period is now closed so thank you all I want to thank the people there's a couple of thank yous the people that all signed up this morning to speak thank you all thank you all to the people who came down here in person to come and speak to all the young people that came to speak especially the That's our young youth that are 10, 12, 15, and also our young folks under the age of 35. Is that a good amount?

That's what I said last time, 35?

Yeah, that's a good amount.

Our young folks under 35, it's that Gen Z millennial age.

I'm an older millennial, but it's that Gen Z millennial age.

Thank you all for coming down to speak as well about the comprehensive plan.

We know how incredibly important this is to people and that's why we have really taken We have really put a lot of time and work in this between meeting with people, also doing public comments and hearing about things and talking to people one-on-one.

Sometimes I miss somebody's email.

People will be like, I sent you five, six emails.

I get a thousand emails and I'm constantly trying my best to go through every single email.

And sometimes I miss it.

And trust me, I hear about it when people put it on Blue Sky or Twitter or Instagram.

They tell me, you missed my email.

please know, give me some grace, resend it to me because I definitely wanna respond to it.

So just wanna say that also wanna thank the city clerks for all your hard work and time and effort in this and all the volunteers that help a lot.

People don't know there's a lot of stuff that goes behind the public hearing from IT, all the work that they have to do behind the scenes to our security, all the work that they have to do to our staff, our clerk's office, the volunteers, the council members.

It's our job, but also the people that are making us look as best as possible and keeping the city run.

So just thank you all as well.

A couple housekeeping things and deadlines so people know our next council members, you all know that our next Concepts are due for, did you sign up for public comment?

No, okay.

I just wanted to make sure we didn't miss anyone.

So you're all good.

Did you want to sign up?

Did you want to come give public comment?

I don't want to put you on blast.

Okay, awesome.

All I need you to do is just sign up on here.

Can you sign up on here?

No?

Yeah, he was here.

He was in line.

He was in line.

I saw him at one.

Thank you for confirming.

Thank you.

He was in line.

Thank you.

You were in line.

Yep.

And so we have one more public commenter before I wrap up.

You're all good.

And you can go ahead.

We're going to put the timer up on.

We just wanted to make sure that we got everybody who was standing in line so they could give public comment.

Take your time.

You're good.

Is that an Oklahoma City Thunder shirt on?

Oh, shit.

Oh my God.

What are we doing here?

I didn't see him in line.

I didn't see him.

Sorry.

This is unbelievable.

No.

Hold on.

Hold on.

Freedom of speech.

Can you put a sticky note over that if we give you one?

I'll hand to chest.

Okay, hand to chest.

Oh my gosh.

Now I'm just...

the day after okay i'm messing with you and i'm kind of not all right i'm just you didn't sell the team i do have a spare shirt would you like to borrow it is this yeah is it a signing shirt okay we're gonna let you go ahead and do your public comment and then we're gonna officially close it we saw you in line so we just want to make sure you got to do public comment okay all right and make sure you speak in the mic okay

Okay, Councilmember Hollingsburg.

I'm in District 3, a Capitol Hill resident, moved from Oklahoma.

Sorry, big Thunder fan.

But all that to say, I'm trying to wrap up my speech.

Coming from a very hostile community for queer residents, it's really nice to be in a place that finding a community in Capitol Hill of people who fully accept me for who I am.

It's something I cherish about being here, something that I wish other people would have the ability to do.

31 seconds.

Because of that, I'm a big advocate for us having more housing in the city, especially a meeting.

meaning every economic band that were allocated from all sorts of like PSRC, everything.

And really the state is leading the charge on this.

I've been really embarrassed to watch the mayor and council's response to everything.

And I just, we need to add in as many neighborhood growth centers as possible.

We need to spread the wealth and development to allow for people across the world to move to this beautiful community and be a part of all different

Awesome.

Thank you.

Beautifully said.

Even from an Oklahoma City Thunder fan.

But thank you for that.

Sorry, that threw me off.

That threw me off.

I'm sorry.

But I appreciate the comment.

And thank you for coming to the best, a better city than Oklahoma City.

Yeah, no, just give me that one right now.

You're wearing, just give me that.

I know.

But no, I really appreciate those comments.

And just to wrap up, we've heard from a number of folks about how Seattle will be, is be, is be, will be and is a safe haven for a lot of our trans, our gay community, a lot of our immigrant families, a lot of our people that are vulnerable neighbors.

We see people coming here a lot.

And so we wanna welcome them and I get, I understand people talking about, hey, we need more housing to welcome them.

So thank you for that comment.

I also want to reiterate couple house cleaning things.

We also have another meeting Friday, July 11th at 2 p.m.

So that's Friday, July 11th at 2 p.m.

That is our next scheduled committee meeting.

Colleagues, you all know that amendment concepts are due on the 25th this week to central staff.

So we can start getting those amendments together for the comprehensive plan.

And I have repeated this, there will be a chair's package that we will put together as well.

But council members can also bring all their own amendments as well.

We will have a great time, all right?

So thank you all.

Sorry, I'm a little shaken by that Oklahoma City thunder shirt.

I'm not gonna lie.

I'm a little shaken by that.

That got me, man.

Anyways, okay, so that's gonna, I don't know if there's any other comments that any other council members wanna make before we conclude the meeting.

Looking- Madam Chair, point of personal privilege.

I'll just say- Thank you.

You've done an amazing job, not just today's meeting, but this whole process and grateful to be able to work alongside you and have this run so smoothly.

But also to that gentleman, I'm still traumatized for what happened last night.

We welcome everyone from wherever you come from in the country and in the world.

I really do wish you came up here and wore some Oklahoma Sooners swag or some Cowboys swag of some sort.

The thunder is just a little too raw.

But I think you did redeem yourself.

You have a very, very nice mustache.

So shout out to my fellow mustachioed men out there.

Looking great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Saka.

With that, do my colleagues have any more items of business?

If not, seeing none, that this is going to conclude our June 23rd public hearing for the Select Committee.

On the comprehensive plan, it is a cool 6.40 p.m.

The next meeting is going to be Friday, July 11th at 2 p.m.

And if there's no further business, this meeting is adjourned.

Hearing none, we are adjourned.

Oh, was there somebody else online?

No, you're all just waving.

Okay, we're adjourned.

Thank you.