University District Moratorium

This morning, the Zoning and Planning committee unanimously approved keeping in place the University District moratorium on demolition and new construction of 1-4 unit residential properties. This action, which the committee took despite hearing some complaints from area developers, will give our staff, District residents and the University District Parternship Alliance some breathing space to work on a U District zoning and land use study.

Many thanks to everyone who sent in letters and came down to listen and speak this morning to support this interim moratorium. I think that my colleagues on the committee all gained a better understanding of the concerns involved and this will help when we return with plans for how we will address these. We also were able to hear some of the concerns builders and developers had with the proposal and some other issues in the area. This too will be helpful. I was also impressed with the quality report and support and understanding about neighborhood concerns from our City staff.

This is another important step in the work we are all doing to preserve and improve the character of the U District neighborhoods, that has been made possible by the atmosphere of trust and hope we have been able to build by working together through the Alliance.