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

Good morning.

Uh, the June 23rd, 2025 meeting of the select committee, the comprehensive plan will come to order.

It is 9 31 AM.

I am Joy Hollingsworth of the select committee chair of the select committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll.

Council member Moore.

Council member Kettle.

Council president Nelson.

Present.

Council member Rink.

Present.

Council Member Rivera.

Council Member Saka.

Here.

Council Member Strauss.

Present.

Council Member Solomon.

Present.

And Chair Hollingsworth.

Here.

Six present.

Thank you.

And let the record reflect that Council Member Moore has been excused for today.

Thank you.

We will now consider the agenda.

And if there's no objections, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

Well, everyone, welcome to session one of this public hearing on both the one comprehensive plan and also the permanent legislation House Bill 1110. I want to thank everyone for your attendance and engagement today, as well as our staff, our volunteer.

And I'd like to give an extra special shout out to our legislative IT department for getting here early on Monday.

and to ensure we have smooth operations.

So thank everyone in IT, really appreciate all your help.

This public hearing is specifically for us to hear community feedback on each piece of legislation before we develop amendments as council members.

Of course, we also have been engaging with our neighborhoods, community constituents for over a year now, hearing what you have to say about the comprehensive plan, what you want the communities to feel and look like, and the neighborhoods to function.

We look forward to representing your vision for our community through these two pieces of legislation as they're incredibly important.

And we're gonna be balancing the perspectives of everyone in the neighborhood and listening to also our land use experts as well and our neighborhoods and people that want to live in these neighborhoods, everyone.

Today will be broken down into two sessions.

Session one is going to begin at 9.30 today.

That's going to be reserved for remote public comment.

Registration today started at 8.30 and will remain open until 10 a.m.

And I see we have a good number of people signed up today.

So looking forward to moving through public comment to listen to you all.

Our goal is to get through all remote speakers during this morning session and recess around 1230 p.m.

or earlier depending on the number of speakers by 1230. Those remaining speakers will be recognized during our second session.

So if we don't get through the speakers in the morning session, how many sign up, you will be recognized in the second session.

Session two is going to begin at 3 p.m.

and will be reserved for in-person commenters and any remaining remote speakers.

Should there be any registration to speak in person, or excuse me, registration to speak in person will start at 2.30 p.m.

and it will remain open till 6.30 p.m.

And just a heads up, if you are in line at 6.30, You don't have to sign the paper by 6.30.

As long as you're in line by 6.30, you can be able to sign up so you can speak for public comment.

So I know that there's people that get off at 5, 5.30.

You get down here.

As long as you're in line, you will sign up.

We will get you recognized so you can come and speak.

Members of the public would like to provide comments during either one or two sessions.

Members of the public who would like to provide comments during either session one or two must register before the deadlines.

I want to emphasize that if you want to speak in today's hearing, register, sorry, I can't read correctly.

Anywho, two sessions, 9.30 and then we have one at three as well.

There's also an important note before we get started, please state your name, which council bill you are addressing before you deliver your remarks.

We are discussing two bills today and for your clarification, we'll help inform our amendments.

So as we get started, will the clerk please read item number one and two into the agenda.

Agenda items one and two, Council Bill 120985 relating to land use and zoning, repealing and replacing the self comprehensive plan, pursuant to a major update with new goals, policies, and elements, and a new future land use map.

Council Bill 120993 relating to land use and zoning, implementing a major update of neighborhood residential zones and modifying development standards and other zones to comply with various state laws, both for public hearing.

Awesome.

Thank you to the most phenomenal clerk in the world.

The public hearing on Council Bill 120985 and Council Bill 120993 is now open.

How many speakers do we have currently registered online?

68. Awesome, 68. So just a reminder, registration will be open for another 30 minutes till 10 a.m.

Please come sign up so we can make sure that we hear your voice for the comprehensive plan.

So we have 69 current speakers and I know we'll get more and we'll start to address those.

Each speaker will be given one minute.

Clerk, will you please read the instructions for the public hearing?

The remote public commenters will be called in the order registered.

If you have not registered to speak virtually but would like to, please register before 10 a.m.

at the council's website.

Registration for the session ends at 10 a.m.

The council will recess after all registered remote speakers have spoken.

The council's not able to call on all speakers by 12.30.

Those remaining speakers will be called on during the 3 p.m.

session.

We will now start with the remote callers.

Please press star six when your name is called.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

I will be calling people's registered speakers.

Once I call remote speakers name, staff will unmute you.

Please press star six to unmute yourself.

If we call on you and you're not present, don't worry.

We have a system.

We'll come back to you to make sure that we give you an opportunity to recognize those people if they decide to speak.

So now we will go ahead and get started.

First on deck, we have Tiffany McCoy followed by Eddie Lynn.

Good morning, Tiffany.

Tiffany McCoy followed by Eddie Lynn.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Tiffany McCoy.

I'm the co-executive director with How's Our Neighbors.

I'm calling today to ensure that affordable and social housing can be sited in every neighborhood in Seattle.

The proposed One Seattle Plan lays a strong foundation for this goal by creating an affordable housing bonus in neighborhood residential zones.

To ensure delivery of affordable and social housing across the city, though, we are asking for three improvements to be made to the base legislation.

One is to make the affordable and social housing bonus available citywide, not simply near frequent transit stations.

Second is to remove parking mandates for affordable and social housing.

And finally, to please increase the SAR bonus to maximize the impact of affordable and social housing.

Thank you for listening to me, and I hope you have a great day.

Awesome, thank you, Tiffany.

Next we have Eddie Lynn followed by Nicholas Sutil.

Hi, Eddie, go ahead and press star six to unmute yourself.

We see you online.

Eddie Lynne.

Hi, good morning.

Council members.

My name is Eddie Lynn.

I'm a resident of Beacon Hill for the past six years.

I've been working on affordable housing, but speaking today in my personal capacity.

Eddie Lynne.

We are in an enormous housing deficit 10 years ago, we did not predict the growth.

We under predicted the growth that we're facing today and we also 10 years ago announced housing a homelessness state of emergency.

That emergency has only grown despite the fact that we're spending more on homelessness than ever before.

And that's largely due to our locking off large areas of the city from multifamily housing, from density.

And if we want to truly make progress here, we need to allow more housing options throughout the city, market rate housing, social housing, subsidized housing, please be bold, please pursue an abundance agenda that we aren't looking at 10 years having.

Thank you Eddie next we have Nicholas followed by Phyllis Schulman.

Good morning Nicholas just press star six.

We see you, Nicholas.

Go ahead and press star six to unmute yourself.

Hi, my name's Nick.

I'm 25 and I'm a renter in Seattle.

And I'm asking the council today to allow more housing in the city so that young people like me can afford to stay in the city and afford to start a family here.

Right now, we have a massive shortage of housing of all types.

And that means that a lot of people are forced to leave the city as a whole.

Every unit that or every rule that we add is a unit that we don't add of housing.

Every extra setback or floor area ratio or lot coverage requirement is another unit that we don't build, and a family that's forced to either leave the city or a young person like me that's forced to not have one as a whole.

Additionally, our housing is full.

We don't have enough of it, and that means that more people are forced to live on the street.

The housing crisis affects all of us in different ways, and by continuing it and not having a plan that's ambitious enough, we continue that crisis into perpetuity.

Please support amendments to expand the zoning capacity, relax the building code, and give more bonuses to things like stacked flats and affordable housing.

And please allow them on every lot in the city so we have opportunities for everyone to live in every neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nicholas.

We have Phyllis Shulman followed by J.J.

Bishop Burroughs.

Good morning, Phyllis.

Just press star six.

Phyllis Shulman, Maple Leaf.

Story of slaves.

Not so long ago, indigenous people lived here in this region and there was abundant forest, clean rivers, and plentiful wildlife.

Then white settlers came and started a pattern of development, clear cutting trees, polluting waterways, building wherever they wanted without engagement with those who were already living here and without respect for the natural environment.

You are about to make the most significant development decisions in the city's history since that time.

You may not be recognized what you are doing, but the underlying paradigm that is behind the mayor's proposed legislation is continuing a pattern of choices that carry on the same colonial and short-sighted actions of the settlers by not effectively involving or listening to the people who live in the impacted neighborhoods and contributing to the final decimation of the forests that once thrived.

Your job is to represent us.

Listen to the now over 1,550 people who have signed the Maple Leaf petition, as well as other neighborhoods.

They are all voters.

Thank you, Phyllis.

Next, we have JJ Bishop-Burrows, followed by Ryan Talyn, and then Vanessa Boheme.

You're next.

Hi, everyone.

My name is JJ, and I'm a homeowner in Madison Valley.

Many of my friends cannot afford a single-family house, dadu, or townhouse, but could afford a condo.

Over 200 of my neighbors have signed Free Madison Valley's petition calling on City Council to do two things to allow more condos to be built in our area.

First, expand the Madison Valley Neighborhood Center to allow mid-rise housing within a quarter mile of the MLK and Madison bus stop to allow more people to live within walking distance of the RapidRide G8 and 11. Second, unleash the potential of more affordable and accessible stacked flats near transit by improving the mayor's stacked flat bonus.

Specifically, we're asking city council to expand the stacked flat bonus to lots within a half mile of all rapid ride bus stops or within a quarter mile of another frequent transit bus stop.

Remove the 6,000 square foot lot minimum requirement, allow at least six units per lot and double the FAR bonus, maintain MHA and design review exemptions, and increase the height limit to four stories for stacked flats on lots that protect or expand our exceptional tree canopy.

Thank you so much.

Awesome.

Thank you, JJ.

Next we have Ryan Talon, number seven, and number eight, Vanessa Bowen.

Hello, my name is Ryan Talon.

I'm a registered nurse at Harborview, a gay Seattleite, and I'm here to give comment on the comprehensive plan.

Seattle must dramatically expand housing production to serve as a refuge for transgender people fleeing persecution after the Supreme Court's committee decision.

Anti-trans laws are forcing thousands to relocate, and Seattle's affordability crisis cannot turn them away.

the current comprehensive plan fails to plan for enough homes deepening displacement and exclusion the council should change the current plan by establishing more neighborhood centers so more people can live near jobs to stab schools and transit it should expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide and create a similar bonus for low-rise zones and the council should increase the bonus for stacked flats and allow it to be used on all lots without bold action rising rents will shut out those seeking refuge from queer phobic bigotry seattle must embrace its role as a queer sanctuary city by legalizing abundant housing letting people stay here, move here, and thrive.

