Vancouver Reporter

Clark County is hosting a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 23 to present the first batch of proposed housing code amendments related to middle housing and smaller single-family strategies from the county’s Housing Options Study and Action Plan. Project staff will provide a presentation on the proposed code amendments, listen to feedback, and answer questions.

The meeting will be held in a hybrid format. Anyone interested can join in person in the sixth-floor hearing room of the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin St. or virtually via Webex.

The proposed code amendments, and information on how to join and participate in the meeting can be found on the project’s webpage at www.clark.wa.gov/housingoptions. The meeting recording will be posted to that page the next day.

“Like other communities in the region, the unincorporated portion of the Vancouver Urban Growth Area (VUGA) is facing increasing housing prices that outpace household incomes,” said Jacqui Kamp, Program Manager. “These code amendments will help provide additional flexible opportunities for creation of more affordable alternative housing choices.”

The Clark County Council approved the Housing Options Study and Action Plan (HOSAP) in May of 2022 and directed staff to begin working on implementing strategies in the plan. The purpose of the plan is to encourage development of housing that is affordable to a variety of household incomes through the removal of regulatory barriers and/or implementation of other initiatives within the unincorporated Vancouver Urban Growth Area. The neighborhoods in this area include Hazel Dell, Salmon Creek, Felida, Pleasant Highlands, Minnehaha and Orchards. These neighborhoods have urban services that could support diverse housing types, like duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, condominiums, and small-scale apartments, compared to the rural unincorporated areas of the county.

Following the public meeting, project staff will present to the county’s Planning Commission at upcoming work sessions on April 6 and May 4, in preparation for a hearing on May 18, 2023. The Planning Commission will provide a recommendation to County Council. A council hearing is tentatively scheduled for this summer.

You can learn more about the implementation of the Housing Options Study and Action Plan on the project webpage, www.clark.wa.gov/housingoptions.

Original source can be found here.