The Mayor's has forwarded his recommended amendments to Seattle's Comprehensive Plan to City Council. The recommendations, which originated with proposals from citizens, City departments, and elected officials, would:

• Amend the Land Use Element to reflect development regulations that affect size-of-use limits in Commercial zones for a more consistent application of maximum size-of-use limits.
• Make minor changes to some Downtown policies in the Neighborhood Planning Element, to reflect changes already proposed to the Downtown Zoning chapter of the Land Use Code. One substantive change is to remove language that refers to a minimum parking requirement downtown.
• Add goals and policies for South Wallingford to the Wallingford portion of the Neighborhood Planning Element.
• Revise the Rainier Beach Residential Urban Village boundary to incorporate areas surrounding the Henderson Street Sound Transit station.
• Amend the Urban Village Element to incorporate objective criteria from Council Resolution 29232 for evaluating urban village designations.
• Amend the Transportation Element to clarify the relationship of the Transportation Strategic Plan to the Comprehensive Plan, and to describe street types and street classifications.
• Amend the Environment Element to add new language regarding control of litter and graffiti.
• Amend Appendix A to the Urban Village Element to correct minor errors in the table that shows existing and expected densities in urban villages.
• Amend Appendix B to the Urban Village Element to add open space goals related to employment in the Urban Centers.

Staff analyzed other suggested amendments that are not being recommended for adoption, including:

• The Port of Seattle requested an amendment that would adopt a zoning overlay for its property at Terminal 91 in order to allow larger office buildings than the current zoning permits.
• A group of Interbay property owners requested an amendment designating the area around Dravus Street, west of 15th Avenue West a hub urban village.
• City Council requested consideration of two amendments related to development in the Northgate Urban Center - one would have modified the urban center boundary, and the other would examine changes that could affect development regulations.

The state Growth Management Act limits the City to amending the Comprehensive Plan only once each year. This does not mean that only one change can be made, but that any changes that are made must occur at the same time. Since the Plan was first adopted in 1994, the City has adopted amendments almost every year.

The amendment process is an opportunity for individuals, groups, or City departments to propose a policy change that will better address changing conditions, or reflect ongoing work or new information. Proposed amendments may include changes to policies, the future land use map, appendices, or other components of the Plan.