On his blog today, Councilmember Richard Conlin, who recently walked 35th Ave NE with other city staff and community members, outlined his top 10 priorities as the likely chair of the Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee. The City Council is shaking up their committees a bit and what was the Committee of the Built Environment (COBE), which was chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark (who also walked 35th last month with Conlin), has now changed names.
Councilmember Clark will become the new Council President.
According to Conlin’s blog, his top 10 priorities are summarized as follows:
- Develop Transit Oriented Development policies and plans for light rail neighborhoods to avoid the contention that has played out in Roosevelt over the past several months.
- Work with business, industrial, and labor communities to develop an Industrial Development District.
- Create a District Energy Plan for the Yesler Terrace Redevelopment Project.
- Make the Vision Duwamish Plan a reality to revitalize and restore our City’s most deteriorated waterway.
- Develop integrated incentivized zoning policies, such as transfer development rights, to concentrate development and protect farmland in King County.
- Update the Shoreline Management Plan, as required, while incorporating incentivized zoning policies (Item 5).
- Develop a new tree regulations to increase tree cover throughout the City.
- Update the energy code and green building policies that have put Seattle at the forefront of innovative building strategies.
- Advance recommendations on regulatory reform developed by a stakeholder committee to limit policies that restrict economic growth and development.
- Look for creative ways to retrofit the approximately 800 Unreinforced Masonry buildings in Seattle that are at risk of failure during an earthquake.