Title
Emergency Declaration Related to Affordable Housing Discussion
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to recommend for City Council consideration an emergency declaration related to affordable housing.
Report
Issue:
Whether to recommend for City Council consideration an emergency declaration related to affordable housing.
Staff Contact:
Jacinda Steltjes, Affordable Housing Program Manager, Community Vitality Housing and Homeless Response, 360.752.8482
Presenter(s):
Jacinda Steltjes, City of Olympia Affordable Housing Program Manager
Background and Analysis:
Across the United States the lack of affordable housing has reached crisis levels. Thurston County, including the City of Olympia, is not immune to this crisis. Many Olympia households are struggling to stay housed while also affording their other basic needs. This emergency declaration related to affordable housing is proposed with this in mind. The declaration includes strategies to increase the supply of affordable housing and middle housing. Many of these strategies decrease the costs of constructing these housing types. Middle housing is included in the declaration because this type of housing is often constructed locally by affordable housing developers and because this type of infill housing can be costly.
In Olympia, we need a greater supply of affordable housing as well as middle housing. Several local plans, studies, initiatives, and state requirements call for this. For example, the One Community Plan; Housing Action Plan; Affordable Homeownership Study; county-wide 2023- 2027 Consolidated Plan, Fair Housing Assessment, and Growth Management Act, to name a few.
Demand for Affordable Housing
According to 2024 Thurston County Point in Time (PIT) Count Preliminary Data Report, 864 houseless individuals were counted during the PIT count occurring on January 25, 2024. This is 120 more individuals than were counted i...
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