Seattle City Council Land Use and Sustainability Committee Special Meeting – September 11, 2026

The Land Use and Sustainability Committee of the Seattle City Council met on Friday, September 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in Council Chamber at Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Avenue, Seattle, for a special meeting and public hearing. The meeting also constituted a meeting of the City Council, with action limited to committee business. The committee heard public comment, received a briefing on Council Bill 121276 — an ordinance amending Seattle Municipal Code Sections 23.45.506, 23.45.570, and 23.51.A.004 to modify development standards for institutions in multifamily zones — and discussed the bill. No formal vote was taken. The agenda and minutes also list Council Bill 121268, related to the 2026 Comprehensive Plan annual amendment process, but the transcript does not reflect any discussion of that item.

Call to Order and Agenda Approval

• The minutes record a 9:33 a.m. call to order; the transcript states 9:34 a.m. Councilmember Eddie Lin presided.
• The agenda was adopted without objection.

Public Comments & Testimony

The public comment period was up to 60 minutes and included one in-person speaker and three remote speakers; each speaker had two minutes.

• Steve (in-person): Criticized Seattle land-use outcomes, saying policy has been 'all carrots, no sticks' for developers, that penalties for developers are minimal, that the public has been removed from design review, and that the committee has become 'the province of developers.' He urged the committee to let the public back into the process.
• Sandy Settler, Tree Action Seattle: Opposed CB 121276, stating it reduces or eliminates tree requirements in the neighborhoods that need them most and will hit overburdened communities hardest. She said parking lots with 20 or more spaces currently must retain or plant one tree for every five spaces, that the bill eliminates that requirement and leaves the decision to the SDCI director with no clear basis, and that the bill weakens the green factor and adds asphalt, heat, and pollution to frontline communities.
• Steve Zemke, Tree Pack and Friends of Seattle's Urban Forest: Urged a councilmember to request a director's report on CB 121276 so the public and Council know SDCI's position. He opposed removing the specific one-tree-per-five-spaces requirement for large parking lots, questioned why the bill sets green factor at 0.5 when neighborhood residential development uses 0.6, and asked that the summary and fiscal note address climate-change resiliency instead of saying not applicable.
• Jennifer Godfrey: Expressed concern that removing the stormwater clause for everything under 4,000 square feet could cause significant adverse impacts to aquatic life and that pervious pavement is not a cure-all. She argued that the bill, combined with what she identified as CD121093 and other deregulation, conflicts with endangered species recovery plans, and said converting existing empty buildings in the densest part of Seattle would be more eco-friendly and could provide faster, low-cost housing. She also said Seattle has failed to provide needed and available housing despite having the very best transit.

Discussion Items

Staff briefing on CB 121276 by Ketil Freeman, Council Central Staff:

• An institution is a structure and related grounds used by organizations to provide educational, medical, cultural, social, or recreational services to the community; examples include places of worship, child care centers, and community centers. Major institutions such as colleges and hospitals are regulated separately through the major institution master plan process.
• The Council passed Ordinance 127376 last year implementing House Bill 1110, which relaxed development regulations for institutions in neighborhood residential and multifamily zones.
• Non-major institutions are administrative conditional uses subject to a Type II master use permit decision by the SDCI director that is appealable to the City Hearing Examiner. Current criteria address impacts such as parking and traffic, operating hours, and dispersion.
• Dispersion currently prevents institutions from locating within a certain distance of each other; staff described the distance as 600 feet. Dispersion has already been removed in neighborhood residential zones. CB 121276 would remove it in multifamily zones as well.
• The bill would make multifamily-zone institutional regulations nearly identical to those in neighborhood residential zones, allow institutions to meet the development standards that apply to multifamily residential development, apply similar green factor and screening/landscaping requirements, and remove the dispersion requirement.
• The changed development standards apply mostly to low-rise residential zones. Green factor is currently 0.6 in low-rise zones for multifamily residential uses and 0.5 in high-rise and midrise zones; the bill reflects a policy choice of 0.5.
• Net effects identified by staff: new institutional uses would find it easier to locate in multifamily zones, and existing institutions could more easily redevelop with a mixed-use concept that keeps the institutional use and adds residential development.

Committee discussion:

• A councilmember asked staff to confirm that dispersion no longer applies in neighborhood residential zones, still applies in multifamily zones, and would be removed by the bill for consistency between the two zone types. Staff confirmed.

Discrepancies in the Record

• The agenda and minutes list two business items: CB 121268 (2026 Comprehensive Plan annual amendment; public hearing, briefing, and discussion) and CB 121276 (institutional development standards in multifamily zones; briefing and discussion). The transcript addresses only CB 121276; it does not mention CB 121268, although the minutes state that a public hearing on CB 121268 was held and the bill was discussed.
• The transcript opening says 'August 19th, 2026' and refers to a Wednesday morning meeting, while the agenda and minutes date the meeting Friday, September 11, 2026.
• The minutes record a 9:33 a.m. call to order and 10:03 a.m. adjournment; the transcript states 9:34 a.m. and 9:53 a.m.
• The minutes list four members present (Lin, Strauss, Foster, and Rinck) and Joy Hollingsworth excused; the transcript's roll call indicates three members present and states that Vice Chair Strauss and Councilmember Foster were excused.

Key Outcomes

• The committee took no vote and made no formal decision on CB 121276.
• Staff said a public hearing on CB 121276 is scheduled for September 16, 2026, with further committee discussion later in September.
• Public comments opposing CB 121276, requesting a director's report, and recommending changes related to tree requirements, green factor, stormwater, and climate resiliency will be part of the committee record.