In her newsletter to constituents District 1 Seattle City Council member Lisa Herbold announced meetings regarding potential rezoning for urban village expansion and zoning changes for the Morgan Junction area.

"On Thursday, Nov. 9th, from 6pm-9pm, the Department of Neighborhoods, the Office of Community Planning and Development and Councilmember Johnson’s office will host the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village Community Design Workshop at Chief Sealth High School Library, 2600 SW Thistle St. Seattle, WA 98126.

This workshop is an opportunity for you to provide guidance on the proposed urban village boundary expansion for the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village and inform the City Council about your vision for how it should look, feel, and function in support of citywide goals for increased affordability, design quality, and housing options. There are two expansion areas proposed in District 1. One is the West Seattle Junction, which is designated as a HUB urban village, and Westwood Highland Park. The later has been designated as a residential urban village with high risk of displacement and low access to opportunity. (Seattle Urban Village Map). Being within a proposed urban village expansion areas signals the City’s interest in studying these areas for potential growth and change. Urban villages are priority areas for other city policies, investments and programs. The following residential villages are not being expanded, but other changes are still being considered for the Morgan Junction, Admiral Junction and South Park. South Park is also designated as having a high risk of displacement and low access to opportunity.

In addition, on Tuesday, Nov. 29 (tentative date and location TBD) from 5-9pm, the Morgan Community Association (MoCA) will host a meeting in advance of the City's December 7, 2016, West Seattle meeting (more below) to take comments on the proposed zoning changes, the Morgan Community Association is putting together a District 1 - wide meeting titled Mandatory Housing Rezones in District I. The intent of this meeting is to understand the City's new Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program; to learn how to read the draft zoning changes on the complicated City maps; and identify associated neighborhood planning that needs to accompany the zoning changes. A goal of this meeting will be to empower residents with knowledge about what exactly is proposed so they can provide pertinent comments about the City's up-zone plans.

Finally, the Department of Neighborhoods; Office of Planning and Community Development; Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation; and the Seattle Department of Transportation have announced that on Wednesday, Dec. 7th, from 6pm-8pm, at Shelby's Bistro and Ice Creamery (4752 California Ave SW) they will be hosting a conversation around proposed changes to generate more affordable housing, improve transportation services, and make new parks investments. They will also be sharing the proposed new Urban Village maps for West Seattle Junction, Admiral Junction, Morgan Junction, Highland Park, Westwood Village and South Park. Community members have expressed concern that this meeting is scheduled on the same night that the Southwest District Council has its regular meeting. My hope is for a solution that results in the greatest amount of participation in this important conversation.

Urban village boundaries will be finalized after Council deliberation on proposed zoning changes to implement the Mandatory Housing Affordability, a new program that will require all new commercial and multi-family residential buildings to either include affordable housing on site, or make a payment to support affordable housing. The MHA program is one of more than 70 Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Recommendations, many of them related to urban villages including:

• Increasing the amount of land zoned for multifamily housing, expanding walksheds for transit, increasing amenities and services in those areas
• Increasing housing options on single family zoned land within Urban Villages
• Reducing parking requirements for multifamily housing outside of Urban Villages or Centers

In dedicating more land for multifamily housing in and around Urban Villages and more multifamily housing of all types and sizes inside Urban Villages we can – for the first time in our City’s history - also require developers to pay their share to ensure that some of the housing they build is truly affordable to those who need it. I will continue to have a sharp focus on addressing housing displacement impacts of development as the Council discusses the proposed upzones.

Both the Westwood Highland Park and West Seattle Junction urban village boundary will go before Council in 2017. After the urban village expansion boundaries are proposed the regulatory changes to the boundary or the zoning will still need to go through a rezoning process that also requires approval by City Council. To continue to follow this issue, please sign up to receive agendas for the Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee.

For additional information check out the urban village growth rate and the 2035 Comprehensive Plan.