At a gathering of the Metropolis Council’s Governance, Accountability, and Financial Improvement Committee on Feb. 27, chaired by Council President Sara Nelson, council members voted 3-2 to advance a invoice permitting housing in a particular zoning district encompassing town’s two sports activities stadiums and the world simply south. The zone known as the Stadium Transition Space Overlay District (STAOD).
In a presentation to the committee on Jan. 24, Council President Sara Nelson unveiled a proposed “Maker’s District,” consisting of a mixture of housing, retail, and lightweight industrial initiatives, with a promise so as to add as many as 990 items of housing, 50 p.c of them reasonably priced. Okay, cool, yeah, we’d like extra housing, particularly reasonably priced housing. Sounds good.
To not everybody.
At a swiftly organized press convention proper earlier than yesterday’s vote, Port Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa, flanked by members of the Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Union Native 19, all holding “WE HAD A DEAL” indicators, excoriated the proposal.
Our metropolis has important wants that we should work collectively to deal with, however this isn’t the answer,” Hasegawa mentioned. “It’s reckless city planning.”
After her, Curt Nuccitelli, the proprietor of trucking firm Spirit Transport Methods, laid into the plan, adopted by John Wolfe, the CEO of the NW Seaport Alliance. Councilmembers Dan Strauss and Bob Kettle, the latter of whom was in attendance, have additionally cried foul. If the invoice does cross full council, the Port has recommended it’d sue to dam it.
Why are these individuals so passionately against this plan? It provides housing, it provides breweries, it appears cool — what’s to not love? Nicely, apart from the truth that all of those individuals oppose something that might impede commerce on the Port, the place they make their cash, there’s truly so much at stake right here when it comes to housing fairness and who will get entry to energy.
Let’s begin with that bit about entry to energy. It’s an extended story, however the situation of whether or not to permit housing within the STAOD was settled in 2023 when Mayor Bruce Harrell pushed by way of his up to date maritime-industrial zoning bundle, no less than so far as the Port and its related acts see it. Swiftly, Nelson has reintroduced the thought, and has finished so in a sort of sneaky manner by instantly referring it to her personal committee reasonably than Strauss’ Land Use Committee.
“It couldn’t be extra clear that this invoice ought to go to the Land Use Committee,” Strauss mentioned in a telephone interview. “That is an irregular observe that I’ve by no means seen earlier than. It’s very troubling.”
It’s additionally very sudden, Hasegawa mentioned, and nobody is aware of precisely why Nelson is bringing it up now. Nonetheless, as Hasegawa identified over and time and again yesterday, this deal appears actual good for Seattle-born, San Francisco-based billionaire hedge fund supervisor Chris Hansen, who purchased up a bunch of land within the STAOD as a part of his failed marketing campaign to #BringBackOurSonics.
Hansen has been sitting on most of that land since 2016 when a key vote concerning the holiday of Occidental Ave stymied what was to be a brand new enviornment for a brand new Seattle Supersonics group.. The buildings his WSA Properties holding firm owns are house to a smattering of tenants, together with Blazing Bagels, Pius Kitchen and Bathtub, and Tony T’s Sports activities Lounge. The Maker’s District, Hasegawa recommended in a post-presser interview, is Nelson’s manner of serving to Hansen get out from below a nasty funding, all whereas handing out a serious paycheck to builders and building corporations.
“Folks deserve constant, considerate public coverage that doesn’t make them sacrifice their time, effort and vitality to make their voices heard when an out-of-state billionaire needs a brand new property,” she mentioned throughout her remarks, earlier than confirming she was referring to Hansen in a subsequent interview.
Now, even when it’s a considerably blatant case of favor-trading, what if group Maker’s District’s acquire can also be our acquire? That’s, in fact, the agonizing fact concerning the YIMBY motion: It’s usually bankrolled by massive tech and rich builders, however can also be in favor of including extra housing throughout a housing disaster. Generally the worst man (or councilmember, on this case) you understand makes an incredible level.
