UW, Pacific County EDC launch housing partnership

Livable City Year, a university-wide program, is in its sixth year of connecting with local governments and stakeholders to match staff-identified projects with students and courses who best align with the work. Prior partners include the cities of Sultan and Bainbridge Island, as well as King County.

“We’re very excited to kick off this partnership with the Pacific County Economic Development Council,” said faculty co-director Branden Born of UW’s Department of Urban Design and Planning in a news release. “It’s a healthy stretch for Livable City Year to work with a partner that’s farther away, and it speaks to our enthusiasm for the projects they have identified. Our mutual excitement and the richness of the opportunities are bringing us together.”

Sue Yirku, PCEDC executive director, said seven projects have already been identified for the 2022-23 academic year that they are excited about.

“This partnership will assist the county with important housing planning while providing real-world exposure to UW students in their coursework,” Yirku said. “I look forward to continuing a very productive partnership and welcoming the students to Pacific County.”

Taking inventory

One of the first projects the partnership is trying to tackle is taking a county-wide inventory of residential properties in need of being refurbished, rehabilitated, replaced or re-purposed to help increase the housing stock for low- and middle-income buyers and renters.

The partnership will comb through a parcel database to identify such properties in unincorporated Pacific County, as well as its four cities. Local stakeholders will work with UW’s Department of Community, Environment and Planning on the project.

The county’s population growth of year-round residents over the past decade has increased the demand for housing, but wages have been unable to keep up with housing costs — especially in the last few years. The partnership also noted that Pacific County’s attraction as a vacation destination for short-term renters and vacation home buyers has put further pressure on available housing options by reducing the housing stock for full-time residents and workers.

Taking inventory of properties in need of repair or replacement “is a fast-path to opportunities for investment in new and quality housing on these sites,” the partnership said, adding that the county has a significant number of homes that are over 50 years old and have not been maintained to keep up with the area’s harsh climate. That also includes an estimated 2,700 mobile homes in the county, which provide a relatively inexpensive housing option but include many that are believed to be in need of “significant maintenance, if not outright condemnation.”

Housing ordinances

Another project currently on the partnership’s radar is to assess city and county ordinances currently on the books that relate to housing, particularly those that affect density, affordability and zoning.

Building codes and zoning ordinances “can significantly influence development construction costs,” the partnership said, adding that time and required fees for permitting and plan reviews can lead to increased financing costs and delay the start of construction. Ensuring regulatory predictability, consistency and flexibility in the oversight process will lead to the private sector being more willing to invest in affordable housing, they argue.

Each of Pacific County’s four cities, and the county itself, have the goal of reviewing and amending development rules that unnecessarily add to housing costs or development time.

The goal of the partnership is to study and compare the county and four cities’ ordinances that affect housing, including zoning, permitting, short-term rentals, accessory dwelling units, development fees and constraints, and incentives for developers. Along with comparing the consistency and equivalency of the ordinances county-wide, the partnership will also compare them with non-local municipalities that are more far-reaching in their effort to create more housing — in particular, more affordable and “middle-income-friendly” housing.

The next step of this project is for the partnership to analyze which existing ordinances may be discouraging development and, in consultation and discussion with local municipal staff and policymakers, make suggestions for changes or amendments that could better encourage more affordable housing development.

Future projectsThere are several other projects on tap that the partnership is expected to tackle, although a timeline has not yet been established for their beginning and completion.

One project addresses recent “land swap” changes made to the state’s Growth Management Act, which adjust an urban growth area to include new, adjacent areas that are more appropriate for development while removing less desirable and equally sized existing areas. Each of Long Beach, Ilwaco, South Bend and Raymond, as well as Seaview, are expected to be examined for possible additions — and subsequent subtractions.

A Housing Needs Assessment, as well as an accompanying Land Capacity Analysis, are also being looked at. An LCA is a methodology conducted by counties and cities to determine the amount of vacant, partially used or otherwise underutilized lands — as well as the redevelopment potential of built properties — to accommodate growth. An LCA is used to determine if an existing urban growth area can accommodate 20 years of growth.

The Housing Needs Assessment is a study that is used to identify future housing needs that serve all segments of the community, and are required by cities and counties under the GMA as part of comprehensive plan updates. Each of the municipalities in Pacific County completed their most recent comprehensive plan updates prior to the covid-19 pandemic, “and are unreflective of the pandemic-linked surge in home prices and rents,” the partnership stated. The assessment will better provide insight in current housing availability and affordability.

Willapa Bay Ferry?

Perhaps the most eye-catching proposal is the completion of a “Willapa Bay Ferry” feasibility study, which would see a pedestrian and bike ferry connect the Port of Peninsula in Nahcotta with the Tokeland Marina, as well as possibly Bay Center or South Bend. The ferry would complete a round-the-county tourism trail, the partnership said, while adding that such kind of ferry has been “broadly supported” locally although no formal feasibility study has been completed to document its merits, risks or costs.

The development of a business plan for the ferry would need to be developed to detail breakeven scenarios, seasonal and year-round scheduling, an outline of operating costs, overhead — such as insurance, licensing and inspections — marketing and sales operations, and staff needs.

Examples of comparable tourist ferry operations should also be identified and researched for best practices and cautionary lessons, along with operating risks, liability concerns, and regulatory authorities such as the state and Army Corps that are expected to provide oversight of any such ferry operation.