Changes to master plan
Seattle Mun. Code § 23.69.035
in effectA. A proposed change to an adopted master plan shall be reviewed by the Director and determined to be an exempt change, a minor amendment, or a major amendment. B. Exempt Changes. An exempt change shall be a change to the design and/or location of a planned structure or other improvement from that shown in the master plan, which the Director shall approve without publishing an interpretation. Any new gross floor area or parking space(s) must be accompanied by a decrease in gross floor area or parking space(s) elsewhere if the total gross floor area or parking spaces permitted for the entire MIO District or, if applicable, the subarea would be exceeded. Each exempt change must meet the development standards for the MIO District. Exempt changes shall be: 1. Any new structure or addition to an existing structure not approved in the master plan that is 12,000 square feet of gross floor area or less; or 2. Twenty or fewer parking spaces not approved in the master plan; or 3. An addition to a structure not yet constructed but approved in the master plan that is no greater than 20 percent of the approved gross floor area of that structure or 20,000 square feet, whichever is less; or 4. Any change in the phasing of construction, if not tied to a master plan condition imposed under approval by the Council; or 5. Any increase in gross floor area below grade. C. Amendments. The Advisory Committee shall be given the opportunity to review a proposed minor or major amendment and submit comments on whether it should be considered minor or major, and what conditions, if any, should be imposed if it is minor. The Director shall determine whether the amendment is minor or major according to subsections 23.69.035.D and 23.69.035.E. The Director's decision that a proposed amendment is minor or major shall be made in the form of an interpretation subject to the procedures of Chapter 23.88 , Rules; Interpretation. If the Director and the Major Institution agree that a major amendment is required based on subsection 23.69.035.E, the interpretation process may be waived, and the amendment and environmental review process shall be subject to the provisions of subsection 23.69.035.G. After the Director makes a decision on whether an amendment is minor or major, the Advisory Committee shall be notified. D. Minor amendments. A proposed change to an adopted master plan shall be considered and approved as a minor amendment when it is not an exempt change according to subsection 23.69.035.B, when it is consistent with the original intent of the adopted master plan (except as provided in this subsection 23.69.035.D), and when it meets at least one of the following criteria: 1. The amendment will not result in significantly greater impacts than those contemplated in the adopted master plan; or 2. The amendment is a waiver from a development standard or master plan condition, or a change in the location or decrease in size of designated open space, and the proposal does not go beyond the minimum necessary to afford relief and will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity in which the Major Institution is located; or 3. The amendment is a proposal by the Major Institution to lease space or otherwise locate a use at street level in a commercial zone outside an MIO District, and within 2,500 feet of the MIO District boundary, and the use is allowed in the zone but not permitted pursuant to Section 23.69.022 . In making the determination whether the amendment is minor, the Director shall consider the following factors: a. Whether an adequate supply of commercially zoned land for business serving neighborhood residents will continue to exist, and b. Whether the use will maintain or enhance the viability or long-term potential of the neighborhood-serving character of the area, and c. Whether the use will displace existing neighborhood-serving commercial uses at street level or disrupt a continuous commercial street front, particularly of personal and household retail sales and service uses, and d. If the area is located in a regional center with an adopted subarea plan, whether the use supports goals and objectives in the regional center subarea plan. 4. The amendment would accommodate a single development with residential uses composed of housing for students or employees of the Major Institution, that is consistent with criteria in subsection 23.69.026.C.1, and that either was not anticipated by or is in excess of what was anticipated in an adopted master plan. This kind of amendment could occur only one time per the lifetime of an adopted master plan. The floor area of said residential use, uses accessory thereto, and nonresidential uses such as required street-level uses shall be exempted from the calculation of total development capacity of the Major Institution overlay, and shall be excluded from calculation of Floor Area Ratio and not counted against the Major Institution's development program permitted floor area for the campus. E. Major amendments. A proposed change to an adopted master plan shall be considered a major amendment when it is not an exempt change according to subsection 23.69.035.B or a minor amendment according to subsection 23.69.035.D. In addition, any of the following shall be considered a major amendment: 1. An increase in a height designation or the expansion of the boundary of the MIO District; or 2. Any change to a development standard that is less restrictive, except if a proposed change relates to providing housing affiliated with certain educational Major Institutions as identified in subsection 23.69.026.C.1; or 3. A reduction in housing stock outside the boundary but within 2,500 feet of the MIO District, other than within a downtown zone, that exceeds the level approved in an adopted master plan; or 4. A change to the single-occupancy vehicle goal of an approved transportation management program that increases the percentage of people traveling by single-occupancy vehicle; or 5. A use that requires Council Conditional Use approval, including but not limited to a helistop or a major communication utility, that was not described in an adopted master plan; or 6. The update of an entire development program component of a master plan that was adopted under Land Use Code provisions prior to Ordinance 118362 where the institution proposes an increase to the total amount of gross floor area allowed or the total number of parking spaces allowed under the institution's existing development program component within the MIO District. Changes to a development program relating to an action described in subsection 23.69.035.D.4 shall not be considered a development program update of this kind. F. If the Director, after reviewing any Advisory Committee recommendation, determines that a proposed major amendment is of unusual complexity or size, the Director may require that the institution prepare a new master plan subject to Section 23.69.032 . G. If an amendment is determined to be major, the amendment and environmental review process shall be subject to the provisions of Section 23.69.032 . However, a concept plan and preliminary draft plan shall not be required. Instead, the Major Institution shall submit a major amendment draft report as part of the application stating which parts of the master plan are proposed to be amended. If an EIS is required for the major amendment, the draft EIS shall be prepared after submittal of the major amendment draft report. After comments are received on the major amendment draft report, the institution shall prepare the major amendment final report and if required, the final EIS. If an EIS is not required for the major amendment, the Director is not required to hold a public hearing on the major amendment draft report. H. Noncontiguous areas that are included in an MIO District as a result of a previously adopted master plan shall be deleted from the MIO District at the time a major amendment is approved unless the noncontiguous area was a former and separate MIO District. The change to the MIO District boundaries shall be in accordance with the procedures for City-initiated amendments to the Official Land Use Map as provided in Chapter 23.76 and shall not be subject to the rezone criteria contained in Section 23.34.124 . (Ord. 127375 , § 101, 2025; Ord. 126626 , § 7, 2022; Ord. 120691 , § 26, 2001; Ord. 118362 § 23, 1996: Ord. 115165 § 10, 1990; Ord. 115002 , § 23, 1990.)
Source: Seattle Municipal Code (Municode library)URL: https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_codeFetched: 7/25/2026