You’d think that, with Pioneer Square being the state’s first national historic district, Seattle wouldn’t have to keep fighting the preservation vs. development fight all over again. I mean, if you were new here, you might think that.
This Monday, April 25, the Seattle City Council will be voting on Council Bill 117140, to amend the zoning for South Downtown including Pioneer Square. The council has a committee that considers height limits, before forwarding bills to the full council, and it split 2-to-2 on a vote for a lower level of building heights in the Pioneer Square Historic District, as recommended by the Department of Planning and Development.
Council members Sally Clark and Mike O’Brien favored the DPD recommendations, while Sally Bagshaw and Tim Burgess can’t get high enough. Clark and O’Brien needed a majority, so the Pioneer Square rezone marches on. The Council’s Nick Licata explains that heights “could go up to 140 ft. in some instances, whereas the current height of most of the buildings there is between 20 and 50 feet.”
What’s in all about, Alfie? Here are dueling op-eds at Publicola on the subject: Cary Moon, carrying the preservationist’s shield, and Anne Fennessy and Jen Kelly, talking up development’s sword.
The argument here, as it has played out in other parts of the city as well, revolves around the amount of money that builders can make by adding extra stories. Developers, in fact, would like 180-foot-tall buildings. But should Pioneer Square look like Belltown?
To that point, argues Licata, the Pioneer Square Preservation Board spent the last four years working with the DPD to settle on suitable height limits: in this case, the proposed maximum height of 120 feet, if developers use an incentive zoning program. “130 and 140 foot heights could eventually risk the removal of the District from the National Register of Historic Places,” cautions Licata, before turning to the economic facts on the ground:
Other factors, such as market demand, are much more critical. For example, the Pike/Pine neighborhood just east of downtown is experiencing a lot of multifamily housing development with height limits of 65 to 75 feet.
One thing Seattle is not short on at the moment is condominiums. As the recession slowly loosens its grip, apartment projects are starting to take off again. But developers are remarkable resistant to learning the boom-bust lesson; they nearly always prefer their financial incentives on steroids. Some strike it rich, some go bankrupt, and some end up tearing down a 10-year-old building. That last is historic, in its way, but the entire process has little to add to a historic district.
Two words – Public Vote.
Works so well for every other aspect of Seattle life, right?
Seriously folks, keep track of how the council incumbents vote on this. Bagshaw and Burgess, our eyes are on you, and not in a good way.
Oh, and Belltown shouldn’t look like Belltown.
Game over. City council sold Pioneer Square out.
A typical Democrat solution, where a massive (but not complete!) cave to the business community is somehow viewed as a compromise. Where did these people learn to bargain?
It’s textbook, isn’t it? Developers suggest 180-ft. to establish a “high,” so the council stakes out the middle ground at 120- and 140-ft. All in the name of density, while the city’s densest area has heights of 60- to 65-ft. I look forward to the revitalization of Pioneer Square all this results in.