Resolution on the Seattle Comprehensive Plan

April 17, 2025

WHEREAS, The Seattle Comprehensive (Comp) Plan is a policy document that outlines the city’s vision, goals, and strategies for managing growth, development, and improvement over 20 years. It’s a roadmap that helps guide decision-making related to land use, housing, transportation, economic development, and environmental sustainability.

WHEREAS, Seattle added more than 175,000 jobs in the decade from 2010-2020, however, only 60,000 net new housing units were built over this same time period.

WHEREAS, Zoning regulations constrain the amount of housing that can be built in nearly every neighborhood and limit high-density housing to a small portion of the city. As a result, not enough new housing is being built, and new development is highly concentrated in neighborhoods like Downtown, Belltown, Capitol Hill, and South Lake Union.

WHEREAS, Increased demand for housing, without a corresponding increase in supply, has resulted in lower-income and working-class residents, including many union members, having to move far from Seattle to afford housing.

WHEREAS, An increasing number of union members report being rent-burdened or paying a disproportionate amount of their paycheck on rent or a mortgage, resulting in difficult financial choices and economic instability.

WHEREAS, Living far from work usually requires a long commute, often in heavy traffic. This can cause a lower quality of life, loss of free time, and increased carbon emissions.

WHEREAS, Allowing for increased housing density, such as duplexes and apartments, in more parts of Seattle would provide the opportunity for more housing to be built and drive down the costs paid by renters and homebuyers.

WHEREAS, MLK Labor supports a comprehensive plan that allows for all forms of housing in residential neighborhoods, especially housing that accommodates working families and supports social housing as part of that plan.

WHEREAS, MLK Labor supports the prioritization of Community Workforce Agreements and Priority Hire programs in execution of construction projects, which will help foster equity and opportunity in construction and pathways out of poverty through apprenticeship.

WHEREAS, fire and life safety systems and features in buildings in the City of Seattle are critically important for the health and safety of both the occupants and responding firefighters and are in compliance with the Seattle Fire Code which is developed using the International Fire Code and local amendments from the City of Seattle through a collaborative process with the “Fire Code Advisory Board” (FCAB). 

WHEREAS, The One Seattle Plan proposed by Mayor Harrell and being considered by the City Council provides the foundational framework for allowing increased density in neighborhoods throughout Seattle, particularly in areas well-served by public transit, though it falls short of the level of density needed to meaningfully address our housing affordability crisis.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that MLK Labor supports the overall framework of the Mayor’s proposed Comp Plan, but also recognizes that this plan does not go far enough to promote density, affordability and sustainability in Seattle for working families.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that MLK Labor shall oppose any reductions to fire and life safety systems or features as part of Seattle Mayor Harrell’s proposed Comprehensive Plan

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that MLK Labor will advocate for the City Council to adopt this base plan without removing density, while also pushing for the Council to use every available means to improve the plan, such as revisiting the environmental impact study to look at greater density and giving density bonuses to social housing developments outlined in alternative plans 5 and 6 in the second phase of the update process.”

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That MLK Labor supports using all possible public policy tools to incentivize the use of apprenticeships and high labor standards during the construction of housing in Seattle.