Seattle’s Amended Comprehensive Plan: Major Wins, What’s Next, and How You Can Help
Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan is our long-range blueprint for growth. It dictates where new housing and businesses can go and where the city targets infrastructure investments. All zoning (rules about what can be built where) follows from the Comprehensive Plan. For more background, see here.
Since 2022, the City has been engaged in a major update of the current Comp Plan. This major update is a once-in-a-decade chance to revise Seattle current “urban village” model, which has channeled almost all our growth into existing multifamily and commercial areas. By allowing more homes across all neighborhoods, we can start to address Seattle’s deep housing shortage and spread growth more equitably throughout the city.
Last week, the City Council’s Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan adopted a suite of amendments to the Mayor’s Proposed One Seattle Plan. The amended Comprehensive Plan is a major step forward for housing abundance, bringing the potential to reshape our city to be more affordable, inclusive, and sustainable.
Unlocking Affordable Housing and Stacked Flats with Bonuses
The biggest wins for housing came with changes to development standards, increasing bonuses for affordable housing and stacked flats in Neighborhood Residential zones. The Select Committee rightfully went beyond the bare minimum required under HB 1110 (the state middle housing law), allowing a diverse range of affordable and accessible housing options to be built across the entire city.
- Stacked flats – These small multiplexes with one or more homes per floor are now on track to become a real, viable housing option across the city. With the new bonuses, projects that would have been four townhomes can instead deliver eight family-friendly stacked flats. They are space-efficient, accessible, and adaptable for seniors and multigenerational households. Preliminary modeling shows how these can deliver new, family-sized housing at prices attainable to a median-income household.
- Trees – Council emphasized creating incentives to retain and plant trees, while largely avoided creating new barriers for housing.
- Affordable housing – Affordable housing density bonuses in neighborhood residential zones were strengthened, empowering nonprofit and public developers to deliver affordable homes in mixed-income neighborhoods. Council also created new height and floor area bonuses for affordable housing in lowrise zones.
- Corner stores – Small shops and restaurants will now be allowed throughout residential zones. This re-legalizes the mixed-use pattern found in older neighborhoods and increases walkable access to daily needs.
- Parking – Council aligned local rules with new state law. Affordable housing, homes under 1,200 square feet, ground-floor commercial spaces in mixed-use buildings, and childcare facilities will be exempt from parking mandates. For other residences, parking mandates are capped at one space per two homes. This removes a common barrier to creating new homes.
These shifts open the door to more accessible, affordable, and mixed-income homes in every neighborhood.
Summary of key standards in Neighborhood Residential zones
| Triplexes/Fourplexes/Townhomes | Stacked Flats | Green Stacked Flats | Affordable or Social Housing | |
| Height | 32 ft | 32 ft | 42 ft | 42 ft |
| Floor Area Ratio (FAR) | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Lot Coverage | 50% | 60% | 60% | 60% |
| Max Density | 1 home/1250 sf | 1 home/600 sf | 1 home/500 sf | 1 home/400 sf |
| Other Requirements | Must retain one Tier 1 tree, two Tier 2 trees, or attain a 0.6 Green Factor | 50% affordable at 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for rental or 80% for homeownership OR all housing developed by a PDA that is publicly owned & financed |
What’s on the Docket for 2026: New Neighborhood Centers
The Complete Communities Coalition worked closely with CM Rinck to identify and propose 8 additional Neighborhood Centers throughout the city: Alki, Dawson, Roanoke Park, Gasworks, South Wedgwood, Broadview, Loyal Heights, and Nickerson-South Canal. These areas were chosen because they already have local businesses, elementary schools, parks, and transit connections, making them well-suited for walkable, mixed-use “main streets” and great places to allow more housing. They had already been studied for more growth by the Office of Planning and Community Development but were not included in the Mayor’s Recommended Plan. CM Strauss also proposed one new neighborhood center and the expansion of six neighborhood centers within District 6.
While the Select Committee did not add these additional neighborhood centers to the plan, out of concern about exceeding the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), they didn’t end the conversation either. Instead, they placed the additional and expanded neighborhood centers on a docket resolution for additional environmental analysis and community outreach over the next year. This keeps the proposals on the table for the minor update of the Comprehensive Plan in 2026.
Next Steps and Why Your Voice Matters
The amended plan is not law yet. The City must complete an Addendum to the EIS to confirm the amended plan remains within scope. In mid-November the Council will consider final adoption of both the Comprehensive Plan and the permanent Neighborhood Residential zoning. The zoning maps and rules for multifamily and mixed uses areas will follow in early 2026.
These amendments were hard-won, and it is important we signal broad support for the amended Comprehensive Plan while the final steps are underway. Please take a moment to thank the City Council for their leadership and for voting to expand housing opportunities across Seattle. Thank you for standing with us in this important work to make our city more affordable, equitable, and sustainable.
