STATION AREA PLANNING
City and Regional Planning Efforts
CITY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The City of Seattle is currently updating its Comprehensive Plan, which will shape how and where growth will occur in Seattle for the next 20 years. The primary role of the updated plan, named Seattle 2035, is incorporating forecasted population and employment growth. The City Council is expected to adopt Seattle 2035 in June 2016. The draft of the plan contains proposals to expand Urban Village boundaries in four Rainier Valley communities: North Rainier, Columbia City, Othello and Rainier Valley. The boundary changes largely incorporate current single family zoned land into existing Urban Villages.
In the late 1990s, the City of Seattle began a station area planning process in neighborhoods where future link light rail stations would be placed. Station Area Advisory Committees were created to bring citizens’ perspectives into Sound Transit’s planning and design process. The Framework Goals and Objectives for Station Area Planning document envisioned that “planning would guide transit-oriented development, consisting of integrated, active station areas where community services, housing, retail, and commercial activities are co-located.”
RAINIER VALLEY GREENWAYS
Launched in 2014 and funded through the Bridging the Gap levy, the Rainier Valley North South Neighborhood Greenway project will create a pedestrian and bike friendly path connection from south Rainier Valley (at South Henderson Street and Rainier Avenue South) to the north Mount Baker neighborhood at the I-90 trail connection. This project includes installing speed calming measures such as speed humps, improving access through curb ramps and wayfinding measures, and clearly marked bike paths. The project is currently in the public outreach phase and is scheduled to be implemented in 2016.
Public Funding Sources
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS (CDBGS)
The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department, Office of Economic Development, and Office of Housing receive and distribute Seattle’s share of CDBG funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). CDBG funding has historically been an important source of funding for improvements in low-income communities, but funding has been in a steady decline. Between 2001 and 2012, total CDBG funding fell 30%. Since 2009, the City has dedicated $35 million of CDBG allocations to the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (RVCDF).
RAINIER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LOAN FUND (RVCDF)
The RVCDF aims to help mitigate the effects of light rail construction throughout Rainier Valley. Sound Transit first established and financed this $50 million fund, almost entirely, with CDBG funding. Over the course of seven years, up until 2013, the City funneled $35 million to RVCDF from CDBG and supplemented with $9 million from its general fund. Between 2004 and 2006, 78% of RVCDF loans were made using CDBG funds.
Business Investment Programs
HUD SECTION 108 HUD Section 108 is the loan guarantee provision of the CDBG program. Under this section, HUD offers communities a source of financing for certain community development activities, such as housing rehabilitation, economic development, and large-scale physical development projects. Metropolitan cities and urban counties that receive entitlement grants may apply directly to HUD for loan guarantee assistance.
COMMUNITY CORNERSTONES HUD CHALLENGE GRANT In 2011, the City of Seattle Office of Housing received a $3 million HUD Sustainable Communities Initiative Challenge Grant. Between 2012-2014, the grant financed a series of activities intended to foster equitable development around the newly built Sound Transit light rail station areas in Southeast Seattle. The resulting program, Community Cornerstones, brought together multiple City departments, financial institutions, and community partners. This group drew upon the existing neighborhood plans and pioneered a model for equitable development in the light rail station areas that centered around four strategies.
RAINIER VALLEY SOUTH “PROMISE ZONE” DESIGNATION AND INNOVATION ZONE DEVELOPMENT In 2013, the City of Seattle sought and received Promise Zone designation for the Rainier Valley South area. Designation of an area as a Promise Zone by HUD provides government access to grant funding opportunities, private tax credit access, and specialized technical assistance. According to the HUD website, “Promise Zones are high poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the community .”