Industrial land debate heats up in Seattle

Seattle dock workers oppose SODO housing bill

The controversy over industrial land use in Seattle intensifies as dock workers and the Port of Seattle express strong opposition to a proposed bill allowing housing development in the SODO area.

SEATTLE, Wash. - The debate over industrial land use in SODO is intensifying as dock workers and the Port of Seattle push back against a proposed bill that would allow housing development in the area.

Seattle City Council’s Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee voted 3-2 in favor of moving the proposal forward.

Union members argue that deep-water ports are limited, and any disruption to the port’s reliability could impact Seattle’s ability to compete globally. They warn that the proposed zoning changes wouldn’t just affect waterfront workers, but also agriculture workers in eastern Washington.

What they're saying:

Mark Elverston, president of International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 19, has been a longshoreman for nearly 20 years and is among those opposing the bill.

"We're moving the world. We're bringing the goods into America and exporting our farm goods," Elverston said.

The Port of Seattle, which has been operating for over a century, runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Elverston warned that rezoning the Stadium District to allow housing near the port would jeopardize operations and thousands of jobs.

"You cannot take away industrial lands," Elverston said. "Three stoplights to I-90 open the world for us. That’s the entire America, and that's what we need to preserve."

Elverston emphasized the economic impact of the proposal.

"We’re afraid," he said. "This is the funnel of the state of Washington. Fifty-eight thousand jobs are dependent on this. That makers district is not going to break 58,000 jobs."

Sarah Esch, a Local 19 port dispatcher with two decades of industry experience, pointed out that increased development in the area has already caused significant traffic congestion on I-5 and side streets.

"With the building of the new stadiums, the industrial lands used to go all the way up to King Street, and now they have slowly encroached further and further south," Esch said. "So it’s pushed all that traffic into a smaller, smaller area."

The other side:

Seattle City Council President Sarah Nelson is leading the effort, advocating for a "Makers District" that would include 1,000 housing units, half of which would be below market rate to ensure affordability.

Elverston voiced safety concerns, noting that the area is not suitable for residential development.

"We don’t need people where there’s 1,300 or 2,000 or 4,000 truck trips every day on these streets," Elverston said. "Somebody's going to get killed."

Nelson has defended the proposal, stating that the Port has taken a short-sighted approach to an initiative that she believes will revitalize an area often associated with empty streets, vacant buildings, and public safety issues.

However, longshoremen argue that occupancy rates in SODO exceed 90%, challenging the idea that the area is underutilized. They also point out significant environmental concerns.

"This is the part of Seattle that’s flat, and it’s because it is on landfill," Esch said. "That creates liquefaction. So in the event of an earthquake or another serious natural disaster, everything on this bit of land is subject to further collapse, destruction."

Esch also raised historical concerns, likening the proposal to past redlining practices that placed vulnerable communities in undesirable areas.

"I feel like that is doing that here," Esch said. "We would be putting one of our more vulnerable populations in the middle of a place where no person should live, in my opinion."

What's next:

The bill will be put forth to a full vote, a final decision is expected by March 18—a timeline that union workers argue is a rushed effort to push through housing development.

The Source: Information in this story is from the Seattle City Council, International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 19 and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.