The time for incrementalism is over.

Let's build more homes now.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ryan.

Next, we have speaker number eight, Vanessa Boehm, followed by speaker number nine, Rick Kay.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Vanessa Boehm.

I live in Greenwood, and I'm calling to urge the city council to adopt a bold comprehensive plan that includes the originally proposed extent of all neighborhood centers and additional ones.

Allowing more homes ever is the progressive and just thing to do.

Right now, exclusionary zoning divides our city.

It displaces people to the outskirts and fuels political resentment and radicalization.

In Greenwood, we've seen that more housing brings vibrancy and community.

Our local businesses are thriving.

Walkability and public transit service have improved.

But new housing is still confined to the achievers.

Now is the time to be true to our yard signs and welcome young families and those who don't make seven figures to all of our neighborhoods by allowing more types of homes I also want to remind the Council that this public comment process is deeply undemocratic.

It favors those with time and money, not those most affected by the housing shortage, who are priced out and have to work long hours to get there.

Please do the right thing for our city.

Pass the vote plan.

Thank you.

Thank you, Vanessa.

Next we have speaker number nine, Rick Kay, followed by speaker number 10, Robin Briggs.

We have been misled regarding the 330,000 capacity calculation.

In the June 5th committee meeting, minute 36, it was stated that the numbers as if every parcel is rebuilt to maximum capacity.

It's not true.

Through multiple methods, capacity has been excluded from the 330K.

You heard about one of them in the June 13th committee meeting, minute 11, in which it was stated that the number includes only the properties most likely to be redeveloped.

Look at the historic data.

It shows that the mayor's proposal has lots of excess capacity and incentivizes displacement instead of infill.

Excess capacity, by definition, does not result in growth, but instead immediately disincentivizes property maintenance and increases housing costs as local owners are replaced by colluding corporations.

Please require that OPCD provide a complete accounting and please require that it also include at least a placeholder values for the near future changes such as the upcoming regional centers plans and the 2025 state law impact.

Thanks.

Thank you, Rick.

Next we have speaker number 10 and what I'll do is so people know that are online, I'm gonna say everyone's number next to their name.

So callers know because you're assigned a number once you are signed up for public comment.

So yes, thank you, Rick.

Next we have speaker number 10, Robin Briggs followed by speaker number 11, Nathan Winch.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Robin Briggs and I live on Capitol Hill.

I urge you to expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide, increase the bonus for stacked flats, and apply it to all lots, not just the largest ones, and establish more neighborhood centers in high opportunity and low displacement risk areas so more people can live near jobs, schools, and transit.

We are in a housing crisis which is pinching the cost of living and casting a shadow over our economy and the people in the region.

Housing starts are down locally and affordable housing is being sold off.

The first step to a solution is for the city to make building more housing legal.

We are also in a climate emergency and the biggest, most positive thing the city can do about it is to let more people live here, reducing their commute time and our carbon footprint both at once.

We need to put the era of exclusive housing behind us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robin.

Next we have Nathan Winch, speaker number 11 and then speaker number 12, Lynn Drake.

Good morning, council members.

Sorry.

My name is Nathan Winch.

I'm here speaking on behalf of...

Wait, Nathan, I'm sorry.

Nathan, I interrupted you.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead and start over.

We'll restart your time.

My bad, Nathan.

You're good.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, council.

My name is Nathan Winch.

I'm here speaking on behalf of AIA Seattle's 2800 architects, planners, and advocates working towards a more affordable, equitable, and sustainable city.

Seattle's housing crisis demands bold action, and this is a pivotal moment for us to meaningfully shape a more inclusive and affordable Seattle.

First, stack flats are one of the most financially viable, space-sufficient housing types available, and in order to ensure they succeed, we urge the council to eliminate unnecessary lot size minimums and set FAR high enough to make projects feasible on typical lots here in Seattle.

Second, minimum parking requirements are a major constraint to building affordable housing.

There's very little overlap between major transit stops and neighborhood residential zones, so the current threshold severely limits where housing can actually be built.

We support revising the parking mandate language to lower or eliminate parking requirements and prevent frequent transit instead of major transit stops.

Finally, retain and expanding neighborhood centers, especially in high-opportunity areas so more people can live near

Thank you, Nathan.

Please also send in your comments as well to the whole council.

Thank you so much.

Next we have Lynn Drake, number 12, followed by Megan Cruz, speaker number 13. Lynn Drake, number 12, Megan Cruz, 13, star six, to unmute yourself.

Hi, Lynn, we see you online.

Just press star six to unmute yourself.

All right, we'll give you some time.

We'll come back to you.

We'll go to Megan Cruz, star six.

Good morning.

I'm Megan Cruz speaking on the comp plan.

Downtown is Seattle's largest residential neighborhood with over 100,000 people.

But as a resident, I can't comment today on zoning changes because the comp plan doesn't include them.

It says they will be revealed in the second and third phases, but that's after this plan is approved.

No matter where you live in Seattle, residents deserve a voice in neighborhood development.

Instead, public engagement is shrinking.

Last year, the city eliminated design review for downtown for three years.

In its place, we're making piecemeal zoning decisions block by block and even building by building.

This isn't good urban planning or representative government.

The comp plan says downtown will shoulder most of the new homes and residents more than any other Seattle neighborhood.

So please amend this plan to restore transparency and a meaningful public engagement process as we grow.

I'd also like to add that downtown and across the city, we should do everything possible to preserve mature trees.

We can add housing and protect our environment.

Thanks.

Thank you, Megan.

And just a reminder, when you hear that little noise, you still have time.

So don't stop.

You still have time.

You still have 10 seconds.

It's just a little reminder.

Lynn Drake, are you able to press star six?

Speaker number 12, we just heard from number 13. All right, we'll keep you up there.

See if we can, we'll come back to you.

Next, Anne Tyson, speaker number 14. And then speaker number 15, Sarah Clark.

You are on deck.

So Anne Tyson, good morning.

Good morning and thank you.

I'm a long-time Northeast Seattle resident.

Seattle can grow responsibly, preserving historic neighborhoods and its life-saving tree canopy while concentrating new density around major transit.

Please cut back the plan's excessive upzoning to five-story buildings in residential neighborhoods, such as along the five-block isolated East Spur of Northeast 45th Street.

More than 1,300 neighbors oppose this plan.

This is not near major transit or any neighborhood or urban hub or near commerce.

It will destroy hundreds of mature trees and not create affordable housing.

It will destroy the types of homes that OPTD's own surveys show most people want to live in.

That's detached homes on small lots near some green space.

Excessive upzoning in neighborhood residential areas to five-story buildings is a mistake.

Under HB 1110, Seattle already has capacity for 400,000 to 600,000 new homes, and we only need 80,000.

And we also have more than 13,000 empty apartments right now.

Let's grow responsibly and make use of the great advantages Seattle has.

Thank you.

And next we have Sarah Clark, speaker number 15. Sarah Clark, speaker number 15, star six, unmute yourself.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can, Sarah.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

Okay.

Good morning, Chair Hollingsworth, members of the select committee.

For the record, my name is Sarah Clark, and I'm here today testifying on behalf of the over 2,500 members of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

We all know that our region is in the midst of a housing crisis caused by decades of under-planning for housing growth.

When we don't build enough homes, people compete for the limited supply, driving up rents and home prices.

Seattle's housing crisis demands bold action, and the comprehensive plan is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to make Seattle a city that works for everyone.

Equitable, affordable, livable, vibrant, and green.

The proposed One Seattle plan is a big step forward, allowing for more housing options in all neighborhoods.

And we need the council to strengthen the plan, not water it down.

As you continue refining this plan, we ask you all to support the following amendments.

Expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide.

Increase the bonus for stacked flats we use on all lots.

Thank you, Sarah.

Um, I see, um, Oh, Lynn Drake is not on there.

All right.

We'll come back to her.

Uh, Thomas, uh, speaker number 16, Thomas followed by Tia speaker number 17. Good morning, Thomas.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Thomas.

I'm a physician in Seattle and a member of Washington physicians for social responsibility.

I'm here to urge you to preserve Seattle's urban tree canopy and to amend the comp plan to include stronger protections for trees.

Climate change has profound impacts on health.

The 2021 heat dome highlighted the deadly impact of heat waves in our region and the need for our city to be more climate resilient.

And 2024 was the hottest year on record.

Tree canopies cool our neighborhoods significantly, reducing harms from urban heat islands that disproportionately impact lower income residents.

They also help remove harmful particulate matter from the air, something we are all familiar with given frequent wildfires in the area.

There have been many recent examples in Seattle in which mature trees were removed not to build more housing, but to repave a driveway or to put in extra parking places.

I encourage you to take action creating stronger tree protections that allow for a healthier, more climate resilient community.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Thomas.

Next we have Tia Petrovich, speaker number 17, follows by speaker number 18, Caroline Ullman.

Good morning, Tia Petrovich, addressing social services for all neighborhoods.

As a long-term resident of Pioneer Square, I've seen firsthand how our neighborhood has shouldered the majority of our city's social services.

I deeply value how my community cares for one another and supports recovery and resilience.

However, I also understand the immense burden of having over-concentration of social services.

It's flawed thinking to think just a few neighborhoods like Pioneer Square, the CID, and Belltown can carry the weight of Seattle's homelessness crisis.

Supporting those on our streets, in our parks, and in our public spaces is an issue for everyone.

And it's time we think bigger and recognize that all neighborhoods need to be part of the solution to an overall city and human health.

This starts with how our city plans and prioritizes.

Please update the comp plan standards to avoid over-concentration of human services in any single neighborhood and encourage the placement of much needed services in neighborhoods that currently lack them.

True inclusivity means shared responsibility.

Thank you.

Thank you, Tia.

Next, we have Caroline Ullman.

Before you start, if IT can bump up Lynn Drake to see if we can get her to press star six.

Hi, Caroline.

Good morning.

Hello, Caroline.

I'm from the proposed Maple Leaf neighborhood center.

I'm part of the 20 neighborhood coalition of residents and voters urging the council to protect trees and ensure affordable housing through thoughtful growth.

I don't support the mayor's plan to create a neighborhood center in Maple Leaf.

We don't fit the criteria and we're so leafy that development could hurt our tree canopy goal, But if there had to be a compromise, I would support adjusting center boundaries to save trees and the 12th Avenue Northeast Greenway.

