A suite of zoning changes under consideration by the Tacoma Planning Commission provoked its "most well-attended" hearing in decades.
"Several hundred people packed a Tacoma meeting room [August 18], and for more than four hours told the city Planning Commission in no uncertain terms that its ideas for building more types of housing were bad," reports Kathleen Cooper.
"Person after person lined up to demand a change to the law that allows six-story buildings in neighborhood business districts. In about equal number, people protested the idea of allowing single-family homes to be turned into duplexes and triplexes, particularly in historic neighborhoods."
The public outcry came in response to the Planning Commission's consideration of annual amendments to the city's Comprehensive Plan. Tacoma residents have seized on to the example of the Proctor neighborhood, which already allows six-story buildings. A neighborhood group is organizing to reduce height limits there, and one speaker at the August 18 hearing described a new building in Proctor as a "six-story monstrosity" that "destroyed the character of that part of town."
It’s Unanimous: Columbus Approves Density-Friendly Zoning Changes
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San Diego Planning Commission Rejects Voluntary State Density Law
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Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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