This is a chronicle of one person’s reading of Seattle’s land use code. We need some big, bold changes to our code to promote sustainability and enthusiastically accept coming growth. I’ll be looking for things:
1. we should change but can’t because of federal, state law, or legal decisions;
2. we can change locally and should;
3. in the code that actually are good and we should keep; and
4. I don’t understand and need to learn more about.
About the reader and writer: Roger Valdez has been described variously as an upzone cheerleader, a density pimp, an environmental vassal, and the poster child of the Nanny State. While he aspires to live up to all those monikers, he’s really just interested in land use and how we can make Seattle a sustainable city.
Seattle's Land Use Code 
I find this blog interesting but I cannot figure out who the author is. Is that deliberate?
Hi Mark,
I’ll add something.
I believe this blog is authored by Dan Bertolet of the other blog Citytank and also an employee of GGLO. I wonder why he doesn’t say that anywhere?
Actually, Roger Valdez responded that he is the author, and added that to the “About this blog” page.
http://crosscut.com/2011/09/12/real-estate/21277/The-density-bashers-raise-some-good-questions/
so do you live in a high density building, or you like all the other hypocrite pundits that live in single family zones?
So, everyone that lives in a neighborhood that is zoned single family is a pundit hypocrite?
Striking, how easy it is to be thoughtless and unthinking.
Hey Roger,
Katrina & Matt at urbnlivn told me to contact you with a zoning question I had, so I’m hoping you can help me out. Apologies if this isn’t the right place on your site to send a question – I couldn’t find a contact form. I’m wondering if you have a link/pdf of a map which shows the height limits for new residential construction in the Capitol Hill area.
Any help is much appreciated,
Thanks,
Easton Richmond
I like “upzone cheerleader”- that’s what I strive to be!
Hi Roger. Let me know if you’d like some info on Yesler.
I enjoy the perspective presented on this blog. Keep up the good work.
Hello-
I’m a planning and policy grad student researching various strategies to exact development money for local use, and am trying to find a brief synopsis on how and why seattle’s voluntary linkage/”bonus FAR” program came to be in the 1980s and figured you might have an idea of where to look. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Jon
Hello, how can we contest lots being further subdivided in our neighborhoods? My area has houses being built on lots less than 5000 SF when they are zoned SF5000 in the code? Easements and other jerrymandering are chopping creating a spaghetti of property lines.