I oppose the mayor's changes to HB 1110 legislation that go dramatically beyond state law.

Don't shrink setbacks.

Don't increase lot coverage.

Don't raise roof heights.

And don't change the transit definition to upzone virtually every neighborhood in the city.

I also want you to require developers to retain existing trees.

It takes a lifetime to replace the benefits of a mature tree.

Please protect our future.

Thanks for the opportunity to speak today.

Thank you, Caroline.

Lynn Drake, star six, if you can, star six.

Yay, awesome.

Yay, thank you very much for sticking with me.

My name is Lynn Drake, and I'm a 62-year-old homeowner living in the beautiful Alki neighborhood.

I'm urging you to vote for the most ambitious housing plan.

My entire extended family lives in Seattle, my mother, my two sisters, and many adult nieces and nephews, plus my children.

I would like to see my young adult family members have affordable housing choices so they can stay in Seattle.

This issue speaks to the social fabric of our community.

Let's make room for our youngest generation.

I also urge you to add Alki back in the plan as a neighborhood center.

We have all the elements, Alki Elementary, beautiful parks, a community center.

We could use more support for our small businesses and fast, frequent transit.

Thank you for your time today and thanks for sticking with me.

Okay.

Happy Monday.

Awesome.

Thank you, Lynn.

Thank you, Lynn.

Next we have Audrey Nutt followed by Jim Grant.

So speaker number 19 followed by speaker 20. Hi, Audrey.

Hi, this is Audrey Nutt, and I'm speaking to the Comprehensive Plan Frequent Transit Route FTR up zones.

There are portions of proposed FTR up zones that not only fail to further the goals of the one Seattle plan, but actually undermine what the city is trying to achieve.

For example, the plan includes an FTR up zone segment east of 35th Avenue Northeast along Northeast 65th Street that furthers no purpose of the plan.

Aside from the one bus route, there are no other transit options.

This route is entirely diverted for anticipated inclement weather.

Most parcels along one route are highly susceptible to landslides.

Deep grades and curves prevent the bus from even stopping for a sizable portion of the route.

These same slope and road grade problems make this portion unwalkable or bikeable.

There are no public and almost no private services along this entire proposed FDR up zone.

There are no connections to a neighborhood or urban center.

I ask, why is the city proposing FTR options in an area that will not provide useful transit in an unwalkable neighborhood with no access to amenities?

People will be forced to rely on vehicles.

This does not serve the residents of our city who need housing the most.

Thank you, Audrey.

Next we have, uh, we don't see you president number 20, Jim Grant is a call for Jim Grant.

Uh, we're going to keep moving with Richard Ellison, Richard Ellison, followed by Judy, uh, number 22. So speakers 20, 21 and 22, go ahead and press star six, Richard.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Richard Ellison.

I live in district four.

It's just been summer solstice and half our country is now in an extended heat wave.

But the phrase maximum retention of existing trees is a dangerous and treacherous idea to developers who got carte blanche to cut all the trees embedded in the updated tree code.

And now you want to cement it in the comp plan too.

Trees are suffering Master Builders Association and the mayor office direction to rewrite the tree codes with the illogic that somehow are the saving trees during development was incompatible with building new housing and a zeal to build lot line to lot line.

Every loophole and we can't save them strategy, backed by SDCI's cherry-picked all science data, has some other convinced the city council to drink the Kool-Aid that saving the biggest and healthiest existing trees is just fraught with that idea.

That climate change is to the suburbs and the urban sacrifice zones must use air conditioning and air filters and rejoice in the alt news that all will be well in the urban concrete.

We can still

Thank you, Richard.

Next we have Judy, speaker number 22, followed by speaker number 23, Peter Rees.

Hi, Judy.

Good morning.

Star six.

Good morning.

My name is Judy Benditch.

I've written letters with comments and hope you will adopt those suggestions.

I have several key points.

One, please adopt the amendments to the tree ordinance proposed by trees and people.

These are critical for our environment and for our health.

Regarding HB 1110, exempt 25% of NR residences in our most racially diverse and low-income neighborhoods.

Please, no more displacement as occurred with MHA.

Three, comply with the GMA.

Seattle's greatest need is affordable housing for our working families, not more million-dollar townhouses.

The Seattle One Plan does not say how the city will meet these goals and needs and where every economic sector will be housed.

Four, take it easy.

Take it slower.

Our economy is in flux.

Adopt what is needed over time.

Focusing on affordable housing and reevaluate when it's clearer what the future.

Thank you, Judy.

Next, we have Peter Rees.

That's speaker number 23, followed by speaker 24, Laura Thorne, 24. Speakers 23 and 24.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Peter Reese, a District 3 resident.

In my brief time, I'd like to ask you to focus on two things.

First, focus on what makes Seattle a great city and what we can do to expand access to the quality of life that many of us enjoy.

Seattle is recognized as an environmentally conscious city.

It's the only U.S. city selected as a role model city by the United Nations Environment Program.

In Mayor Harrell's first day executive order, there was an emphasis on nature-based solutions.

conserving natural spaces and creating a healthier, more inclusive future for our communities.

Please remember that there are smarter ways to achieve housing density than by paving over more than half of our residential land.

Second to ask, and this is a hard one, not a lot of fun, is to make sure that the priorities you bring forward are actually embodied in the legislation that you pass.

To date, the details of that legislation have fallen short, and there is more work that you should request from OPCD and central staff to make sure that that happens.

Thank you again for your hard work and for your consideration.

Awesome.

Thank you, Peter.

Uh, next we have, uh, Laura Thorne, speaker number 24, followed by Samuel Jacobs, speaker 25. And you might be muted on your phone, Laura.

We see that you're off mute on our end.

You might be muted on your phone, but we do see.

Yep.

There we go.

Good morning.

Hello, good morning.

Thank you so much.

I'm Laura Thorne speaking to the Seattle One Plan, and I support passing a bold plan that increases housing density, but it can be done without sacrificing the tree canopy.

Seattle's urban trees are critical to cooling our neighborhoods, improving air quality, and supporting life for present and future generations.

The proposed up zones in the Seattle 1 plan will undermine Seattle's climate resilience and lead to increased environmental and health inequities.

This plan places Seattle on a path to fewer trees, less shade, increased carbon dioxide, and increased water pollution and higher temperatures.

So I urge you to make the following changes in the zoning proposal.

One, eliminate the setback reductions that limit the essential space in both street and private property trees.

Two, eliminate hardscape, increased hardscape allowances that prioritize pavement over green space.

Three.

Thank you, Laura.

Please send your comments.

If you get cut off, we know a minute is quick.

We also want to make sure that we get through everyone as well.

So I apologize.

I know a minute is very quick, but if you need to continue to send us your comments, you can do it at, council at seattle.gov, go ahead and just send us your comments so we have them.

There's also different opportunities for people to be able to public comment as well during our land use committee meetings, our select land use committee meetings as well, also full council.

So please continue to send us your comments.

Next we have Samuel Jacobs, speaker number 25, followed by Deepa, speaker number 26.

Good morning.

This is Samuel Jacobs.

I live at 433 16th Avenue East on Capitol Hill.

My wife and I have owned our home there and lived there for just shy of 45 years and raised our family there.

The Maylist Plan before you proposes including our half block, that is the area between 16th Avenue East on the East, the Alley on the West, East Republican and East Harrison on the North and South respectively, into the First Hill Capitol Hill Regional Village.

This area has not been in the regional village historically and the original draft of the plan did not include it in the regional village.

It was included based on the request from some of our neighbors.

It is a very small area and should not be included in the regional village, especially now when there's a whole review of the regional village coming up within the next couple of years.

We have submitted a letter which explains our reasoning for this.

Each of you have it by email and hand deliver.

We request that you review it and remove our area from the proposal.

Thank you, Samuel.

Next we have Deepa, speaker number 26, followed by speaker number 27, Mark Fultz.

Hi, my name is Deepa Sivarajan.

I'm the local policy manager at Climate Solutions.

We call on council to strengthen the One Seattle plan by expanding the affordable housing density bonus citywide, increasing the bonus for stacked flats, and establishing more neighborhood centers in low displacement zones.

Ensuring that underserved communities continue to live and thrive in their neighborhoods while Seattle's population continues to grow is necessary for climate justice.

Increasing affordable housing near transit while still protecting communities of color and low income communities from being displaced is key to Seattle's climate future.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Deepa.

Next we have Mark Fultz, speaker number 27. On deck is Connor Stein, speaker number 28.

Hello, council members.

My name is Mark Fultz and I live in a single family home in the Roosevelt neighborhood.

I am commenting today because the unlimited availability of housing in Seattle has impacted and will impact my family.

My partner's stepdad had to wait years on a wait list for affordable senior housing in my neighborhood.

My brother-in-law is unable to afford a place of his own on his limited income.

My son, who is a freshman in high school, has limited prospects for living in Seattle as he pursues a career in the arts.

All of this is because Seattle lacks enough homes to go around.

The imbalance between supply and demand has led to the cost of housing to double in the last 10 years.

I implore the council to make it possible to build homes in as many parts of the city as possible, but especially in high opportunity areas near parks and schools.

Please restore and add neighborhood centers in these areas so more families like mine can live in neighborhoods where they can thrive.

I also ask the council to make as many of these new homes affordable by expanding the affordable housing bonus citywide, add a bonus for stacked flats, and add inclusionary zoning for low-rise zones.

Please pass it...

Thank you, Mark.

Next, we have Connor Stein followed by Anne Sherwood.

Speakers 28, 29.

Good morning, Council.

My name is Connor Stein.

I'm a renter living in Fremont.

I've lived in Fremont for seven years, and it feels like my home, but I don't see a long-term future here because I can't afford to plant roots in the neighborhood.

I'd love to stay here and raise my family, but there simply aren't enough accessible and affordable housing options.

The proposed One Seattle plan step forward by asking you to go bigger and bolder.

Expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide, apply it to social housing, and create a similar bonus for low rise zones.

Increase the bonus for stack flats and allow it to be used on all lots, not just the largest.

Increase building heights and reduce front and side yard setbacks to create more open space for trees and people inside of the lot.

Establish more neighborhood centers and high opportunity and low displacement risk areas so more people can live near jobs, schools, and transit.

and please remove on-street parking all across the city and replace this hardscape with public trees and green space.

Thank you so much.

Awesome.

Thank you, Connor.

Next we have Anne Sherwood, speaker number 29 and speaker number 30. Delia.

