Urban Design Framework: City, Stakeholders Work to Ensure SLU's Livability, Quality of Life

Ever since South Lake Union was designated by the city as an Urban Center in 2004, neighborhood stakeholders have been working hard to plan how the area would best absorb this growth.  This involved a series of community processes lead by SLUFAN and facilitated by the city, starting with the Neighborhood Plan Update, which was completed in 2006 up to the most recent scoping of the Environmental Impact Study for neighborhood zoning changes.

The plans, however, lacked an overall framework that would provide a succinct roadmap from vision to implementation.  Recognizing that critical gap, SLUFAN soon urged the Mayor in a letter to have the city facilitate an Urban Design Framework (UDF).


“The Framework is a working document and the intent is not to create something that gets stuck on the shelf, but that provides a basis for making decisions about what the neighborhood looks like going forward,” explained Steven Paget, President of the Board of the South Lake Union Community Council (SLUFAN).

The Framework will focus on:

• Encouraging innovative, equitable development that makes the most of diverse kinds of commercial use and housing, including affordable housing, promoting sustainable design, sun access, and public views
  
  
• Creating spaces that foster the neighborhood’s public life, including vibrant retail streets, plazas for gathering, green streets with gracious foot-friendly connections and gateways to nearby districts
  
  
• Working together to improve access to community services through creative partnerships in the community.

Who’s on the Project Team?
Marshall Foster, of the City of Seattle’s Office of Policy & Management; and Jim Holms, of the Department of Planning & Development, are managing the project with support from a neighborhood business, Weber Thompson. Other City departments are supporting the work.

What’s the Process?
The project team and a working group from SLUFAN, the South Lake Union Chamber of Commerce, the Cascade Neighborhood Council and the Lake Union Opportunity Alliance are working together to develop proposals building on the SLU Neighborhood Plan and other strategies and priority projects that have been identified. Ultimately, the City will produce a summary that represents recommended strategies and actions. These will serve as the basis for zoning and other changes going forward.

How Can You Be Involved?
There will be a number of public presentations of the draft Framework. Information about upcoming working group and public meetings will be posted on the Web sites of SLUFAN, the City of Seattle and the South Lake Union Chamber of Commerce. If you have questions, contact Marshall Foster at (206) 684-8413.