Ballard, already exceeding its 20-year growth targets by 174 percent, seems an obvious choice for a neighborhood plan update, but the community may have to wait at least a year to see who goes first.

The Seattle City Council is getting set to vote on a proposal to update and assess the status of the city's 38 Neighborhood Plans, which would include establishing a citywide Neighborhood Plan Advisory Group.

The plans were adopted by the city in 1999 and identify actions aimed at managing growth over a 20-year period in each major neighborhood.

The group would be comprised of people from all areas of the city and will be convened by the Department of Neighborhoods and Council member Sally Clark who chairs the council committee that oversees neighborhood planning. Its charge will be to make assessments, not further add to or alter community plans.

Director of Department of Neighborhoods Stella Chao spoke about her proposal at last week's Sustainable Ballard monthly gathering. She said factors to be considered in the analysis are what needs are leftover from current plans, or what has and has not been done. This includes larger encompassing issues like zoning capacity, housing and employment growth.

Chao also stressed that because a myriad of citywide planning efforts have been adopted since the Neighborhood Plans were created, such as the bike and pedestrian master plans, special attention will have to be paid as to how they should integrate into any updates.

Catherine Weatbrook was involved with creating the Ballard/Crown Hill Neighborhood Plan in the mid-1990's. She said many elements of the plan have already been implemented. Some were large projects, such as the Ballard Commons Park and library, but with more growth comes more issues that have to be tackled in the update, Weatbrook said.

Part of the plans' success was that the Ballard community took a proactive approach and was one of the first to complete its plan in the city.

"We got in really early," said Weatbrook, a member of the Ballard District Council. "And that worked out really well for us. We saw the growth coming."

A lot of the same issues are still on the table; completion of the Burke Gilman Trail "missing link," better transit infrastructure and more affordable housing, which many say has become more dire as the population in Ballard grows.

"Things that make a quality community are still the same," Weatbrook said. "What about living-wage professional jobs in your community so you don't even have to commute?"

With more than 1,400 residential units in the pipeline, Ballard has grown faster than any other of Seattle's urban villages, according to a report from the city.

Under the current proposal, a "State of the Neighborhoods" report will be published after the initial assessment is completed, about one year from now. From there, the city will work on prioritizing plans for updates. Emphasis will likely be placed on larger than expected growth, lack of infrastructure and mass transit hubs, among other factors.

The advisory group will also help develop a plan that should have been created "yesterday" for "station-areas" in southeast Seattle, where light rail stations are scheduled to open in 2009, said Chao. The city is feeling tremendous pressure from developers who see the benefit of building in a future mass transit hub, while the communities are anxious about impacts to zoning, housing and transit.

The neighborhood plan and station area assessments should be seen as separate, but equal priorities, said Chao.

There's no doubt about the necessity to update many of Seattle's neighborhood plans, but in the meantime, Chao said communities can move forward with their own ideas about what their community needs are.

"Don't wait for the bureaucratic process," she said. "You have energy, you have a mission."

For more information visit http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Neighborhood_Planning/Overview/default.asp.

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at rebekahs@robinsonnews.com.