Sorry if I mess up your name.

Ann, just press star six.

We see you're online.

You press star six to unmute yourself.

All right, we'll come back to you, Ann.

I also, Delia, I don't know if I said your name right.

I apologize.

Just press star six to unmute yourself.

Speaker number 30. Star six to unmute yourself.

You're still muted on RN.

Oh, she dropped.

Okay.

Well, if you come back on, we will recognize you.

Next, Sarah Davis.

Sarah Davis, press star six to unmute yourself.

You're still, there you go.

Hi, my name is Sarah Davis and I live in Northeast Seattle.

I support development along high-frequency transit routes.

The current plan must classify the short spur along Northeast 45th as a high-frequency transit route.

It is not.

The council has been notified many times that this, per their own classification, does not meet the definition of a high-frequency transit route.

To be frank, this plan will demolish many middle-class homes, all owned by working-class families, most of whom have two working parents and big mortgages.

It will also displace neighbors who've lived in the area for 50-plus years.

It will result in a loss of 20-plus significant trees.

In the last 12 years, I have lived in Chicago, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area, all areas that have hardly any trees.

Seattle is really distinct and really beautiful, and I fear that in several years, it will look much like those cities.

Thank you so much.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Appreciate you, Sarah.

Next, we have Tina, speaker number 32. Tina, followed by Alan, speaker number 33.

Can you hear me?

I'm ready.

Yeah.

Tina, we can hear you.

Go right ahead.

Okay.

Good morning.

My name is Tina Vika.

The paradigm is shifting.

Downtown Seattle is in the midst of an exciting transformation.

No longer just a hub for retail and offices.

It's now home to over 100,000 residents.

Downtown reflects a broader shift happening across Seattle.

Neighborhoods are becoming more mixed-use, more residential, and more community-centered.

This is the moment to rethink not just what we plan, but how we plan citywide.

Downtown is projected to absorb the largest share of our future residential growth, yet comprehensive plan includes no new zoning for this area, leaving the people who live here without a meaningful role in shaping our future.

This is our opportunity to do things differently, not just downtown, but across Seattle.

With today's tools, we can foster inclusive and sustained community involvement and public trust by ensuring zoning decisions are both transparent and informed by the communities they affect.

Let's make it the norm that permit approval depends on meeting a higher and more inclusive set of standards rooted in equity transparency.

Thank you, Tina.

Next, we have Aline and we'll come back.

We see Annie and Delia present.

We'll come back to you after we get through Aline.

Hi, my name is Aline Fortgang and I'm speaking on the comp plan.

When you take a walk on a hot day, don't you instinctively seek to walk in the shade?

And when you step out into the sun, doesn't the burning hot pavement feel unbearable?

We've all experienced this.

Trees keep our city livable, especially as temperatures continue to rise.

Trees aren't just beautiful.

They are essential to our quality of life.

Studies done by Harvard, Yale, Kaiser Permanente, the USDA, and many more have confirmed that living among trees reduces stress levels and improves both physical and mental health.

It is vital that trees are protected in the comprehensive plan zoning bill.

We urge you to legislate strong guidelines to spare trees while allowing for increased density.

We can do both.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now we have speaker number 29 and 30. So Annie Sherwood, D'Lea.

So we have Annie if you press star six.

There we go.

We hear you.

Go ahead and start.

My name is Anne Sherwood.

I'm commenting in favor of stronger tree protections with CB 120993. The experience of living within close proximity to old, beautiful, comforting trees fills an essential mental health need of security within nature.

As this feeling of security is necessary for a child developing mental health, it is necessary for an adult's mental health to be surrounded by nature as much as possible.

It is a mitigable unfairness that some have easy access to abundant nature, and others do not.

Please preserve our existing trees when building housing, amending the plan to include strong tree retention requirements so that everyone may experience the health benefits of trees every day where they live outside their own windows.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Ann.

Next we have Delia, and I apologize if I butchered your name.

Speaker number 30, go ahead and press star six to unmute yourself.

If not, we'll come back to you, no worries.

If we could tee up Gary Magnetson, that's speaker number 34, and then speaker number 35, Brittany Cox.

Oh, Delia, you went off and then on.

Hold on, Gary, I see you're off.

Let's give Delia, let's see if we can get her back on.

You're unmuted, Delia, so maybe you might be muted on your phone.

Can you hear us, Delia?

You might have your phone muted.

I don't believe I do.

This is Delia.

Hey, we can hear you.

Go right ahead.

You can start your comment.

All right.

Thank you so much.

I'm sorry for this complexity here.

My name is Delia Scholes, and I'm a resident of District 2 Beacon Hill, and I'm here to comment on the Seattle Comprehensive Plan.

I am speaking in favor of both density and protection of our canopy.

We absolutely need them both.

I am commenting to urge the city council to first close the loopholes in the existing tree code, in particular requiring developers to prepare alternative site plans to retain trees, especially mature trees, and also to amend the code so developers can't justify removing trees because they, quote, can't protect them.

I'd also like to recommend and urge them to place reasonable hardscape limits following cities that have successfully done this and amend the plan to include tree retention requirements.

Also adding requirements for stacked flats or shared walls so that we can keep trees that have grown in infill lots.

I feel that our housing and our tree canopy are extremely compatible and we need them both.

Thank you

Awesome.

Thank you.

Next up we have Gary, uh, speaker number 34, followed by speaker 35, Brittany Cox.

Hi, Gary.

Hi.

Point of clarification.

When I registered it said we'd have two minutes and that's how I prepared my piece.

Right in your document.

Can you, can you repeat that Gary?

I couldn't, I could not hear that.

Oh, point, point of clarification.

When I registered, and got the registration information to log back in.

It said you'd have I would have two minutes to speak.

Why the change to one minute?

Yeah.

So our public notice is for one minute.

It says up to two minutes and it depends on how many people that we've had.

So it's it's it's one minute, Gary.

OK.

My name is Gary Magnuson.

I live on Queen Anne and I have concerns about right now traffic and safety if going to hospitals during peak times right now it's hard to get to aurora avenue where i live whether you go north or south also queen anne is already 70 multi-family where i live in my home it has now changed from l it'll go to l3 which means five stories which all the houses on my block are only three stories high which means i would use lose sunlight and also the setbacks go back and basically no parking and i think we're going to lose tree canopy and we're going to create density that doesn't really offer anything for families because such small units Oh, so let's spread density throughout.

So let's spread density throughout.

Hey, Gary, since you were interrupted, we're going to put 10 seconds back on for you because we interrupted your thing.

That chime is that you have 10 seconds left.

So go ahead and finish your comments.

And so you can go ahead and start right now.

So let's spread density throughout the city.

I think we should think about taxes and buses.

I mean, taxes.

Thank you, Gary.

And I know one minute goes by quick.

Please send in your comments to the council.

And then you can also come to public comment that we have every Tuesday at 2 p.m.

and call in and express those as well.

So thank you so much, Gary.

Next, we have Brittany Cox, number 35, followed by Ben Davis, 36. Go ahead and press star six, Brittany.

Thank you.

We see you're off mute.

You might be mute on your phone.

Oh, I'm sorry about that.

Okay, thank you.

You're good.

We need dense, affordable housing, healthy communities, and a thriving environment.

Practical solutions include stacked flats with shared walls, reusing vacant buildings, eliminating parking mandates, requiring green space, planting evergreen trees, and preserving mature trees.

As we build, we must plan for climate resilience.

Without action, more pavement means more polluted runoff,

harming residents' health food systems, water, and endangered species like our southern resident whales.

Mature trees are vital.

They clean our air and water and help reduce diseases linked to pollution.

The one Seattle plans, 90% hardscape will dramatically increase polluted runoff, harming public health, especially in low-income communities and damaging ecosystems.

Just one acre of pavement generates millions of gallons of toxic runoff each year, killing salmon, vital to local food systems, and the survival of our injured southern resident whales.

Water pollution and food loss are their greatest threats.

I urge you to reconsider this unsustainable approach.

Let's build a just, affordable, climate-resilient, and biodiversity to restore the planet can thrive.

And then the plan to include tree retention requirements, require developers to prepare alternative site plans to retain trees up front in the building process.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brittany.

Now we have Ben Davis, speaker number 36, followed by Dwight Gee, speaker number 37. Hi, Ben.

Hi, thank you.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Yeah, no worries.

Go ahead and start whenever you're ready.

Perfect.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.

I just want to follow up with some things that Gary raised a couple of speakers back.

HB 1110 is kind of a done deal, and it basically eliminates single-family housing in Seattle.

So now every single lot is fair game for four-unit development, which is obviously going to provide a lot of single-family housing.

The current Seattle comprehensive plan goes far further by mandating six-story LR3 upzoning along Seattle Transit Master Plan frequent transit networks.

A lot of these networks go into existing residential neighborhoods without meaningful commercial opportunities of the sort that are kind of frequently cited for LR3 upzoning.

Those designations of frequent transit network were done kind of without reference to the comprehensive plan.

So the Seattle Transit Master Plan is already in place.

And many of those designations are actually inaccurate.

So in our neighborhood in north of Seattle, we've actually reached out many, many times to say this actually is just an incredible.

Thank you, Ben.

And please send in your comments to the council.

I know you got cut off there a little bit.

Dwight Gee, followed by Maria, speakers number 37 and 38. Hi, Dwight.

Good morning.

My name is Dwight Gee.

I live in Montlake.

I strongly support increasing affordable housing that truly serves residents and community needs.

That's why I urge you to align the One Seattle Plan to the requirements of HB 1110 and not go beyond it.

I'm especially concerned about the impact of our tree canopy if setback requirements are weakened.

Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections Director Rule 7-2024 allows Tier 2 trees Those 24 inches or more in diameter could be removed if the developer's arborist determines the tree has little or no likelihood of survival after construction.

Reducing setbacks would increase that risk by damaging root systems, including those of trees and planting strips.

Please preserve the 20-foot setback and limit lot coverage to protect your urban forest and neighborhood livability.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dwight.

Next we have Maria, speaker number 38, followed by speaker number 39. Davina, we don't see you present, but we'll call you out.

Speaker number 38, Maria.

Good morning, Chair Hollingsworth and Vice Chair Solomon and council members.

My name is Maria Vatiola, and I'm calling from Beacon Hill Council.

Please adopt four policies in the comp plan to help our 40,000 residents and 70% people of color and 40% immigrants and refugees.

