Form revised December 9, 2004

FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	DOF Analyst/Phone:
Legislative	Rebecca Herzfeld (615-1674) Ketil Freeman (684-8178	Not Applicable

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE related to land use and zoning; revising regulations for Downtown Seattle; amending the scope of Design Review departures from Land Use Code requirements; repealing, amending and adding definitions; amending, repealing and re-codifying various provisions and maps of the City of Seattle Land Use Code, Title 23 of the Seattle Municipal Code; providing for penalties; adopting Downtown Amenity Standards; providing for conditions to bonus development, including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) criteria; and amending the Official Land Use Map, SMC 23.32, to rezone portions of Downtown.

· Summary of the Legislation:

The proposed legislation amends the Land Use Code to support continued success of downtown and encourage additional housing growth and transit ridership. The proposal generally applies to the Downtown Office Core 1 (DOC1), Downtown Office Core 2 (DOC2), and Downtown Mixed Commercial (DMC) zones, although certain provisions would apply to all downtown zones. Key elements of the proposed changes include the following:

1. Rezone certain areas and establish new zoning designations including:

2. Change the development standards that control the scale and density of development, including height limits, controls on building bulk, and floor area ratio (FAR) limits for non-residential uses, including consideration of an FAR that ranges between 12 and 14 in DOC2.

3. Change regulations for bonus development and the transfer of development rights (TDR), including the creation of incentives for the construction of higher performance “green” buildings, and increased incentives for historic preservation and downtown public open space. Some existing bonuses would be eliminated. The Council would adopt standards for bonusable amenities. These standards are attached to the proposed legislation.

4. Adopt a new voluntary program for bonus development for new high-rise residential construction, setting a cost for bonus development that does not exceed $18.94 per net square foot.

5. Retain a revised version of the City-County transfer of development credits (TDC) incentive program.

6. Require overhead weather protection for pedestrians and shower facilities for bicycle commuters.

7. Increase flexibility for planned community developments and combined lot developments.

8. Eliminate minimum parking requirements for certain non-residential uses, and set a maximum limit for the amount of parking that may be located above-grade.

9. Simplify the City’s regulations so they are easier to understand.

· Background:

The proposed downtown code amendments represent the latest in a multi-phased effort to implement Downtown neighborhood plans.  They reinforce the amendments to the Downtown transfer of development rights (TDR) and public benefit features (bonus) programs adopted in 2001.

The goal of Steinbrueck’s proposed amendments is to inspire new residents to move into the city’s core by making housing more affordable, increasing parks space and community gathering places. The proposed plan supports diverse neighborhoods where people who work downtown can afford to live where they work, play and raise their kids. It is based on the Downtown neighborhood planning process, public comments received during the public review process carried out between June 2005 and January 2006, the recommendations of planning consultants from Vancouver, British Columbia, and an economic analysis carried out by experts in downtown development. 

The net effect of these changes in fiscal terms would be an increased potential for additional tax revenues to be collected from future development that would be larger than permitted today.  Also, the housing bonus program would be applied, for the first time, to residential projects, and the amount of housing bonus for this program would be increased over the amount proposed by the Executive. 

The proposed changes are not expected to change the nature or increase the number of applications for building in Downtown over the long-term, because the pace of building projects Downtown largely depends on economic cycles and the regional real estate market. Given this, the proposal is not expected to result in the need for additional City staffing or other associated costs. 

· Please check one of the following:

__P__ This legislation does not have any financial implications.

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