Seattle may get taller — at a cost

Developers should be able to build taller than current zoning allows if they pay for public amenities such as affordable housing, the Seattle Planning Commission said Tuesday.

Mayor Greg Nickels favors such a plan and is working on so-called incentive zoning proposals for the South Lake Union, Interbay and South Downtown areas. Nickels intends to roll out his proposals in the next year. They would be similar to new downtown building rules Nickels and the City Council approved last year.

The downtown rules let developers build more than 100 feet above zoning limits if they pay roughly $19 per square foot into an affordable-housing fund.

The Planning Commission is a volunteer advisory group with no real power, but city officials sometimes cite the commission's advice in setting policy. Most of its members are architects, planners and real-estate experts.

Planning Commissioner Martin Kaplan said incentive zoning would help focus growth in the city's designated urban centers, while providing affordable housing. City officials hope to accommodate 47,000 new households by 2024.

Kaplan also said the city should "open" more of the city to condos and apartments. Now, about 70 percent of the city's residential land is zoned for single-family homes. The commission's report on zoning calls for new options such as allowing apartments and condos in single-family zones near land zoned for commercial use or multi-family housing.

Nickels has no plans to convert single-family zones to apartments — or to even study the idea, said Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. "There is lots of capacity [for more apartments and condos] in existing [multifamily] zones," he said.

Tony To, the commission's vice chairman, acknowledged that changing single-family zoning is not a priority for political leaders, particularly this year when five council members are seeking re-election. "Maybe in an election off-year they'd be more willing," he said.

City Councilmen Peter Steinbrueck and Tom Rasmussen, who lead the council's urban-development and housing committees, respectively, said they would give zoning proposals a thorough review.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com