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Should city take donations for SLU study?

South Lake UnionPlans to up-zone South Lake Union to allow taller buildings could move forward with a little help from some outside cash.

The Seattle City Council on Monday approved a bill that lets the city accept up to $300,000 in donations to help pay a consultant to conduct a study and environmental impact statement required for the area rezone. That money could come from public or private sources, according to the bill.

Department of Planning and Development Deputy Director Alan Justad said the city’s action is intended to let the community know that it is accepting outside funding.

“This has been public that we’re looking for money to get this done,” he said.

In 2004, South Lake Union was designated as an urban center to recognize expected growth there. But much of the area is still zoned for lower-density development.

The prospect of getting Amazon.com as a tenant helped Vulcan Inc. get an early two-block up-zone last December.

Council is expected to vote on a neighborhood up-zone next year.

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This entry was posted by Shawna Gamache on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Planning, Zoning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Josh

    The short and long of it is: yes, the city should accept donations, albeit to a general fund and not tethered to a specific neighborhood or project.

    Private funds for the public good beyond tax and fee revenue is great and should be encouraged. However, as in school funding, tying private funds to specific items can have the effect of singling out prosperous neighborhoods and directing more resources their way. In effect, the City runs a fine line of subsidized private R&D at the expense of the public (assuming their ‘contributions’ are fully tax deductible).

    I think a fairer way to handle such transitions is for the city to maintain a list of similar, prioritized projects throughout all neighborhoods. Such projects would share a general R&D fund to which all private donations would be directed and dispersed. That way the city becomes a convener and not simply a pass-through.