For trees, for our climate, heat resilience and health, one, include in the comp plan the 30% tree canopy goal.

Two, adopt the old Seattle comp plan of Washington State and our zones and setback requirement.

For housing, item three, please help keep our neighbors in place, prioritize use of housing levy dollars in Beacon Hill to build 30 to 60% AMI for low income and workforce housing.

And four, to help our neighbors build more Addie Daddies in Beacon Hill, the cost is too much for them.

Defer the payment of the costly $60,000 to $70,000 building permit when the unit is sold.

This will help our neighbors do more climate change resilience.

Thank you so much.

Sending you good energy for a long day.

Bye.

Awesome.

Thank you, Maria.

Speaker, we don't see speaker number 39, Davina here at West.

We have speaker number 40 and then 41, last name Alvarez, and then speaker number 41, Elizabeth.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi, council members.

My name is Theo Alvarez and I'm speaking on behalf of the Seattle Planning Commission.

The opportunity of the Neighborhood Center strategy is that it cares for communities by expanding hubs of services, cultural spaces, and neighborhood faves that already exist at the heart of each center.

By adding housing and additional amenities, the Neighborhood Center strategy helps to make well-loved areas more complete and increases access to them.

As a long-term Seattle renter and a recent homeowner in District 1, I've experienced both what neighborhoods are accessible to renters and what kinds of security and services homeownership afford.

I believe Seattle has the capacity and the will to make all of its lenders available to all types of Seattleites and that the neighborhood centers are a key part to this vision.

Part of what I love the most about my neighborhood is my ability to feel connected to my community through safe and accessible neighborhood spaces like shops, schools, and parks, all within walking distance of my home.

I'm excited to see new paths for my friends and neighbors to stay in Seattle long-term We're expanding housing opportunities and especially expanding affordable housing opportunities citywide.

Please support the growth strategy to keep our neighborhoods thriving all the more vibrantly as the city grows.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Next we have Elizabeth followed by Matt Hutchins.

So we're on speaker number 41 followed by speaker 42. Hi, Elizabeth.

Hi.

My name is Elizabeth Archambeau.

Hi.

I'm sorry.

My name is Elizabeth Archambeau.

And I'm a very low-income senior living in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

And I'm calling today because the lack of affordable housing is a serious concern of myself and my neighbors.

And so I think that there are a couple ways that the Seattle Comprehensive One Plan can address our concerns about affordable housing.

And that would be first to expand affordable housing density citywide and then also create similar density zones for low-rise stack housing and ensure that all publicly owned social housing is eligible for the density bonus.

to increase the number stack plants to be all around the city of Seattle.

Thank you for allowing me to have my opinion and have a good day.

Awesome.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

And for the record, let the record reflect.

We're joined by Councilmember Kettle and Rivera.

They joined us a while ago.

I apologize for just now recognizing your presence.

Thank you.

Next we have, sorry, I lost my place.

Matt Hutchins.

Good morning.

Hello.

Good morning.

Hello, council members.

My name is Matt Hutchins, and I'm speaking on behalf of the Seattle Planning Commission.

The commission supports the vision that many of you have expressed, a Seattle that is more affordable, equitable, and adaptable to our changing climate.

A Seattle where families can grow, young people can thrive, and our elders can age in place.

The growth strategy before you will help us get closer to that shared vision, allowing more people to live near their jobs and being able to walk or use transit for daily needs reduces the reliance on the cars choking our city.

Households of all sizes and incomes should have the chance to live in more of our great neighborhoods, and middle housing and neighborhood centers are both powerful strategies to achieve our equity and affordable housing goals.

It is also a great climate strategy as walkable neighborhoods reduce our vehicle miles travel.

Any reduction in the proposed growth strategy, even small changes, undermines that shared vision.

stay true.

As we plan for the next 20 years, we urge council to keep every bit of development capacity to integrate our neighbors.

Awesome.

Thank you, Matt.

Um, and then also if we could bump up caller, uh, Jim Grant or Jim Gant, speaker number 20, we see that you're now present.

Um, and then I believe we're on speaker number 43, Al Lakata.

Hello, My name is Al Licata.

I'm a renter in D5 in Lake City.

I'm calling today to urge you to keep all the neighborhood centers in the comprehensive plan and expand them as possible to expand the affordable housing bonus, the stack flat bonus, and loosen the requirements to the floor area ratio, and as well, eliminate parking mandates throughout the city.

There are a lot of reasons for this.

We need to make sure we have as much affordable housing as possible in our city.

We know homelessness is a crisis.

Affordable housing is the real solution to homelessness.

Second, for environmental reasons, we need to focus on the future that is transit-centered as opposed to parking and traffic-centered, which is why I encourage you to eliminate the parking mandates We need more housing near transit so people don't need to travel as far for their jobs.

I urge you to consider both environmental and affordability concerns when you're thinking about the comprehensive plan.

Thank you.

Thank you, Al.

Jim Gant, if you are on, Jim, just go ahead and press star six.

We see you're unmuted.

Good evening, council members.

Hey, good morning.

My name is Jim Gant.

And I'm a homeowner in Northeast Seattle.

I strongly oppose the proposed up-zoning along Northeast 45th Street.

Allowing five-story buildings in our residential neighborhood will irreversibly change its character.

This plan threatens to displace long-time residents with rising property taxes, destroy mature trees that are vital to Seattle's canopy, and create dangerous congestion on the already narrow streets.

Wallhurst is not a transit hub or an urban center.

This upzone is based on flawed assumptions and ignores the unique fabric of our community.

I urge you to listen to the people who actually live here.

Please stop this upzone and protect the integrity of our neighborhood.

Thank you very much for what you do.

Thank you, Jim.

Next, I will call up the next three speakers.

We're on speaker number 44, 45, and 46. 44, 45, 46. That's Rita Hayes, Max Vumbaka, and Gary Lee.

Speakers 44 through 46, you are next on deck, starting with Rita Hayes.

Hi, Rita.

Star six.

Hi.

Hello.

My name is Rita Hayes.

I'm a lifelong Seattle resident and have lived in Wedgwood since 1984. To begin, number one, please do not go beyond HB 1110. It will transform Seattle's neighborhoods and produce an estimated 80,000 new housing units over the next 20 years.

Two, the One Seattle Plan zones for 330,000 new housing units, doubling the city's housing supply.

King County projects that Seattle will need only 112 net new housing units by 2044. Why is the city proposing to overzone by 218,000 housing units?

Three, if Seattle is overzoned by 218,000 housing units, then we clearly don't need neighborhood centers, which are extremely controversial, and five-story up zoning and select corridors.

My Wedgwood neighborhood does not have the infrastructure to support a neighborhood center and five-story up zoning on 35th Avenue NW.

We especially do not want four and five story multifamily housing units built on our quiet residential streets.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rita.

Next up we have Max Vumbaca, number 45 and then Gary Lee, 46.

Hi, good morning, council members.

My name is Max Wumbaca.

I live in Northeast Seattle.

I work at the University District Food Bank, although I'm speaking for myself today.

But in my work, I have the opportunity to talk with hundreds of families from all over the city who need help getting enough healthy food to eat.

And I hear again and again how hard it is to afford to live here.

I can see that the housing shortage is a crisis that's literally making it harder for parents to put food on the table, and that's why I'm encouraging you to strengthen, not weaken the One Seattle Plan.

We need to expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide into low-rise zones, increase the bonus for stacked flats to all lots, and establish more neighborhood centers, not fewer.

This is a problem that we can solve.

We just really need your leadership now.

And that's why I'm really encouraging you to make this plan even better for my friends and neighbors.

Thanks so much.

Bye.

Thank you, Max.

Next we have Gary Lee.

Gary, speaker number 46. Gary Lee.

Hi, I'm Gary Lee from the CID.

And with the One Seattle comprehensive plan, the majority of residents, business owners, and employees of the CID, Pioneer Square, and Belltown implore you to stop the overconcentration of human service facilities in these neighborhoods by adding existing comprehensive plan policy DTHSP5 to the One Seattle plan and expanding it to include the new urban and regional centers in order to distribute these needed facilities more fairly throughout the city.

as opposed to allowing the continued degradation of livability and economic vitality in these neighborhoods because of such over-concentration.

With this, we also request that the necessary zoning regulations be adopted to implement this policy.

Please direct OPCD to retain and expand existing policy DTHST5 and next version of the One Seattle Plan before you adopt it so that you can also add necessary zoning regulations to the next phase of the One Seattle Plan adoptions in 2026. Thank you.

Thank you, Gary Lee.

Next we have speakers 47 through 49. That's going to be Alexandra Johnson, Lynn Best, and Irene Wall.

Speaker 47, 48, and 49. Hi.

Perfect.

Thanks.

My name is Alexandra.

I work for the Duwamish River Community Coalition representing environmental, and health justice of specifically South Park and the Georgetown communities.

And as the plan currently stands, these areas are at higher risk of displacement, but are currently excluded from the entire aspects of the upzoning that would prioritize the most amount of units of affordable housing via the mandatory housing availability.

And this exclusionary zoning is actually a displacement indicator.

And the problem with including this without any other considerations is that a community at higher rate or higher risk of displacement requires intense and increased community rehabilitation efforts.

But these two communities specifically are listed as industrial centers, meaning that they are currently ignored for any of these and will just continue to increase gentrification.

Thank you.

Uh, next we have Lynn best Lynn best followed by Irene wall.

Press star six Lynn.

Press star six Lynn.

We'll come back to you.

I see Irene wall.

You're Lynn best.

I see you're off mute.

Hello.

Hey, hello.

Okay.

Hello.

Okay.

This is Lynn Beth speaking and a good morning council members.

I'm speaking to concerning the content of content, comprehensive plan, zoning bill, CB one two zero nine nine three.

And I support both increased availability of affordable housing and strong protection for Seattle's trees.

And I urge the council to follow the example of cities like Portland that protect trees while increasing density significantly.

Specifically follow Portland's example and require a dedicated tree retention and planting area.

Increase tree requirements on new developments and discard the tree point system.

Remove section 2511070 that allows developers to justify removing trees because they quote unquote can't protect them.

Keep the flexible guidelines under 2511060. Require developers to prepare alternative site plans before removing large Encourage shared exterior walls and clustered homes to provide usable exterior space, allowing retention of more trees, and eliminate setbacks.

Thank you.

Next we have Irene Wall.

Irene Wall.

Press star six.

Hi.

