Sent electronically and by mail      

To: Robert Kettle

Robert.Kettle@Seattle.gov

Seattle City Council – District 7

PO Box 34025

Seattle, WA 98124-4025

From: Constituents Living on 10th Ave West from West McGraw Street north to Fulton Streets plus Bordering Streets

Re: Opposition to Proposed Dramatic Upzoning of 10th Ave W. from W McGraw Street north to Fulton Street

Date: December 2024

Dear Councilman Kettle:

We strongly oppose Mayor Harrell’s One Seattle Plan (Plan) and its proposed changes to Upper Queen Anne for 10th Ave W from W McGraw Street north to Fulton Street. Currently, the recommendation is to upzone this area from a neighborhood residential code (NR3) to the highest low-rise code (LR3).  The LR3 categorization allows multifamily buildings up to five stories or 50 feet, with significant lot coverage for a building, very small lot easements and minimal parking. This is a very dramatic change for this section of the 10th Ave W neighborhood, which has no mixed-use commercial areas. The proposal does not account for how citizens currently use and navigate this portion of Queen Anne.

We request that zoning for 10th Ave W from McGraw to Fulton, as well as select parcels on 9th Ave W and Fulton Street included in the proposal, be set at Neighborhood Residential (NR). We support the city’s recommendation to eliminate the NR3 category and believe that the newly created NR category adds considerable density by allowing mixed residential homes including multifamily and townhomes that are a fit for this area.  

Our request is based on the issues outlined below:

1.       The transit analysis included in the proposal is flawed and creates major safety concerns, and key concepts were applied inconsistently.

HB 1110 defines a “major transit stop” as:

·       A stop on a high-capacity transportation system funded or expanded under the provisions of chapter 81.104 RCW;

·       Commuter rail stops;

·       Stops on rail or fixed guideway systems; or 

·       Stops on bus rapid transit routes.

Our review of the Plan, supported by emails from Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), shows an emphasis to upzone along 1) frequent transit routes and; 2) within one half-mile of a rapid transit line. In this case, the frequent transit route is the #1 Metro bus, which operates on 10th Ave W, and the rapid transit line is the D Line, which operates on 15th Ave W.  

HB 1110 outlines legislative requirements for cities as they focus development plans around transportation. It requires development of at least six housing units per lot within one-quarter mile of walking distance of a major transit stop, a shorter distance than the one-half mile proximity used by the OPCD.

Because 10th Ave. W narrows significantly from 42 feet to 32.5 feet from Wheeler Street north to Fulton St, it is difficult for buses and cars to pass today, particularly when cars are parked on both sides of 10th Ave W. Upzoning and significant property development will make this situation worse. 

If staff consistently applied upzone criteria along frequent transit routes, why would a recommendation for upzone change not include 6th Ave W, the main route for the Metro #2 bus off Queen Anne Hill?  6th Ave W has a commercial hub that includes a very walkable grocery store and other businesses, several multifamily homes, a well-regarded public school, and a straighter street than the portion of 10th Ave W that is the subject of this letter.

Proximity to a bus rapid transit route is another major criterion for upzoning.  Staff stated there are walking routes of approximately 0.4 miles from 10th Ave W to D Line stops on 15th Ave W (as validated by Google Maps). However, their analysis does not consider the significant change in elevation and topography between the two streets, pedestrian safety to make this walk, or Metro’s service categorization of the D Line.

The thee most direct ways to get from 10th Ave W to 15th Ave W are to walk: 1) from Fulton Street to Barrett Street to 11th Ave W to Dravus, 2) from 10th Ave W to Wheeler Street and down a very steep incline via a series of staircases, or 3) from 10th Ave W down a series of 4 staircases starting below Armour St leading to a steep incline that follows an unmarked series of streets and pedestrian pathways leading to the corner of 15th Ave W and West Armour St.

The actual mileage is 0.6 miles from the corner of Fulton Street to the northbound D Line bus stop and .7 miles across the bridge to the southbound stop. The distance for the Armour St walk is 0.4 miles.  The 0.4-to-0.7-mile distances exceed the 0.25-mile distance required in HB 1110 legislation.

There is an elevation difference of 231 feet between 15th Ave W and 10th Ave W at Armour St.  Using 0.4 miles as the distance between the two streets, this equals an average grade of 10.9%, a significant incline. The walk to the D Line from 10th Ave W is treacherous.  It requires navigating 4 or more staircases that are steep, non-ADA compliant, and not marked or lit. In fact, one stairway down the hill is closed due to unsafe access.  Only the most able-bodied residents will regularly put their safety at risk by making this walk. Very few North Queen Anne residents consider accessing the D line in this way today.

Metro does not consider the rapid transit D Line serving North Queen Anne; Metro’s website states the D Line supports Crown Hill, Ballard, Interbay, Uptown and Downtown Seattle.

Finally, the proposed One Seattle plan Inconsistently applies recommendations for LR3 zoning to connect important areas with the city.  10th Ave W north of McGraw Street appears to be the only road in the city of Seattle with proposed LR3 zoning that does not connect two urban centers or an urban center with a park.

To summarize, 1) State law does not require OPCD staff to recommend an LR3 designation for 10th Ave W given its proximity to rapid transit bus transportation, and 2) OPCD staff have been inconsistent in their recommendations for new LR3 zones based on frequent transit routes and the connections to urban centers and between urban centers and parks.

