Advocacy Update - June 2024

Photo: Attendees at AIA Seattle’s 2024 Housing Forum – Housing: A Stage for Life

Housing Forum

Advocacy came to life in person at Monday’s Housing: A Stage for Life learning and networking forum at 415 Westlake. Highlights included innovative project case studies, community perspectives, and inspiring designs that foreground users while addressing actionable solutions to develop more plentiful, quality, diverse, and sustainable housing options in Seattle and beyond. The program closed out with an inspiring keynote by Kevin Daly, A Holistic Approach to Housing, followed by a networking happy hour on-site. If you missed the event, stay tuned for information about the recordings available for learning units in the months ahead.  

Increase AIA Seattle’s advocacy impact in 10 Counties! Call for AIA Seattle Public Policy Board Members

AIA Seattle’s Public Policy Board (PPB) is an energizing and active space for leadership for the advocacy priorities of AIA Seattle, including design issues related to the built environment and the business of architecture. In recent years, AIA Seattle Public Policy Board members have engaged on topics such as design review, tree ordinances, the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan, and policies which impact housing density.  

The Public Policy Board is seeking members to serve on the PPB who will bring their experience, expertise, and 10-county membership perspective to the steering committee. Individuals who are currently engaged in advocacy efforts outside the City of Seattle are strongly encouraged to apply to serve on the PPB. The nomination deadline is Monday July 15th. The commitment to serve on the PPB begins in the fall of 2024. Learn more about the PPB and nominate yourself or another member.

Help Shape the Chapter – Vote for your Board of Director Nominees

AIA Seattle Member Advancement Committee is pleased to present  this slate of accomplished members to fill open seats or move to officer positions on our Board of Directors beginning September 1, 2024. Our committee members solicited board nominations from the membership in January and believe this slate of nominees possess the skills and commitment to move AIA Seattle forward.

City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan 

The comment period for the Draft One Seattle Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement has completed. AIA Seattle submitted comments highlighting enhancements to the Plan that would support a livable city with more complete neighborhoods and abundant housing here. AIA Seattle’s advocacy work continues this fall and winter as the city begins to study zoning revisions and the City Council works to finalize the One Seattle Plan.  

AIA Seattle has also begun one-on-one engagement with new Councilmembers to continue the organization’s strong advocacy relationship with the Seattle City Council. AIA Seattle has established itself as a resource on policy related to the urban built environment and housing.  

NO on I-2117 

AIA Seattle supports the NO on I-2117 Campaign, one of a series of initiatives that will appear on the Washington State ballot in November of 2024. I-2117 would revoke the 2021 Climate Commitment Act. 

I-2117 would allow more pollution across Washington, devastate funding for programs to protect our air, water, and land, and cut investments in transportation. It would mean cuts to programs that restore and protect rivers, lakes, and streams, programs that help make forests more resilient to wildfires, and programs that protect fish habitat. It would cause billions in cuts to the state transportation budget that funds road and bridge projects, ferries and transit across the state. And it shifts the burden of paying for the impacts of pollution to communities, workers, and families. 

AIA Seattle members are encouraged to stand with AIA Washington Council and AIA Seattle and take a pledge to vote NO on I-2117. 

Design Review

State legislation HB 1293 mandates objective design standards and will require municipalities in AIA Seattle’s 10 county membership area to reconsider the administrative process of design review. AIA Seattle is looking for opportunities for members to give input with their local municipal structures for how design review processes can optimize flexibility and predictability, leverage community input, and deliver projects that serve owner and jurisdiction goals for development. 

For decades, AIA Seattle has been advocating for the City of Seattle to streamline the design review process. AIA Seattle has supported Design Review exemptions for affordable housing and continues to press for transformative and transactional change in Design Review, most recently in a meeting with Marco Lowe, City of Seattle COO and his staff. 

For decades, AIA Seattle has been advocating for the City of Seattle to streamline the design review process. AIA Seattle has supported Design Review exemptions for affordable housing and continues to press for transformative and transactional change in Design Review, most recently in a meeting with Marco Lowe, City of Seattle COO and his staff. 

Local Energy Code 

AIA Seattle is a member of the Shift Zero coalition, currently pressuring the City of Seattle’s Mayor’s office, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and the Construction Codes Advisory Board to maintain Seattle 2021 Energy Code amendments. AIA Seattle will continue to support progress made at the state and local level on clean energy codes and policies and will keep members updated on opportunities to get active in the weeks ahead! 

We’d love to hear from you! For more information on advocacy topics, please contact:

Melissa K. Neher | Executive Director, AIA Seattle