Council members, please do not upend Seattle zoning and neighborhood character in such radical ways to satisfy the building industry and its investors.

Where is the housing shortage?

This morning Zillow lists 10,658 units available for rent in Seattle, 7,265 for sale, including many under $700,000.

There are already 84,000 income restricted units of housing in King and Snohomish County today.

This is not a once only opportunity.

The comp plan can be amended every year.

Start with the requirements Olympia has dictated and don't go beyond that.

Maintain current lot coverages, which are the minimum for livability and to have mature trees and a modicum of green space.

Do not change the flum to include the neighborhood centers.

Instead, add incentive development in areas with existing capacity and in areas risking displacement.

Housing affordability is not achieved by upzoning for density.

that only increases the value of land, which...

Thank you, Irene.

And just to check, so we're on speaker number 50, but I see a lot of people after 50 are not present.

So I just wanna pause here just to give people enough time who might be listening.

I know that sometimes it's hard to wait and so you come back.

So just so everyone knows, we're on speaker number 50, that is five zero, speaker number 50. and we will start calling people out.

We do see that there are a number of 82 people total that have signed up, and we are on speaker number 50. That is Maureen Shields, speaker number 50. And then I'll give another call to Davina West, speaker number 39. Only 12 of the 50 have actually called in.

So we have speaker number 5050, so Marine Shields.

Next we have Bill Scott, you are speaker number 51. And then Zach Howell, you're speaker number 52, followed by 53, Rita Duval Hammond.

So we'll start.

I don't see marine shields.

We'll come back.

We're going to do at the end, we're going to do a comeback to the people who are not present just to make sure we give one last round.

So Bill Scott, speaker number 51, you are present.

Next up will be Zach Howell, followed by Britta Duvall.

Hi, Bill.

Hi.

Okay.

So this is regarding the upzoning of Northeast 45th Street and Laurelhurst.

This has been justified in the proposal as it's served by a bus route, but this is not a real bus route.

First, the bus is not a frequent transit stop.

It's there for a bathroom break for the route's drivers.

Second, the segment of the bus route does not serve a destination and is not near any type of neighborhood center.

Third, the spur of this route, 31-32 on northeast 45th Street, is not a major transit route for ridership Metro has obfuscated the boarding data east of 40th Avenue northeast to justify a major transit route designation, which is not justified, so the whole thing is cooked up incorrectly.

The request is the consideration of this little-used route should be postponed until the next 20-year comp plan revision to determine if it has major ridership and only then could be considered for upzoning.

In the meantime, the zoning should stay as it is.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bill.

Next up, we have Britta Duvall.

That's speaker number 53. And I hear an echo.

Yes, thank you.

Okay.

Hi, Britta.

Go ahead.

So I'm Britta Jean Duvall-Hemen of District 6. I am in the Tangletown designated up zone for neighborhood center.

My comments are follows.

Due to its size and lack of services in our commercial downtown and our commercial core, we do not feel we meet the designation of neighborhood center.

We would also like you to notice that we have a 10 foot higher than urban center designation on our tiny little neighborhood that doesn't actually have a grocery store.

Know that also there are no provisions in the plan for existing solar installations or the effects on them.

We ask, please, that the tree canopy protections be amended to protect our significant amount of native trees.

We would encourage the adu-dadu bonus and the stack plus bonus and update the condo laws to allow for more engagement from our neighborhood in the zoning plans.

Thank you.

Thank you, Brett.

And next we have Daniel Heppner.

That is speaker number 54.

Hello, I'm Daniel.

And in 2020, I moved to Seattle and lived in an ADU, which was the only way I could afford to live here.

It was only possible thanks to the previous land use changes, which allowed that ADU to exist.

Right now, the council is presented with choices that will be the deciding factor for whether people like me will be able to move to Seattle over the next decade.

I'm asking you to expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide and create one for low-rise zones.

Increase the bonus for stacked flats and allow it to be used on all lots.

Establish more neighborhood centers, especially in high opportunity and low displacement areas.

We need to put people near jobs, transit, and schools.

Thank you for your time.

Awesome.

Thank you so much, Daniel.

Next we have speaker.

I don't see Kathleen Chang on.

That's speaker number 55. Don't worry, we'll come back if you're not present now.

Speaker number 56, Shamik, speaker 56. And then speaker 57 is Patrick Taylor.

You're not present, but we'll come back to you.

And then speaker number 58, Aiden Carroll.

So I believe speaker number 56...

uh hi can you hear me yes we can hear you great uh good morning council members my name is shamik rajay i'm a renter in university district i'm calling today to ask city council to please increase the number of neighborhood centers in the comprehensive plan teattle is a fast-growing city with tons of opportunities my partner my partner and i moved here because of her job just under a year ago and we've fallen in love with the city While we're currently able to rent a place within our means, we're seeing the ever-growing rents of places around us.

There's a huge lack of rental housing supply in the city, but again, the city is growing fast, faster than estimated.

It takes much more time to build housing than it does for people to move in.

This means that the demand will increase much faster than the supply, which will cause rents to surge.

Creating more neighborhood centers would allow for more housing to accommodate both new and existing residents.

To make sure that newly built housing is affordable, we should also and expand the affordable housing bonus to make it available citywide.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Shemek.

And just a reminder, when you hear that buzzer, you still have 10 seconds left.

It's just a reminder, 10 seconds, just FYI.

Next, we have Aiden Carroll, followed by Kevin Means.

That is speaker number 58, followed by 59, which is Kevin Means, 58, Aiden Carroll.

Good morning.

Yo, calling from Tangle Town, where we have multiple grocery stores.

to support the up zoning here as much up zoning as possible especially in places like queen anne magnolia that piece of the union district with 45th regardless of what the budget or will be god knows they'll make the bus better when we have the housing here and especially places like wallingford where i grew up or the community council notoriously anti-housing they support social housing which is good because most of the city council may or don't but i I care about trees, but I'm not sure I want to hear either of those things from people who don't act like they care about homeless people.

The biggest thing missing from this plan is places to live in RVs and places to camp, because those things are the ultimate livability crisis, the ultimate public safety hazard, and the ultimate antisocial behavior when we are constantly harassing them for lack of a place to live in any way, trees or not.

We desperately need housing everywhere.

Thank you.

Um, next up we have, uh, Kevin means, uh, speaker number 59, Kevin.

Hi, thank you so much.

Yeah, I'm Kevin means I am a satellite.

I was born in Capitol Hill.

I now live in the Columbus to a park area.

I'm a primary care doctor.

My wife is a professor at UW.

And we have a combination of a climate crisis, a housing crisis, and a livability crisis.

And the fix for all of those is having more people live in Seattle.

I cannot afford to live where I grew up in Castle Hill.

Very, very happy with my current neighborhood.

I love it.

I don't see how my kids can afford to live in Seattle.

Most of my friends who have kids have had to move out of Seattle.

They live in Shoreline or they've left.

They're in other cities.

They've moved to the East Coast and lower cost of living places.

This driving out of families with kids is killing Seattle Public Schools.

The people who have kids can afford to live here are also in private schools.

Seattle Public Schools is slowly dying.

The fix for that is land use reform and improving density.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kevin.

I do see some people have come back online and so I want to give them a chance.

Zach Howell followed by Patrick Taylor at speaker number 52 and then speaker 57. Zach Howell followed by Patrick Taylor.

And if you can go ahead and press star six, I see you're off mute Zach.

Hello.

Hi.

I'm Zach Howell.

Great.

I'm Zach Howell.

I've been running in District 7 for close to 10 years.

The zoning plan continues to shaft renters and poor or newer residents, placing apartments and condos along busy, dangerous, and unhealthy arterials rather than deeper into neighborhoods and on quiet streets.

This is a class injustice, and I've heard no real logical reason why apartments couldn't be placed two or three blocks away from arterials as opposed to the current one, especially when they're adjacent to bus stops.

Please increase the corridor distance to at least three blocks from arterials.

Nowhere is this more apparent for me than in Inner Bay, where there are tall seven-story apartment buildings in between a rail track and the busy 15th Avenue.

And yet opposite the 15th Avenue bus corridor, there are single-family houses.

Clearly, in Seattle, renters are shoved into left.

No reason except for Seattle's regressive zoning plan.

Please build more housing for all of Seattle.

Thank you, Zach.

Next, we have Patrick Taylor.

You are speaker number 57 and then Bonnie Williams will be next speaker number 60. Hi, Patrick.

Just press star six.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Go ahead, Patrick.

All right.

Hi, my name is Patrick Taylor.

I don't know how I'm in district two.

I'm calling supportive more housing for our city.

The voters have spoken in strong support of a robust comp plan.

It was an issue the last election and candidates that ran as pro-housing won.

There have been multiple comment periods and the people spoke in strong favor of going big on the One Seattle plan.

The most sustainable home is an infield home near transit and services in our city.

Please support and strengthen the One Seattle plan.

Remove parking requirements citywide, widen corridor up zones, add neighborhood centers, and leave the tree regulations as settled business.

Thank you for all the work you do and for our city.

Thanks.

Thank you, Pat.

You still have 30 seconds unless you were done.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you so much.

Next we have Bonnie Williams, speaker number 60, followed by Galen Ward, speaker number 61. So we're in the 60s now.

Bonnie, go ahead and press star six so you can unmute yourself.

Bonnie Williams, star six.

And we can come back to you, Bonnie.

We're going to go to Galen Ward, speaker number 61. Speaker 61, Galen Ward.

Go ahead and press star six.

Hello, City Council.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to your constituents today.

I'm Galen Ward.

I'm raising a family in the Finney Ridge neighborhood.

uh my daughter just graduated from west woodland elementary where teachers have been cut the school is shrinking and our local school is under enrolled because there aren't enough families in our neighborhood i want to ask you to strengthen the plan for family housing by increasing the density for sack flats making them possible on any lot size most of the lots in my neighborhood are not sufficiently sized for the current plan and reducing setbacks so families can have shared backyards I welcome taller stacked flats so that we can house more families on every lot in my neighborhood and increase the vibrancy of Seattle.

Thank you very much for your time.

Awesome.

Thank you, Galen.

And congratulations to your daughter on her graduation.

Um, next we have, uh, Bonnie, if you're still there, you're going to press star six.

Star six.

We'll come back to you.

Um, We have Vandra Milligan, speaker number 62. You're not present.

We'll come back to you.

Kyle, speaker number 63, followed by Dylan, speaker number 64. Hi, Kyle.

You'll press star six to unmute yourself.

