Seattle Land Use Changes to Support Child Care

I am pleased to share with you that there are new zoning incentives to make child care easier to permit and build in Seattle, from a Land Use perspective.

Per Ordinance 126131, newly adopted:

> Child care centers are now a permitted use in singe-family zones In multifamily MR and HR zones, gross floor area for child care centers is exempt from FAR. (FAR = floor area ratio, which relates to how much you are allowed to build on a given site)

> Childcare centers are a permitted use in all commercial zones, and gross floor area for child care centers is exempt from FAR.

> Childcare centers in SM-U and SM-UP zones are exempt from FAR.

Seattle's Land Use codes are complex, and a conditional use permit may still be required where the project does not meet development standards outright - but this opens the door to many.

The full text of the Ordinance is here:
http://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8663294&GUID=1CDED027-B967-4EC9-AAAC-8254E93BE18B