Seattle/King County Climate News

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Robin Briggs

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Sep 23, 2025, 5:59:16 PMSep 23
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It finally happened -- an actual vote on the Seattle Comp Plan! All this and more...

Seattle

The City Council passed "phase 1" of the Comprehensive Plan, in a marathon three day session that included voting on over 100 different proposed amendments. The Plan that is passed is more or less compatible with the current status quo, with the biggest changes being a result of the State's new Middle Housing Bill which allows 4 to 6 plexes in previously single family zones. That was approved in a previous vote, this one was concerned with Neighborhood Centers and the Plan as a whole. The Council voted to reduce the size of proposed neighborhood centers in Fauntleroy (Saka), Morgan Junction (Saka), Madrona (Hollingsworth), and Ravenna (Rivera). Proposed shrinkages for Bryant and Wedgewood failed, as did an amendment from Rinck to restore all the neighborhood centers removed by Harrell. The Council decided to continue minimum parking mandates (so builders are required to add parking), but did decide to move forward sooner with compliance with the new state law capping parking mandates. The net effect of the amendments was to reduce the amount of growth that the Mayor had approved. (See articles from Publicola, The Urbanist, Seattle Times (paywall).

A personal note:

It feels like the Comp Plan process has been going on forever, and this is unlikely to be the end of it. No substantive issues have been settled; those who want more growth will try for it in future years, and those who want to prevent growth will gird up in opposition, and there is no plan for how or whether to protect trees growing on private land. It does seem clear to me that renters are now the majority, and over time they are unlikely to be satisfied to be stuck on arterials. This plan, once again, allows for a lot less housing than jobs, and whether either housing or jobs come is largely dependent on the economy.

The Council is showing a lot of district-wise thinking in how it is going forward. Amendments on shrinking neighborhood centers were brought forward by Councilmembers representing those districts, while other Councilmembers mostly didn't challenge their proposals. Over time, I have some concerns that this will lead to growth continuing to be concentrated in certain areas instead of being spread around the city, and thus creating deeper divides between neighborhoods.

The Mayor has released a draft budget for 2026. The City Council will take it up starting on Thursday with a presentation from the budget director. "The proposed budget allocates $17.2 million in payroll tax-supported funding to the Green New Deal... For 2026, the proposed budget increases the Environmental Justice Fund by $200,000, bringing the fund to $1,250,000 and supporting additional community grants. Other payroll tax-Green New Deal (GND) programming in OSE continues unchanged, including $8 million for Clean Buildings and the Building Emissions Performance Standards (BEPS) program, $800,000 for Clean Heat Program rebates for oil-to-electric heating conversions, $1,000,000 for Clean Energy Apprenticeships, $500,000 for Duwamish Valley Program Youth Leadership, and $600,000 for urban forestry, including $300,000 for greening industrial areas in the Duwamish Valley. Green New Deal funding in other City departments also continues unchanged for 2026, including $1.8 million in the Office of Housing (OH) oil-to-electric heating conversions for low-income households and $1.1 million in 2026 in FAS to cover debt service costs for Electric Vehicle charging station buildouts. Citywide climate initiatives are also supported by over $37 million in state and federal grants awarded since 2023."

King County

The Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee approved the update to the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP), with some amendments to what the Executive had proposed. Some of the amendments include:

Region

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) will be releasing its Draft Climate Plan for the central Puget Sound region in early October, and the plan will be available for public review and input here.  The process starts with a webinar on October 6th, and comments on the plan are due by Oct. 26.

Register here for the Oct. 6 kickoff workshop to get an overview of the plan and the comment process. Along with the state climate plan that had a comment period in July and August, this regional plan (https://pscleanair.gov/707/Comprehensive-Climate-Action-Plan-Online) is another opportunity to provide your feedback. (Thanks to Tim Gould for passing this along).

Elsewhere

The California state legislature has passed a slew of bills that are now awaiting signing by the Governor. These include:

  • Transit-oriented development. Allow new apartment buildings up to seven stories within a walkable half-mile of many major train, light-rail, subway and high-frequency rapid bus stations — even if local zoning restrictions would otherwise ban such dense development. 

  • Extend the Cap and Trade program to 2045. This one is a necessary step for linkage with Washington's carbon market, and includes some reforms.

  • Expand oil drilling in Kern County. Blanket approval for drilling in Kern County and some rules around restarting pipelines. Aimed at reducing the cost of gasoline.

  • Allow California to join regional electricity markets to allow it to sell excess electricity from solar to other states. This move could end up reducing the cost of electricity in Washington.


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