Star six.

There we go.

Hi, good morning.

My name is Kyle Ryder.

I'm a resident of the Montlake neighborhood in Seattle.

And I was calling to what I thought would be to represent the silent majority of people who want to see Seattle become livable for a wider variety of people and increased density.

I'm hearing a lot of great voices on this call.

I appreciate hearing like-minded people share their opinion that we need more housing.

We need to decrease the cost of housing in the whole new way.

that you can do that is by increasing the supply.

And I understand that this means changes in a lot of neighborhoods like mine, but I think we all need to do what we can and realize that we need to be participants in increasing the affordability of Seattle so that we can continue to grow and change like all cities do and that we involve More, more housing.

It has to be in our neighborhoods.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Kyle.

Bonnie, we see that you are off mute.

You are next.

Bonnie Williams.

Okay.

Hi.

I'm Bonnie Williams, homeowner in Wallingford and Tangletown vicinity in District 4. Please start with scaling back the mayor's aggressive multi-layered plan with a goal of 330,000 housing units.

The more realistic goal is of the EIS is 80,000 to 120,000 meeting state requirements.

Do not go beyond HB 1110. Scale back the coined frequent stop-flow plan used to upzone neighborhood residential lots lining arterial restrooms to five-story.

Instead, keep maximum height three-story with middle housing at three-story so that buildings can be compatible with scale, form, and character in single-family neighborhoods.

Shrink areas proposed for five-story LR3 surrounding neighborhoods keep lots of three-story HB 1110 and are zones livable and compatible with existing homes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bonnie.

Uh, next we have speaker number 64 followed by 65. That is Dylan.

Uh, you are speaker number 64 followed by Lucas 65. And then we have an 66. So 64, 65 and 66. Okay.

Hi, uh, my name is Dylan Ellis.

I'm a PhD student at UW and moved to Seattle from Washington, DC.

In D.C., I owned a condo downtown and could bike and walk to work and other amenities in Seattle that lifestyle is unaffordable.

Not only is housing more expensive, but there are fewer options near the main transit lines.

In searching for an apartment, I looked up and down the link light rail from U-Dub for places that I could afford.

I was not looking for a garden or for the burdens of maintaining a single-family home.

I wanted to be across the street from light rail and a grocery store, as I was in D.C.

Ultimately, I moved to Northgate and paid $2,200 per month.

Not everyone can pay that.

We need to build more housing around transit hubs so that such opportunities aren't limited to privileged few.

We also need more density in neighborhood centers like Maple Leaf, which could be an attractive opportunity if we're more welcoming to runners such as myself.

DC is on my co-op board and involved in community governance, care about my local community, and Seattle needs care about runners like me, not just trees.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dylan.

Next, we have speaker, Anne, speaker number 66, and then Luke, well, not Anne, I'm sorry.

It's Lucas first.

My apologies, Lucas.

Speaker number 65, followed by Anne, speaker 66. So Lucas 65,

Awesome, thanks.

Hey, I'm Lucas Kampman, a Wallingford resident, and I'm on Northeast 45th Street, and I'm calling in support of a broad expansion in zone capacity across all neighborhoods in Seattle, not just in current neighborhood centers and along smog-choked arterial roads.

I'm deeply concerned that the comprehensive plan as currently proposed does not do enough to make Seattle welcoming to everyone, especially families and seniors.

In addition to locking in unaffordable housing prices, this threatens decades of financial instability for Seattle public schools due to a lack of students.

I encourage the council to go well beyond the requirements of HB 1110 and increase zone capacity for both affordable and market rate housing across all neighborhoods of the city.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lucas.

Appreciate your comments.

Next, we have Anne, speaker number 66, followed by Zach, speaker 67. Hi, Anne.

Hi, good morning.

This is Anne Corsano.

I own a home in the Tangletown neighborhood and then the HOA president for a condo building in Tangletown.

I'm a retired public sector employee, lived in Tangletown for the past 18 years and have two 30 something children, one a Seattle public school teacher, the other a musician.

I understand the need for the desire to have more affordable home ownership in Seattle.

However, I strongly object to the one Seattle proposal for the Tangletown neighborhood center.

This proposal does not effectively address this important affordable housing need and once again feeds into the pockets of developers who will gain and actually increase homeownership prices in Seattle.

I have three main points.

The proposed changes are not required by H1110.

The proposed changes are not needed.

As stated earlier today, this one Seattle plan will result in 330,000 units when only 120 are needed.

The city of Tangletown doesn't meet the city's own definition of a neighborhood center.

No supermarkets.

Thank you, Ann.

Next we have Zach, speaker number 67. Zach, speaker 67.

Good morning, council.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to speak on this super important issue for the future of Seattle.

I'm calling to voice my support for the One Seattle Plan and increase density and affordability in our housing stock in Seattle.

I think the way to do that and allow for a better Seattle with more people and a more sustainable city is to remove design guidelines and review on middle housing so that middle housing can, in fact, take up the share of new housing units that is being planned for.

Maintaining design review and design guidelines will only prevent middle housing from being built.

We also need to remove minimum setbacks on multifamily housing because that will allow for mature trees to stay in place by granting more flexibility for design types.

Further, we should remove floor area ratio, or sorry, increase far limits and unit numbers for bonuses on affordable housing and

Thank you, Zach.

Next we have speaker number 69, Alberto Alvarez, followed by William Waldman.

That is speaker number 70. So 69, Alberto Alvarez, followed by William Waldman, speaker number 70. Good morning, Alberto.

Just press star six and you're good to go.

Thank you.

Council member Hollingsworth and especially the city staff and the IT department This is an amazing, the way you conduct these public comment sessions is amazing and offers order and grace.

Seattle needs this, and hopefully when a certain council president is gone, we can see more of it again.

So this is a citywide public council, not a private homeowners association.

The comp plan is designed to add density for a vibrant city in an ever-growing state.

Supply to meet demand is the most basic principle of any market.

Queen Anne, Madrona, Green Lake, and yes, even Maple Leaf must provide a fair share to combat the housing crisis.

Rentals for the barista, the grocer, the line cook, waitress, the bartender, the dog or cat sitter, et cetera, et cetera.

Homes in the city for a young couple looking to start a family.

Keep density fair.

Do not let the wealthiest communities control the needs of working people.

Have a good day.

Thank you, Alberto.

Appreciate you calling in.

Next, we have William Waldman.

William, Speaker number 70.

Hi, good morning.

I'm sure that any vote for tree protection in every neighborhood is a vote that council members will be unequivocally proud of in the future.

And secondly, we know absolutely that developers will be living in tree-lined neighborhoods.

Thank you, and good luck with any kind of compromise.

Thank you, William.

Next, we have Jim Lichty.

And I apologize if I mess up your name.

It's speaker number 72. I know you're not present, but we'll still call your name on.

And just a...

Reminder, there are people that are not present that have signed up.

I am gonna go at the end to make sure that we can recognize you to see if you have popped back on.

So now we are popping over to speaker number 74. Speaker 74, we just had Red with a star as your last name.

So Red, and then followed by Amy Storm, speaker number 75. Good morning, Red.

good morning good morning good morning you're good oh hold on red let's let we're going to restart the timer i interrupted you my apologies go ahead red you can start whenever you're ready good morning council member hollingsworth and everyone who's here today first of all you are my council member thank you for being kind and so courteous through this process so i wanted to appreciate thank you for that i'm calling in support of adding and being increasing what we already have as a plan, which is adding the Roanoke in our current draft right now.

We already have a K-8 school.

We have active small businesses, public investment through Rapid J line, which is creating a safe bike lane, as well as updating critical utilities or pipes that were created and done in 1920 are being created under the Rapid Ride J line.

This is infrastructure we need.

We need people to understand that our last point in time count for King County was 16,868 people living outside.

Our evictions doubled for 7,000.

We need to invest in affordable housing and people to be able to live and work and thrive in our neighborhoods and not be pushed

Thank you, Red.

Next we have, and just a reminder, you can send comments into us.

You can also come to public comments every Tuesday at 2 p.m.

I know some people are getting cut off because they might have prepared longer words.

So just want to let you know there's still ample comment about this process.

Amy Storm, you are speaker number 75, followed by Ellen Shiu, speaker number 76. Good morning, Amy.

Hi.

As stated, I'm Amy Storm.

I'm a West Seattle homeowner, and I want to see denser more affordable housing in my neighborhood and across the city.

Currently, when houses get full of developers near me, they get turned into single, enormous three-story blocks with no yards that sell for a minimum of three-quarters of a million dollars.

This does not improve housing access.

It makes it worse by destroying interesting old affordable homes and replacing them with something boring and ugly that only the wealthy can afford, all to put more money in the pockets of private developers.

I want to see the comprehensive plan remove parking mandates, expand the affordable housing density bonus citywide and prioritize our social housing developers, increase the bonus for stacked flats and allow them on lofts of all sizes, and establish more neighborhood centers and fund the public transit that serves them.

Also, require new buildings to be painted an interesting color.

Our winters are depressing enough without all of our buildings being gray and beige.

Thank you so much for your time.

That's all from me.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you, Amy.

Next we have speaker number 76, Ellen.

And then also I see that Jim, speaker number 72 is present.

So you'll be next after Ellen.

Hi, Ellen.

Hi.

Hello.

My name is Ellen and I live in downtown Seattle.

I'm asking you to strengthen tree protections in CB 120993. As our city grows, we can't afford to lose the urban trees that make Seattle livable.

Trees are, I believe, they are essential for public health, climate resilience, and overall well-being.

I grew up in Taiwan in a dense urban area with limited access to nature.

And after moving to Seattle, I came to appreciate how special it is that you guys have big trees and fresh air within our neighborhoods.

and I believe every child should grow up with memory of looking up, seeing branches of a tree, having a favorite tree in their neighborhood, or simply enjoying the shade of tree on a hot day.

I think these experiences are simple, but they stay with us for life, and they should be part of growing up.

Please take this.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Ellen.

Jim, speaker number 72, are you there?

No.

All right.

We'll come back to you, Jim.

Um, we'll come back to all the people that we see that are not present, but that have signed up.

Uh, we are at speaker number 77 and that is Ben Padigo, uh, speaker number 77, followed by speaker number 79, Lenard 77, Ben.

Yeah.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you go right ahead, Ben.

Good morning.

Great.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Ben Pedego.

I'm 29. I live in Fremont and I'm a renter.

