Home Apts Bellevue Seattle Multifamily Zoning Update Digest

Seattle Multifamily Zoning Update Digest

by Daniel E. Fava

As a follow up on my article on apartments in Seattle I found this and wanted to link to it.

On April 19, 2011, Seattle’s new Multi-Family Code, comes into effect. Five years in the making, it’s a huge step forward for multi-family housing in Seattle.

On December 13, the City Council approved the first major revisions for lowrise zoning regulations since the late 1980s. The changes include a new streamlined administrative design review process for townhouses. Some changes, such as a new height measurement technique apply to other zones in addition to multifamily.

Some of the new changes include:

At least 20 percent of street facing façades must be windows and doors, building materials must be varied.

Provide incentives for “green building” and hiding parking underground or at the back of the lot

landscaping requirement, which promotes keeping trees or planting new ones

Allow for shared open space, for larger usable common areas

Use a new flexible standard of measuring floor space, “Floor Area Ratio,” rather than previously restrictive setback and lot coverage requirements.

How about you? Any luck finding apartments in Seattle? Comment below.

***If you’d like some help finding an apartment in Seattle, I’ve got a whole staff of people standing by to help you for free. Call one of our apartment experts at 877-676-1767.

Or, click here: https://www.aptsseattle.com/discover-seattle-apartments

[Image credit: 72213316@N00]

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