Title
Approval of the Affordable Housing Emergency Ordinance Permit Fee Grant Program Funding Proposal
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Move to approve Finance Committee's recommended funding proposal for the Affordable Housing Emergency Ordinance Permit Fee Grant program
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the funding proposal for the Affordable Housing Emergency Ordinance Permit Fee Grant Program.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve the recommended funding proposal for the Affordable Housing Emergency Ordinance Permit Fee Grant Program.
Staff Contact:
Jacinda Steltjes, Housing Division Manager, Community Planning & Economic Development, 360.790.5224
Presenter(s):
Jacinda Steltjes, Housing Division Manager, Community Planning & Economic Development
Background and Analysis:
The Permit Fee Grant program is the most recent action the City of Olympia has taken over the last decade in response to the insufficient supply of affordable housing and the ongoing housing crisis facing much of the nation.
History of Efforts to Increase Affordable Housing Supply
Middle Housing
In 2016, the City launched its Missing Middle Initiative, an effort to analyze and consider changing city codes to allow more than one housing unit per lot, thereby allowing for a range of housing options and helping to ensure housing availability and affordability for Olympia residents. The initiative included two public surveys. The surveys polled residents' support for proposed code changes regarding accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and cottage housing, for example. The results showed strong support for many of the proposed code changes. City Council adopted a Missing Middle Infill Housing ordinance in late 2018. In 2019, the ordinance was challenged by a small group of residents and ultimately invalidated by the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB), despite the 2019 Washington State Legislature's passage of a bill (House ...
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