The Tacoma City Council is currently seeking applicants to fill three positions on the Urban Design Board:
- One Development and Design Professional – individuals with professional experience related to site and building design and development from fields such as architecture, landscape architecture, planning, urban design, land use or real estate law, real estate development, construction or building trades, and civil or structural engineering.
- Two Allied Community Representatives – individuals with lived and/or professional experience and/or training relevant to one of these two urban design priorities: active/multimodal transportation or culture and heritage. Their expertise spans various fields, including, transit agency administration, transportation planner or engineer, artisan/craftsperson, historian, architectural history professional, and cultural organization administrator.
While preference will be given to Tacoma residents, up to two Board members may reside outside of Tacoma, and two of the seven positions must reside and/or conduct business primarily in Council Districts Three, Four, or Five.
The Urban Design Board (UDB) has a specific role as part of the all-new Urban Design Project Review process established in 2024 by the Tacoma City Council. The UDB provides early concept design guidance and makes final design decisions for specific Urban Design Project Review (UDPR) permits. Additionally, the Board offers advisory input to the City of Tacoma on urban design matters, serving as an educational resource and advocate for design excellence in our community. Meetings occur on the third Thursday of each month beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The City is committed to fostering an equitable and anti-racist organization and wants its committees, boards, and commissions to reflect Tacoma’s diverse community. For these vacancies, all individuals, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, seniors, youth, immigrants, and refugees are encouraged to apply.
Appointed applicants are required to complete Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act trainings provided by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General within 90 days of being appointed to a committee, board, or commission.
Additional information on the Urban Design Board is available here.
Applications must be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office by noon on August 31, 2026, at tacoma.gov/cbcapplication. Questions about the application process, requests for the application in an alternate format, or requests to submit additional documents may be directed to Elizabeth Wing in the City Clerk’s Office at servetacoma@tacoma.gov or (253) 591-5178.