The very good folks who work for Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development have spent a lot of time this summer reminding everyone that these conceptual plans are just that: conceptual. Unfortunately, when the Comp Plan is amorphous ink blotches and pedantic koans from which anyone can draw their own conclusions, the zoning ordinance blows up to thousands of pages and home prices go through the roof. If a Comp Plan includes meaningful objectives and measurable goals, the zoning ordinance can be concise and focused because the courts give the cities wide deference when documents are in order. When it operates in concert with the zoning ordinance, both documents are stronger. This document is supposed to guide the city’s development for the next twenty years. It is a dreadful starting point for something as important as a Comprehensive Plan. #A mess o trouble guide updateVisual representations of the alternatives being considered in Seattle’s Major Comprehensive Plan update are basically meaningless. They could be psychological tests and we’re all the rats. Everything presented for public review could mean absolutely anything or utterly nothing. The graphics are literally colored blobs. The “One Seattle” title is stale nonsense from the last election. The text is a meaningless mix of buzzwords. Reviewing the City’s documents about this comprehensive plan is an exercise in futility. Regardless, it’s a losing game, and that’s not healthy. Maybe it’s Monopoly with half the pieces coming from the Parcheesi box. Maybe it’s Whack-a-Mole with the hammer covered in pizza grease. The problem I’m having is that commenting on this Comp Plan EIS feels like playing a game. And the many EIS comment periods like it. And The Urbanist is generally on the record loudly and repeatedly asking everyone to have their voice heard in these sessions. As Natalie Bicknell Argerious ran down in July, there are very good reasons to do so. The City of Seattle requires your comments on its upcoming Comprehensive Plan Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by next Monday, August 22.
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