Nick Welch

Nick is a senior planner at the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development who focuses on equitable land use and housing policy. He recently oversaw the update of housing policy in the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan and worked to implement citywide zoning changes that address housing supply, choice, and cost. Nick leads efforts to promote accessory dwelling units and other infill housing as a strategy for affordability and and stability and created the City’s ADUniverse platform. Previously he helped shape Seattle’s landmark Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) inclusionary rezone and was instrumental in bringing a focus on racial and social equity into the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan by developing the Growth and Equity Analysis. Nick has a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, where he also graduated summa cum laude in International Relations and Spanish, before returning to Seattle in 2013. He is a distance runner and lives in the University District with his wife and two children.