Land Use and Sustainability Committee

Executive Summary

Seattle's Land Use and Sustainability Committee faced a challenging Wednesday morning as two significant land use issues dominated the agenda, both illustrating the complex interplay between federal compliance requirements and local stakeholder concerns. The committee ultimately chose to delay action on critical flood insurance regulations that have been in interim status for over six years, while receiving an initial briefing on the forced repeal of residential development allowances near sports stadiums. The flood insurance matter represents a particularly thorny issue where federal FEMA requirements clash with concerns from historic pier owners who argue they shouldn't be subject to velocity zone regulations. Despite over ten interim extensions and mounting pressure to finalize permanent regulations before the current extension expires in June, Chair Eddie Lin decided not to suspend committee rules that would have allowed a same-day vote following the public hearing. Meanwhile, the Stadium Transition Area overlay issue emerged as a Growth Management Act compliance matter, with the committee learning they must repeal last year's ordinance allowing residential uses by May 11, 2026, following an invalidity ruling by the Growth Management Hearings Board.

Key Decisions & Actions

**CB 121152 - Floodplain Regulations:** No action taken. Committee declined to suspend rules for same-day vote following public hearing. Chair Lin expressed commitment to avoiding further extensions and bringing the matter back for a future committee meeting soon. **CB 121171 - Stadium Transition Area Overlay Repeal:** Initial briefing only, no action. Committee scheduled for additional briefing March 18, 2026, and public hearing April 1, 2026. Must complete action by approximately April 11 to meet May 11 Growth Management Hearings Board compliance deadline. Both items remain in active status with compressed timelines for resolution.

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Notable Quotes

**Chair Eddie Lin, on flood regulation delays:** "At the same time, I do think it's important to get it right and to allow additional time. So at this point I'm not going to be proposing just to spin the rules and to allow for this to happen on a future date." **Dan Strauss, on the extended timeline:** "Chair, this conversation's been going on, I believe, six and a half years at this point. As Miss Glowacki noted, ten extensions, and I guess I'm disappointed to see there is more conversation." **Jack McCullough, on pier concerns:** "It's odd that I'm here on behalf of the piers because they shouldn't even be in the flood plain. One of the things we've been struggling with are the map happens that are before you now that were prepared by King County many years ago are flawed." **Steve Rubstello, on housing policy:** "MHA, when it was passed was supposed to be 50/50 on people accepting it and people paying their way out. My experience, every project I've ever seen shows that pretty minimal people actually having people who are less than their target audience in the building." **Margaret Glowacki (SDCI), on FEMA compliance:** "We are within guardrails, like there's language that we have to have in the way FEMA was written, complete control over the changes that we make." **Alexis Mercedes Rinck, on timeline concerns:** "We should just be aware that we should not -- we cannot depend on FEMA granting us another extension."