(The Center Square) – Proposed legislation that would transform the industrial area near Seattle’s professional sports venues received a do-pass recommendation, but opponents of the bill are threatening legal action.
Council Bill 120933 would amend the city’s land use code to allow for workforce housing in the Stadium Transition Area Overlay District, which encompasses Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park.
The district was established with the intention to provide a safe pedestrian environment for people attending events, while minimizing conflicts with industrial uses that occur in the SODO neighborhood.
In 2023, the Stadium Transition Area Overlay District was rezoned to an urban industrial zone, but unlike other urban industrial zones, most residential uses were prohibited within the district.
According to a fiscal note, the intent of the bill is to create a livelier Stadium District by allowing residential uses that serve a mix of incomes.
Council Bill 120933 received a 3 to 2 vote from the Seattle Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee on Thursday with City Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Bob Kettle voting against the bill.
During the public comment period of the committee meeting, Port of Seattle Commission Chief of Staff Aaron Pritchard delivered the port’s letter to the council containing legal objections to the legislation.
The port previously told city council members that the proposed zoning change would compromise its ability to compete for cargo market share, as well as safety for any residents near the industrial area.
Seattle City Council Chair Sara Nelson, the sponsor of the bill, called the port’s legal threats “short-sighted” in a press release, adding that the bill builds more housing for port workers
“Personally, I view [the legal threats] as a last ditch effort to intimidate this committee from taking a vote today and their tactics of meddling in the legislative process of a separate jurisdiction are unfortunate given the workforce housing, manufacturing jobs and improved public safety at stake,” Nelson said during the committee meeting.
Kettle pointed to Seattle’s liquefaction map, which shows where ground is the most unstable. Liquefaction occurs when loose, saturated soils lose their strength due to strong ground shaking from earthquakes.
A large portion of the SODO neighborhood and by the stadiums has unstable ground, according to the map. Kettle compared the proposed construction of housing on unstable land to New Orleans allowing buildings to be established near water. Those homes were destroyed during the Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“We don’t want 20 years [from now] if this earthquake and tsunami hit and look back and say ‘what were they thinking in 2025,’” Kettle said. “Our city needs to embrace our status as a major port city.”
The legislation is expected to be voted on by the full Seattle City Council sometime next month.
