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WHITE SALMON — On Oct. 25 White Salmon Mayor Marla Keethler held an online forum on the White Salmon Housing Action Plan and was joined by renowned city planner and Bingen resident Michael Mehaffy. The hour long session touched on proposed changes to zoning code, summary of recommendations and what the city can learn from other communities. Keethler opened with a brief statement on public involvement.
“A lot of this is to make sure that you have access to information in case you want to submit some formal public comments through upcoming public hearing opportunities with our planning commission and city council later this fall,” Keethler said.
Mehaffy has worked for clients around the country, but his work has taken him internationally, as well. He has had his research published in numerous journals and has taught urban design at several universities. Now he is president of Structura Naturalis, a strategic consultant to governments, NGOs and private developers for industry-leading projects in the US, Latin America and Europe.
On top of that, he is serving as a consultant for the city as they attempt to change the housing landscape in White Salmon. During the livestream, he presented a list of short-term recommendations that includes — but is not limited to — potentially eliminating minimum building width, reducing setbacks and increasing the number of units per lot while assessing their impact on nearby residents. Mehaffy said these proposals aren’t in the realm of possibilities without zoning code that allows it and Keethler pointed out the outdated code often contradicts itself and makes it difficult for city staff to apply the code in a fair and consistent fashion.
“Sometimes it can be something that turns [builders] away from considering a project in our town. And so if we want to encourage innovation, once we decide what types of additional housing we as a community would want to see happening, some of it is about making sure that the code can work for that as well,” Keethler said.
Mehaffy added to the conversation by suggesting the idea of “QUIMBY” (Quality In My Back Yard) over “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) and “YIMBY” (Yes In My Back Yard), adversarial approaches that can be divisive.
“Let’s have more housing, but let’s not just shove it down people’s throats,” Mehaffy said. “But there are ways to do density that are quite beneficial when you’re talking about more walkability, and more amenities close by that you can walk to and so on. If it’s done carefully, and other kinds of streamlining to make it easier to build good quality developments.”
Lawmakers around the nation are working to supply communities with different housing options.
“At the statewide level there is the initiative to add middle housing provisions for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), creating clear and objective standards,” Mehaffy said.
In April, the Washington state Senate passed House Bill 1110 which aims to increase housing density. The bill allows more homes to be built on plots of land that have traditionally allowed only one.
Other state mandates include requiring municipalities to provide clear and concise objectives and standards.
“I’ve worked a lot with developers and I have been a developer myself, and I know that uncertainty equals risk, equals cost. So the more we can make it a clear process that people know how to get through, ultimately, that’s going to reduce cost as well,” Mehaffy said.
Streamlining the review process is another topic staff plans to address.
Possible updates to code are coming as the planning commission will have a workshop on Nov. 2 and Keethler said the city will release a draft ordinance on Nov. 3. No public comment will be taken on Nov. 2, but other opportunities for public comment include the planning commission meeting on Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. and two open houses on Nov. 14 and 15 (see www.housingwhitesalmon.com/#Resources for more information.)
The proposed housing code changes will go before the city council on Dec. 6.
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