That’s not what’s occurring right here, based on Hasegawa. As a substitute, through the Port’s press convention, she in contrast citing reasonably priced housing in SoDo to redlining. How is that? Nicely, she argued, any housing in SoDo could be topic to critical environmental hazards, just like these plaguing neighborhoods that blend industrial and residential zoning. In locations like South Park, to call probably the most notable examples, common life expectancy is 13 years lower than town at giant. SoDo specifically, she famous, suffers from horrible noise air pollution, air air pollution, and intensely harmful infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. Placing housing there, particularly reasonably priced housing, is akin to recreating all of the environmental racism we’ve perpetrated towards different neighborhoods.
“To say that we’re earmarking [this land] for reasonably priced housing virtually makes it worse,” Hasegawa mentioned.
As a substitute of placing it within the margins, we must be constructing reasonably priced housing the place it’s already good to stay, she contended. Proponents — who embrace the Mariners and the Housing Improvement Consortium, together with each Pioneer Sq. and the CID’s neighborhood organizations, by the best way — say it’s truly fairly near downtown, plus there’s gentle rail proper close by.
Nelson responded to the Port’s criticisms of her laws in a Feb. 27 weblog that learn, “Extra housing is required in Seattle – particularly workforce housing close to gentle rail stations and jobs … Bringing all these items collectively will rework an space lengthy related to empty streets, vacant buildings, and public security challenges whereas offering a much-needed resolution to Seattle’s housing disaster. And we all know we will do it with out inflicting extra opposed impacts on close by industrial actions.”
One other sizzling button situation right here is truck entry. This specific invoice would create a particular exception for the STAOD permitting residential initiatives inside 200 toes of a “Main Truck Avenue,” which isn’t the case for some other City Industrial housing within the metropolis. In her Jan. 24 presentation, Nelson argued that there have been already loads of Main Truck Streets with housing on them, Aurora Ave. and Rainier Ave. S amongst them, the place vehicles had fairly actually stored on trucking. Perhaps not one of the best examples, given what routinely occurs to cyclists and pedestrians on these streets, however that wasn’t all her ammo.
The Japanese Washington agriculture business additionally confirmed up in droves to argue towards the invoice, citing their must ship fruit, grain, and all the opposite fat-of-the-land out of our port rapidly and effectively. In her slides, Nelson argued that not one of the major routes utilized by agricultural producers could be affected, displaying a map with highlighted routes bypassing the proposed Maker’s District. One other arrow in her quiver is the truth that a Remaining Environmental Influence Assertion (FEIS) on “Seattle Industrial & Maritime Technique,” accomplished in 2022 by the Workplace of Planning and Group Improvement, mentioned there could be no internet affect to site visitors within the space from permitting housing within the STAOD. Nonetheless, Hasegawa was once more not shopping for it.
When you zone that for housing, then you are going to have to begin constructing within the neighborhood facilities that [residents] deserve,” Hasegawa mentioned. “They’ll want security to have the ability to safely cross the freight hall. It will seem like incorporating bike lanes. It will seem like incorporating grocery shops or an elementary faculty, or what have you ever. However when you begin placing individuals in there, town shall be obligated to begin responding [and] giving them the issues that they must be protected.”
Talking of security, Nelson’s different massive pitch was {that a} massive mixed-use housing and lightweight industrial growth would enhance public security in an space with a fairly dangerous latest observe report on crime. Nobody actually had a difficulty with that, and Jane Jacobs was most likely smiling down on the dias from wherever urbanists go once they die (Holland, presumably).
All that mentioned, what do it’s essential to do about this factor? What are you able to do?
Nothing, actually. Earlier than the invoice goes to full council in March, you’ll have another alternative to touch upon it, the place you’ll be able to inform the total 9 to kill it and put extra density into wealthy North Seattle neighborhoods as a substitute— or construct it, if that’s your bag. Simply keep in mind that this invoice’s main sponsor is up for reelection quickly, and that there’s so much to be gleaned right here about who she’s legislating on behalf of.
