SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled a Downtown Activation Plan to revitalize and transform downtown.
Following an increase in crime and more businesses and workers leaving downtown since the pandemic, the goal is to increase foot traffic and reduce red tape for developers, among other things.
The mayor has seven core goals with the plan. The top three are: making downtown more safe and welcoming, transforming downtown into a lively neighborhood where people want to live and creating a unique downtown retail experience.
He plans to accomplish these core goals in several ways, including:
- Rezoning parts of downtown to allow for high-rise residential developments, with incentives for childcare and education facilities
- Encouraging residential development by waiving State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements for all residential projects
- Supporting more food businesses downtown by waiving street use fees for temporary and year-long food trucks and carts
- Allowing for expanded street use downtown
- Investing in a cleaner and safer downtown by expanding the Metropolitan Improvement District
The mayor said some of these steps are already in action.
“We took 20 vacant storefronts through our Seattle Restored program, and we're helping small businesses come down to pursue their dreams,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell.
The mayor also said putting a city public drug use law back in place to ensure people are arrested for fentanyl is a priority.
“We don't apologize for that because these people are bringing poison into our community, killing our children, killing our people. We need to stop that and arrest them,” said Mayor Harrell.
Preventing public drug use is something other city leaders at the event said needs to be a first step in this plan.
“We've got to have more urgent action on the fentanyl crisis,” said Jon Scholes, the CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association. “So, I think that's the key piece of any of our ability here to be successful in revitalizing our downtown.”
“We have to think about not just the people that are dying on our streets every day, but also the people that are exposed to public drug use,” said Sara Nelson, a Seattle City Councilmember and Chair of the City’s Economic Development Committee. “People need to feel safe riding public transit so that they can actually get back to work and then shop at all these places and eat and drink downtown.”
One of the downtown business owners who showed up in support of the mayor’s Downtown Activation Plan is Robert Rodriguez, the owner of Yellow Butterfly Coffee. He said that 2022 was a rough year for Pioneer Square, where his shop is located.
“There was a guy that broke my window, and he came in here with a gun,” Rodriguez said.
Now, Rodriguez said Pioneer Square has improved significantly. He said the city has put in a lot of effort to make the area more safe and vibrant. Most recently, the city reopened City Hall Park, which sits across from his shop. Rodriguez said it has brightened up the area, with people now enjoying the park.
"You see all this neighborhood, a lot of happiness in Pioneer Square, one of the worst pockets before,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said he is thankful for the officers with the Sheriff’s Department and the ambassadors with Metropolitan Improvement District who help patrol and clean the area. He encourages other business owners to be involved in public meetings and said community involvement is key.
"I'm very excited for the future of Seattle,” said Rodriguez.