What remains to build more affordable housing in county

By: John Mirante / For The Herald

Snohomish County is expected to grow by more than 300,000 people over the next 20 years, which will require an additional 167,000 new homes to meet the need. The housing shortfall is making it harder to imagine an affordable future here for our children and grandchildren. To meet the county’s significant need for more homes, bold action is needed to decrease often invisible barriers for more housing of all types.

I have been in the land development and homebuilding industry for over 30 years, helping to build new homes across Snohomish County, including Everett, Bothell and Lynnwood. Every project is a unique collaboration between a neighborhood, planners, other public officials, trade workers, the homebuilder, the property seller and new owner. It is rewarding work because every new completed project means that someone will have a better chance of finding a home that best fits their lives. However, in the broader work of mitigating the on-going housing crisis, our region is at an important crossroads.

The local comprehensive plan update process underway this year is an opportunity for cities and counties to put policies in place facilitating more housing choices for a diverse and growing population. Among the items cities are working on is a plan to remove barriers to middle housing. Local implementation of new bipartisan state laws such as House Bill 1110 and House Bill 1337 aim to make it easier to build middle housing of all types (townhouses, courtyard apartments, duplexes and triplexes, for example, as well as accessory dwelling units). Cities and counties are working on these necessary changes to help increase options for current residents, newcomers and future generations.

Some jurisdictions have already laid important groundwork to address the housing shortage well before HB 1110’s passage. For example, in 2014, Everett adopted an ordinance to allow for a type of middle housing homeownership called fee simple. This means that a townhome may be purchased where the buyer owns the home and the underlying land, in contrast to a condo where there is shared ownership. This approach reduces costs for a critical type of middle housing and creates another path to ownership for prospective homebuyers. I hope that other jurisdictions adopt this change.

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