Seattle built more than twice its share of the region's housing target. Its next big zoning change is on hold until 2027

Seattle has added about 70,000 housing units against a prorated growth target of just over 31,000, according to new Puget Sound Regional Council data reported by The Urbanist. That is roughly 226 percent of its share so far. Seattle was the only one of the region's five metro cities to stay ahead of its target, and without it, the region as a whole would be behind.

For residents, the numbers cut two ways. Seattle has built far more than required, but The Urbanist also reported that the city's production is slowing significantly, and the next major zoning change meant to keep it going has been pushed back.

The regional picture

According to The Urbanist's account of the data:

• 14 of 40 cities tracked across King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties are on track.
• The region built about 183,000 units against about 167,000 needed, a surplus of roughly 16,000.
• Everett had about 2,000 units against a 2044 target of 36,500. Tacoma had more than 7,000 against 43,000.
• King County's clock started in 2019; the other counties' in 2020.

"The region is producing housing at pace to meet its targets, but this is largely led by just a handful of jurisdictions," PSRC planner Eric Clute said, according to The Urbanist. He added that recent plan changes are likely not yet showing up in the data.

What our records add: the votes behind Seattle's plan

The plan itself. CB 120985, the One Seattle Plan, replaced the city's Comprehensive Plan with new growth goals. Sponsored by Joy Hollingsworth, it passed 8-0 at the Dec. 16, 2025 meeting. Today's members who voted yes: Hollingsworth, Robert Kettle, Eddie Lin, Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Maritza Rivera, Rob Saka and Dan Strauss. Dionne Foster had not yet joined, and Debora Juarez is not recorded.

Follow-up direction. Res 32183, adopted 8-0 the same day, called on city departments to take further steps to advance the plan's goals. A later resolution, Res 32203, directing the planning office to develop more proposals, has been in committee since April.

A split vote on appeals. CB 121215, sponsored by Lin, the land use chair, changed how environmental review appeals work for Council land use decisions. The Urbanist has described it as removing city-level appeals for area-wide rezones and Comprehensive Plan amendments. It passed 5-4 at the July 28 meeting:

• Yes: Foster, Kettle, Lin, Rinck, Strauss
• No: Hollingsworth, Juarez, Rivera, Saka

In committee, Strauss and Hollingsworth abstained.

Annual amendments. The Council passed this year's routine Comprehensive Plan amendments, CB 121268, 9-0 on Sept. 22.

Why the next rezone is on hold

The plan's second phase, the Centers and Corridors rezone, would change zoning along major streets and around neighborhood centers. In September, the state Growth Management Hearings Board rejected most environmental complaints against the plan's environmental impact statement but required the city to study "maximum possible development" instead of "maximum likely development," The Urbanist reported on Oct. 12. The Council cannot approve the zoning changes until the board accepts the new analysis.

The city has until Sept. 9, 2027, to finish it, with a compliance hearing expected later that fall. "I think of it as really a technical add-in to our existing EIS," Michael Hubner of the Office of Planning and Community Development said, according to The Urbanist.

Meanwhile, the mayor's budget would raise building permit fees 10.7 percent, which we covered in Building permits would cost 10.7% more next year. That fee bill, CB 121310, is still in committee.

What's next

• Nov. 4: the budget chair's balancing package, which will show what happens to the permit fee and planning staff proposals.
• Sept. 9, 2027: deadline for the city's updated environmental analysis.
• Late 2027 at the earliest: a Council vote on the Centers and Corridors rezone.