The Seattle City Council Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee is working on updating the city-wide design guidelines, adopted in 1993 and unchanged for 16 years, it was announced at the committee meeting Wednesday, Aug. 12.

They “still provide good base, but we’re also looking into sustainability and compatibility of the neighborhoods,” said Diane Sugimura, director of the Department of Planning and Development (DPD).

Sugimura explained that between the knowledge gained from design reviews over the years and the development of neighborhood specific designs, there is room for change and improvement in the city guidelines.

The new guidelines will be up for council review in 2010.

The city's Design Review Program provides a forum for citizens, developers and the city to review and guide the design of qualifying commercial and multifamily development projects. There are seven, five-member boards.

Board members are volunteer and serve two-year terms; terms may be renewed once. They are appointed by the mayor and city council.

In addition to these updates, DPD is working on meeting the “2030 challenge” which is to construct carbon neutral buildings by 2030. It is called the priority green permitting program, which encourages construction of “a super green building,” said Sugimura.

The hope is that these high-performing projects to “encourage very green buildings,” will be a learning experience of ways everyone can improve the building process, said Sugimura.

Now people are taking the time to plan a “really high-performing building, which will stand out more competitively when the market picks up,” explained Sugimura. In general, she said, that although sporadic, DPD has “seen some exciting new projects coming in.”

Read current design guidelines here.