I grew up here and I'd love to continue living here, but like many people my age, the affordability crisis in this city makes me question whether that's possible.

With this comprehensive plan, the city has the opportunity to do something bold to meet the goals that many citizens and public officials often state, including increasing housing affordability, but also reducing our carbon emissions, preserving tree canopy, and achieving Vision Zero.

Dense, affordable housing in mixed-use zones helps us meet all of these goals by creating places where diverse communities can live, walk, and work in the same area, and also by reducing the sprawl that does destroy tree canopy.

I urge the Council to do more to pass a bold, comprehensive plan, including adding more neighborhood centers and expanding the current ones, increasing bonuses for density, removing parking

Ben, if you're still online, we kind of cut it too early.

So we're going to restore 30 seconds.

Ben, are you still online?

Go ahead and press star six.

Ben, we just had a little technical thing.

We apologize.

So Ben, we're going to restore 30 seconds.

One second, Ben.

We're going to restore 30 seconds.

Okay.

And then you can go ahead and continue.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

You are ready to go.

Whenever you start, you're good.

Great, the last thing I was going to say is just that I urge the Council to do more to pass up all the comprehensive plan, including adding more neighborhood centers and expanding the current ones, increasing bonuses for density, removing parking requirements citywide, and allowing stacked flats everywhere in the city.

Thank you for your time and for listening to everyone's opinions on this matter.

Awesome.

Thank you, Ben.

Next, we have Lenard Jerome, your speaker number 79, followed by Aaron Wheeler, speaker number 80. So we have speaker number 79. Lenard, you just pressed star six.

You're off mute and go ahead and talk when you're ready.

Okay, now we can hear you.

Can you hear us, Leonard?

Great.

Okay.

Yes, I can.

Awesome.

Go right ahead.

Good afternoon.

My name is Leonard Harrison Jerome, and I'm here on behalf of myself and the thousands of people across the city who would never have been able to make it to public comment scheduled in the middle of a workday.

As a result, you've heard a disproportionate amount of comments saying that going bold on this comprehensive plan will only turn Seattle into a treeless tarmac.

I'm here to tell you that the reality is the exact opposite.

We have to be prepared for our population to be in the millions by mid-century.

We must build enough housing so that our kids don't have to push someone else out in order to live close to their parents or have acres and acres of forest out east cut down to at least be able to live nearby.

In the city of the future, I hope that the decisions of this council do not mean that the forest will be twice as far away as they used to be.

I hope that we don't have to level more trees in the city for the parking that those people living the outskirts of the Seattle area will need in order to commute to their jobs.

All so that people of the past didn't have to live by a tall building and who used to use.

We must build up, not out.

That means keeping and expanding neighborhood centers, build higher height limits, stack flats, a lot in every part of the city.

Build tall, not sprawl.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lenard.

Thank you for your comments.

Next, we have Aaron Wheeler.

And then I also see before you start, Aaron, we have Davina West on.

So we'll go ahead and bump you up after Lenard talks.

Davina, you will, or excuse me, after Aaron Wheeler talks, you will be next.

So Aaron Wheeler, go ahead, press star six, your speaker number 80. We see you're off mute.

Hi, good morning, council members.

Yes, thank you.

My name is Aaron.

I'm a social worker who lives in Wallingford.

I'm calling in today because I want living in Wallingford to be accessible to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

Our neighborhood's gorgeous.

We have beautiful parks, a bustling restaurant and art scene, and great walkable streets.

And unfortunately, living here isn't an option for most people.

Homes cost over a million dollars, and there's very few of them.

This exclusivity perpetuates one of our neighborhood's original sins, racist exclusivity created by redlining and intense segregation.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Reinforcing historical racism and economic inequality and exclusivity is a choice.

We need to choose to allow more housing options and opportunities to continue redeveloping Wallingford into a great place to live, work, and play for all.

Please strengthen the One Seattle Plan by removing parking requirements, expanding the affordable housing density bonus citywide, creating similar bonuses for low-rise zones, increasing the bonus for stacked flats and allowing it to be used on all lots, and establishing more neighborhood centers in high opportunity, low displacement risk areas, which will make our neighborhood a stronger, more inclusive one.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Aaron.

Next speaker, number 39, Davina.

Davina West.

Go ahead and press star six.

Okay.

You're off mute.

You're good.

Okay.

Yeah, hi.

My name is Davina West.

I live in Beacon Hill.

I am first-generation American on my mom's side.

My dad is a teacher.

I am the first person in my family to have the opportunity to own property due to just lack of stability and affordability, and I only have had that opportunity to own a home due to Habitat for Humanity and a program through them, something that otherwise has been and would continue to be outside of the realm of possibility for me.

And this opportunity allows me to own my home But to stay in Seattle is allowing you to live near family and watch my nephew grow up.

And affordable housing keeps families and communities together, which in turn strengthens the community and the economy.

And housing abundance improves affordability.

And additionally, mixed uses and complete communities allow people to live near grocery stores, cafes, parks, schools, and other essentials, making it easier to meet daily needs, which also keeps the community strong.

Today, I want to request that the City Council expand affordable housing and ownership opportunities citywide so more people can afford to live the life they deserve.

Thank you, Davina.

Next, we have speakers 81 and 82. David Haynes is 81, followed by Hans Rasmussen.

You are speaker number 82. So I don't see David Haynes present, so we're gonna jump to Hans.

Before you start, Hans, this is just a reminder.

We're gonna do another call for the rest of our speakers that have signed up that are not present.

So before you start, Hans, give me one second.

I'm gonna go call those speakers right now to see if they can respond.

So we have speaker number 50, Maureen Shields.

We have speaker number 55, Kathleen Chang.

We have speaker number 62, Vanda Milligan.

We also have speaker number 72, Jim.

I'll butcher your last name, so I'm going to just call you Jim, speaker number 72. Jim.

Then we have speaker number 81, 81, David Haynes.

So right now we're on speaker 82, our last signed up speaker.

And then we have the people who are not present.

We'll call your name again after Hans speaks.

Good morning, Hans.

Good morning, council member.

Thanks for your time.

Thanks, everybody.

I'd like to echo a lot of what I believe Leonard just said about building a city that's capable of supporting families and not tearing down forests outside the city so that we can, you know, so I think we can, we have an opportunity here to marry the interests of housing and the desire to have trees.

I think the city should create a stack flat bonus in exchange for more green space or green factor across the entire city.

It should be in NR zones as well as LR zones.

And that this bonus should increase the FAR.

It should increase the lot coverage.

It should be practical and achievable.

And I believe if we do that, that we can start to see family-sized housing across the city for prices in the mid $500,000, maybe even the $400,000.

And that's what the city thinks.

Awesome, thank you, Hans.

And then I'm gonna go ahead and read everyone's name again one last time, and then we'll give it like 30 seconds to make sure to see if they're on.

So we have number 50, that is Maureen Shields.

Maureen Shields, you're number 50, you signed up.

We don't see you present on here.

Once you come present, we'll pop on.

We'll bump you up so you can speak.

We have Kathleen Chang, speaker number 55. Kathleen Chang, speaker number 55. Next, we have speaker number 62, Vanda Milligan, speaker number 62, Vanda Milligan.

We also have speaker number 72, Jim, speaker number 72. And then next we have David Haynes, you are speaker number 81, speaker number 81. While we're waiting to see if those people will jump on, I will do some, I'll kind of wrap us up here.

What I heard, wanna thank everybody for calling in for our, and clerk, will you please let me know if someone jumps on as present and we'll call them.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time out to call in public comment regarding the comprehensive plan.

I know we're always trying to balance a good in between and trying to make sure we can maximize the most people that we have and then also the people that sign up that we can be able to listen to them and get the most amount of comments as possible.

So just really appreciate that.

We're taking all the feedback that people have given us as well from how we're running public comment to what people wanna see more.

Also to the comprehensive plan.

Today I heard more housing.

I heard abundance.

That was a word I heard.

I heard walkability.

We've heard about stacked flats.

We heard about condos.

We've heard people wanting opportunities for social housing and for that to be in the comprehensive plan.

We've heard about the expansion of neighborhood centers.

We also heard about from a number of callers basically that rent is too darn high.

We've also heard from people talking about trees that we wanna make sure that we protect our trees.

We also heard from a gentleman whose daughter just graduated from elementary school and they would like to see more families be able to go to that elementary school.

So housing intentionally around our schools.

We also heard about all neighborhoods absorbing density, neighborhoods that might have not had certain covenants on them.

And so growth was pushed towards certain areas in the district, Central District and South End to be very specific, but wanting to make sure that all neighborhoods have because people want to be able to live in all neighborhoods.

Also, we've heard about parking requirements, and then we heard about transit opportunities.

So we've heard about a number of good things today, and I don't see any of the speakers.

We have one speaker that joined.

Thank you.

And I will look to see what...

Oh, speaker number 81, David Haynes.

You are recognized, sir.

Press star six.

All right, thank you, David Haynes.

Get rid of the tainted racist One Seattle plan that references anything about BIPOC and get rid of all the restrictions that the comprehensive plan had put on it by the council landlords who have not been dealing in good faith.

We need to have a robust housing build out for the multitudes of younger generations and the working class.

We don't need to taint this with BIPOC references where you're only allowed to be black if you own the home and you're only allowed to be black if you're going to build it.

And you're only going to be black if like, you know, you're part of a nonprofit housing consortium development who are totally unqualified to build any 21st century first world quality homes.

But this corrupt council is willing to play the race card for the next 20 years and backstab a bunch of hardworking, innocent working class because they want to deal with racism and their own self-feeling conflicts of interest.

Thank you, Mr. Haynes.

So I'll, we'll end on a positive note.

We just want to thank everybody for again, calling in.

This is just a reminder that our next meeting, our next, excuse me, we're still in our meeting, but that our session one of today's public hearing has come to a close.

It is 1126. However, We are going to make sure, so we have a second session coming up and that is at 3 p.m.

Public comment opens to sign up starting at 2.30.

And so the window is between 2.30 and 6.30.

And if you are in line at 6.30, you will be able to have a public comment to come and speak.

So we are expecting a number of people to come down and we're looking forward to that.

And we just want to thank you all for doing that, for coming to see us.

And so without, if there are no objections from any colleagues and I don't see any online, I'm going to...

I am going to call a recess for this meeting until 3 p.m.

for our second session.

And hearing no objection, I'll pause just to make sure, this meeting is going to be in recess to 3 p.m.

Thank you all.