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The Centralia City Council took a first look last week at new potential ordinances updating city zoning and parking requirements for permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and emergency shelters.
The ordinances were brought to the council by an ad-hoc housing subcommittee formed in response to passage of state law earlier this year. House Bill 1220 allows permanent supportive housing and transitional housing to be built in any zone with hotels, which for Centralia includes commercial zones.
Members of the housing subcommittee, made up of city councilors Rebecca Staebler, Cameron McGee and Kelly Smith Johnston, have voiced support for continuing to examine zoning requirements in order to benefit housing inventory and developers in the future.
The effort marks a small step in addressing the city’s housing shortage specifically for the most impoverished and vulnerable in the community.
On Friday, Brett Mitchell, executive director with Centralia-based Reliable Enterprises, said the new law from the state would allow the organization to continue work on their phase two project to construct a two-story permanent supportive housing development on Harrison Avenue that would house 29 houseless families.
The project had since stalled after the Centralia City Council rejected a request earlier this year to give the developer a parking variance lower than the two parking spaces it would have been required to construct per unit. New state law, and by extension new city code, will require permanent supportive housing developers to construct 1.5 spaces per unit.
If passed following the council’s second reading of the ordinances, Mitchell said it would bring about a second wind and would be good news for the project, which would be able to move forward.
“Kudos to them for doing that,” Mitchell said of the councilors, who’ve been steeped in learning about housing and zoning requirements. “That’s exactly how it should work and I’m pretty happy with how they’ve come forward to understanding, with regards to our project.”
The eased parking spaces requirement also applies to transitional housing. Emergency housing, shelters and homeless housing also saw an easing of parking requirements. According to city documents, emergency housing or homeless housing with six or fewer occupants would require two parking stalls per unit. Any homeless housing structures with seven or more occupants, or all emergency shelters, would require 1.5 spaces per unit, or ½ spaces per 1,000 square feet, whichever is more, as well as one space for each employee.
In addition to the parking requirements, other housing subcommittee ordinances also codify “emergency shelters” and permit construction of emergency, transitional and supportive housing in industrial and commercial zones, per state law.
Emil Pierson, Centralia’s community development director, said while these ordinances mark a big change for how cities have traditionally approached zoning, it’s not expected to cause a chain reaction or an increase in housing constructed in those zones.
“You don’t want to create barriers to affordable housing and, understanding where the state was coming through when they passed HB 1220, the ultimate goal was that a lot of these (cities) didn’t want these facilities in their communities,” he said. “I think the ultimate goal is to make sure you have different types of housing throughout the board in the community and throughout the state.”
Pierson compared different housing types to shoes: Most people have different shoes that they use for different projects or activities. Not all housing is alike, either in affordability and mission — just like shoes.
“You don’t use your Sunday best shoes to go play basketball,” Pierson said. “You want to provide that full gamut throughout your community and I think that’s what we’re trying to get to, with the least amount of pain as possible.”
Permanent supportive housing, and other similar service-oriented housing options, are “not like regular apartments,” Pierson said, which would have an impact on commercial land availability if they were permitted construction there.
Centralia, like many mid-sized cities throughout the state, will be going through some growing pains as it looks to address its housing shortage. Pierson applauded the housing subcommittee for taking a hard look at HB 1220 and its requirements. The subcommittee could also work in tandem to find housing solutions once the city’s in-depth housing study is complete in the summer 2023.
“We really need to look at a cohesive and strategic approach to housing,” said Smith Johnston, who’s convening a countywide housing summit next month alongside other electeds. “Clearly, there’s activity happening. I think we need to be thoughtful on where we add density.”
This year alone, the city has approved about 160 planned unit developments, Smith Johnston said. That’s a large increase from just the 128 the city approved the 12 years prior, 2008 and 2020.
With growth incoming, Smith Johnston sees subcommittee work as the proper avenue, away from council meetings, to have staff debrief councilors and develop a proper understanding of what the problems are. It could also develop strategies to figure out how to incentivize developers, too.
“A subcommittee gives you that give-and-take and gives you the time to really dig in, ask questions and get it really clear,” she said, adding later: “I think the subcommittee could begin to work on that overall picture.”
At last week’s city council meeting, Staebler was one of two councilors at odds with a developer looking to bring 27 townhome-style rentals to a new development on the corner of First Street and Euclid Way. Neighbors had previously voiced concern about the impact of the area, and Staebler wanted the developer and neighbors to find a more congenial middle ground.
“I think we’re trying to do multiple things at once. We want to accommodate and attract people here who need housing, we want to make sure we have opportunities for developers who will provide that opportunity, and at the same time figuring out how we want to grow,” she said.
“I don’t want to do something that meets a need but may not be appropriate for this area.”
She added that “looking at the big picture is sometimes more difficult, but I think it’s critical that we do it.”
