Purpose:

• Develop a methodology for accurate assessments of 20-year land capacity for
  • Housing Targets
  • Employment Targets
• Methodology is to be used in all jurisdictions.

Members of the Land Capacity Task Force:

• elected officials,
• representatives from:
  • the University of Washington's Department of Urban Design and Planning,
  • public interest groups, and
  • the private sector, including the construction and development industry.

The standard methodology recommended by the Task Force:

1. Estimate of the number of gross acres of vacant and redevelopable land in each zoning classification.
   
   
2. Apply a series of percentage discounts to arrive at an estimate of net acres in each classification.
   
   
3. Apply zoned densities for estimating the number of housing units on residential land.
   
   
4. Apply floor area ratios (FAR) for estimating potential commercial and industrial building square footage the number of employees on commercial land.
   
   
5. Apply an appropriate square footage per employee factor to estimate the number of employees represented by that building square footage.
   
   
6. Account for existing housing units and employees to arrive at an estimate of growth capacity
   

Abstract Our Methods