Phase 2 of Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan will establish the building and development standards for Neighborhood Centers. As currently proposed, nearly all Neighborhood Centers are limited to just five zoning designations: LR1, LR2, LR3, Neighborhood Commercial, and Neighborhood Mixed Use.

Neighborhood Commercial and Mixed Use zones allow 100% of the lot to be developed with structures and paved areas. LR1, LR2 and LR3 permit 85% of the lot to be developed with structures and paved areas.

The end result is no space for trees or meaningful greenery, which contradicts the stated intent of the One Seattle Plan.

Without explicit requirements to preserve and grow trees, Neighborhood Centers risk becoming fully paved urban heat islands, undermining the City’s climate, public health, and environmental justice goals. This risk is especially acute in overburdened communities, where planting strips and other public right-of-way (ROW) space for street trees are already limited or nonexistent.

In fact, SDOT’s 2025 Seattle Tree Planning Study shows that Seattle’s plantable public ROW land is inadequate to meet current tree canopy goals.

Because meaningful opportunities for green space within Neighborhood Centers exist almost exclusively in LR1, LR2, and LR3 zones, we propose the following amendments to ensure that density is paired with climate resilience, livability, and long-term tree canopy:

1. Require amenity areas to have trees, either planted or retained
2. Replace Green Factor with Tree Requirements
3. Add flexible option of pocket forest in public ROW

Bottom Line

Seattle can — and must — pair dense housing with dense urban forests. These amendments replace ineffective green factor metrics with canopy standards, allows creative use of adjacent public land, and ensures that Phase 2 of the Comprehensive Plan can deliver equitable, climate-ready Neighborhood Centers that remain livable for generations.

Read Our Proposal

Click the link above for our full proposal