2.       Current Infrastructure does not support drastic population increases.

The proposed increase in population density for 10th Ave W north of McGraw does not consider the antiquated infrastructure, including roads, limited parking, and other public utilities (like water and sewer).  A significant flaw of the One Seattle Plan is it does not require developers of high-density buildings to pay to improve the streets, sewers, or other public services. 

In addition, the Plan’s extreme leniency not to require off street parking for LR3 buildings will mean overwhelming demand for the few street parking places that exist today.  The #1 bus route already compresses parking availability to one side of the street for 10th Ave W, Armour Street, 9th Ave W and Fulton as it runs its turn around route (especially limiting parking where the bus parks and waits before it begins its run south on 10th Ave W).

We understand the intent of this plan (that does not require parking in LR3 buildings) is to encourage use of mass transit. Practically speaking, using the #1 bus would be challenging for those making multiple stops in a day for work related activities, individuals who are responsible to get children to child care or extracurricular activities, and residents who support aging parents for doctor’s appointments and other needs. We use our cars to transport us to the many recreational activities that are essential to our well-being. In short, most people will need a car for a long time to come. And, if they need cars, they will need parking for these cars. Parking that would not be included under this new plan, so cars would be forced onto already crowded streets (with current limited parking and the #1 bus).

OPCD staff should consider implementing a phased development approach to increasing density, starting with multi-unit and higher-rise buildings along designated Urban Center corridors that are already mixed-use. This will allow the community and infrastructure to be upgraded and increased density to be absorbed at a reasonable pace instead of creating massive, overwhelming, and uncoordinated disruptions to the entire community.

3.       Proposed upzoning will destroy an important portion of a historic neighborhood and its magnificent tree canopy.

Moving from a neighborhood residential designation to LR3 does not preserve a historic, thriving neighborhood and it threatens the magnificent tree canopy along Queen Anne Boulevard/Olmsted Parkway.

There are 111 lots/homes in this area with an average age of 99 years. Many of these homes are a craftsman style with beautiful finishes throughout.  High-density buildings proposed will severely threaten and likely destroy many of these homes as developers aggregate lots to maximize profit. The homeowners who live adjacent to new five story buildings will no longer enjoy views, lose sunlight which is vital to our health and essential for homes with solar panels, and will experience greatly diminished property value.

At risk is a towering tree canopy composed of over 40 enormous oak (and other) trees that are part of the historic Queen Anne Boulevard/Olmsted Parkway (https://seattleolmsted.org/parks/queen-anne-boulevard/ along 10th Ave W.  The trees are vital to efforts to mitigate climate change. 

In the Executive Summary of the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) dated March 2024, the city asserts the recommended Plan will have “no significant adverse impacts expected” Plan wide related to 1) Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions or to 2) Land Use and Urban Forms.  We think this is clearly erroneous when applied to 10th Ave W.

Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions would be significantly adversely impacted by the loss of trees that would likely come from upzoning to LR3 in our area. Given widely varying elevations and lot sizes, it is hard to imagine that any developer can avoid tree removal given the size of the trees and the overreaching canopy they create. The magnitude of the impact is difficult to assess because there are no clear tree replacement guidelines. For illustration, using current guidelines one neighbor calculated that a 50-foot towering deodara cedar with a 42-inch diameter torn down by a developer can be replaced by five, 2-inch caliper trees. It will take decades for this tree trade-off to come close to matching the majesty of the removed tree or to approximate its carbon reduction power. Of note, one of the mitigation strategies recommended in this section of the EIS is to implement strategies to reduce air toxics near residential areas such as by increasing the tree canopy. 10th Ave. W already has a beautiful tree canopy that should be protected, not placed at risk.

The draft EIS also suggests a mitigation strategy of implementing gradual transitions in zoning to avoid adverse impacts of Land Use and Urban Form. As proposed in the recommended Plan, how can the transition between houses that will remain NR zoned in this section of Queen Anne that are next door to a new LR3 building, be termed as a “gradual transition?” Homes adjacent to new five story buildings will lose sunlight, which is vital to our health and essential for homes with solar panels and will likely suffer from greatly diminished property value.  Recall the “Up” house in Ballard (1438 NW 46th St, Seattle) that was eventually boxed in on three sides.

4.       Greater density does not equal greater affordability of living on North Queen Anne.

The recent history of adding density in Queen Anne suggests zero positive impact on housing affordability, especially because the incentives for developers to build affordable housing are so minimal.  New homes in Queen Anne are almost always more expensive than the homes they replace.  Even when multiple units replace a single home each unit is often more expensive than the original. Two recent examples of density enhancing projects which should not be considered affordable include: 1) the McGraw Square townhomes that each sold for close to $1M or more and 2) the new Queen Anne Gables apartments above Safeway on Queen Anne Avenue that will rent monthly for $1800 (301 sq ft., studio) or $3625 (957 sq ft., 2 bedroom). 

On November 20, over thirty neighbors gathered in person to talk about the upzoning recommendations from the One Seattle Plan. The proposed upzoning is a vital concern for all neighbors in this area who oppose the introduction of five story buildings in our portion of 10th Ave W.  We hope to meet with you in person about our requests as soon as possible.

Thank you for your time and attention to this very important issue.

Sincerely Your Constituents, 

(as signed on accompanying sheets)

Cc:  Rebecca Duran, Executive Aide and Director of Constituent Affairs (via email at rebecca.duran@seattle.gov) and One Seattle Plan Zoning Team (via email at oneseattleplan.zoning@seattle.gov)