New Voices on the City Council Challenge SODO Housing

Newly-minted Seattle City Councilmember Eddie Lin threatens to rekindle the bitter controversy over housing near the Port of Seattle. Lin has proposed new legislation to repeal last year’s ordinance allowing hundreds of apartments near T-Mobile baseball stadium.

Lin’s council bill comes after the last November’s decision by the state’s Growth Management Hearings Board which slammed the restrictive city ordinance for procedural missteps, faulty environmental review, and inconsistencies with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and King County land use policies. The board ordered the city to act by May 11 to correct the deficiencies.

Lin, chair of the council’s Land Use committee, believes repeal is necessary to meet the state deadline and head off sanctions, a spokesman said, including the loss of state aid to the city. His committee set an April 1 date for a public hearing.

The Growth Management Hearings Board’s action came as a result of an appeal by the Port of Seattle, which argued housing close to shipping terminals would threaten freight mobility and cost jobs. The Port and waterfront unions waged an unsuccessful battle over then-Council President Sara Nelson’s legislation, which was adopted 6-3 in March 2025.

Nelson’s bill would have opened the door to affordable apartments and small-business “maker’’ spaces within the SODO stadium transition zone around Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park. Nelson rallied housing activists, construction-trades unions, and the stadium public-development agencies to support her legislation.  “I am proud I passed legislation that creates affordable housing, creates makers’ spaces, and improves public safety in an underutilized area, the stadium district,” Nelson said after the vote. The city argued that an earlier environmental review found that housing would not impair Port freight activity.

The bill’s passage was a rare setback for the maritime community in a long history of legislative battles of protecting industrial lands against commercial and residential encroachment.

That coaition did not accept defeat. In addition to challenging the ordinance, Port commissioners and other maritime leaders threw their support behind political newcomer Dionne Foster, who unseated Nelson in the November elections, as well at Katie Wilson for mayor and Erika Evans for City Attorney.

Port Commission President Ryan Calkins said Lin’s bill signals a “new era’’ of cooperation with the Port and maritime community. After meeting with Lin, Calkins said, “I’m really impressed with the caliber of leadership. I’m confident we are going to do great things.”

The repeal measure follows advice from city attorneys to act before the May 11 deadline set by the state hearings board for the city to correct various deficiencies with the ordinance. It is unclear if the city would follow through with appeal of the state’s decision.

In any case, the political dynamic at City Hall is much different today.  Nelson and another backer of her bill, Mark Solomon, have departed. The election of Mayor Wilson and City Attorney Evans will put housing, crime, and budget woes at the top of the city’s agenda, and the City Council is now split on many issues.

Neither Wilson nor Evans responded to questions about their positions on the appeal or Lin’s legislation. The Port in a statement said the repeal ordinance is a “necessary step to recalibrate around a shared-vision future of SODO as the heart of our region’s maritime and industrial economy.”

The Port is working with the city on affordable housing and protection of industrial lands to support advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and logistics. “Our century-long partnership with the city is resilient,’’ the statement said.

The larger context is that the battle over SODO housing comes as the Port and the Northwest Seaport Alliance try to reverse the long-term decline of cargo shipping through the harbor. Lack of business led to the closure of cargo terminals T-46 and T-30 on the East Waterway near SODO, and those closures opened the Port to criticism of its waterfront policies. Some advocate commercial and tourism development on the piers, which would fly against longstanding industrial protections. The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to announce a decision in April about acquiring a sizeable portion of T-46 for an expansion of its base.

Supporters of SODO housing expressed disappointment over Lin’s bill since the appeals are still pending. Repeal is not the only means for addressing the state board’s criticisms, said Joshua Curtis, executive director of the baseball park public authority. Development interests have long sought land-use changes around the stadiums. “We are in talks with the city,’’ Curtis said. “We continue to feel it would be a shame to [retreat] on an opportunity to help solve the city’s affordable housing crisis.”