With the affordable housing crisis showing no signs of ending nationwide, City of Centralia staff are working to try to improve the situation in the city by reviewing and approving developers' housing projects within Centralia.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, Centralia Community Development Director Emil Pierson gave the Centralia City Council an update looking back at the past few years and showing how many housing units were proposed and built or are currently under construction.
Since 2021, a total of 709 new housing units have been proposed — including 226 single-family housing (SFH) lots, 123 townhomes, 58 duplexes, six triplexes, 44 fourplexes, 160 multi-family developments, 29 manufactured homes, 57 accessory dwelling units (ADU) and six permanent supportive housing (PSH) units.
Of those 709 proposed units, 306 have either been built or are currently under construction so far.
This includes 106 SFH lots, 34 townhomes, two twinhomes, 114 multi-family developments, 15 ADUs, 12 transitional housing units and 23 PSH units.
An additional 47 college housing units were also built at Centralia College.
“We’re really seeing that uptick. We are seeing that growth, that momentum, start within our city,” Pierson said. “And this is what we’re seeing, is these different types (of housing).”
The housing units were a mix of units both for rent and sale.
Pierson also warned the council of a number of proposed Washington state House and Senate bills that could affect housing development if signed into law.
The bills he touched on included House Bill 1029, HB 1096, HB 1135, HB 1160, HB 1164, HB 1175, HB 1183, HB 1195, HB 1212, HB 1235, HB 1254, HB 1299, HB 1403, HB 1443 and HB 1576, along with Senate Bill 5148, SB 5173, SB 5184, SB 5197, SB 5332, SB 5558 and SB 5559.
Pierson welcomed one of the bills, SB 5173 specifically, which, if approved, would extend the due date for Centralia’s Comprehensive Plan to be submitted from this June to this December.
While she welcomed the growth and new housing developments, Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston said she also was working to ensure the small town feel of Centralia was preserved for both longtime residents and those moving to the city.
“We want to celebrate this, but also want to acknowledge that there’s some stress generated when seeing this sort of growth happening in your town,” Smith Johnston said. “And we’re working to address those concerns as well.”
City staff’s work to address Centralia’s housing issues began in 2021 with the city’s Housing Assessment and Action Plan to determine where the gaps in housing were within the city and how to fill them.
For more information, visit the city’s website at https://www.cityofcentralia.com/510/Housing-Assessment-and-Action-Plan.
To look up a specific state House or Senate bill, visit the state Legislature’s website at https://leg.wa.gov/bills-meetings-and-session/bills/.
