HomeMy WebLinkAbout110121cabs02 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WORKSHOP AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Mark McCauley, Interim County Administrator
FROM: Brent Alfred Butler, Director, Community Development
David Wayne Johnson, Interim Planning Manager, Community Development
DATE: November 1, 2021
SUBJECT: Affordable Housing and Homeless Workshop: Workplan Review
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
The Department of Community Development ("DCD") seeks the Board of County Commissioners
("BoCC") input on the proposed project scopes, timelines, and outreach plans to gather further
information regarding five (5) affordable housing and community development projects as set forth
below in this workshop. The intent of this workshop is to obtain clear direction based on input the
Planning Agency (Planning Commission and DCD)received and to outline pathways to incorporate the
public, implement comprehensive planning goals,and obtain technical review by subject matter experts.
On May 24, 2021, the BoCC discussed DCD's workplan in an agenda request entitled "Discussion of
Community Development's FY2021-2022 Long-Range Work Program and Potential Action Directing
Community Development to Initiate Unified Development Code Updates". In conclusion, the BoCC
directed the Department of Community Development to initiate code revisions for"Transient Housing"
and the "Legal Lot of Record" (see BoCC May 24, 2021 minutes).
ANALYSIS
DCD seeks BoCC input on five planning projects primarily related to affordable housing and
homeless/houseless. DCD acknowledges that many of the homeless have local ties, affiliations or roots
in the Jefferson County community and therefore may be considered houseless.
1) Lot of Record Code Revisions
2) Port Hadlock/Irondale Urban Growth Area Sub-Area Plan
3) Affordable Housing Study and Implementation Strategies
4) Transient Housing Code Revisions
5) Development Regulations for Temporary Homeless Facilities
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1) Lot of Record/ Subdivision Code Updates
BACKGROUND
In Jefferson County, many small lots were created through plats that were recorded or otherwise
acknowledged in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Plats generally are maps, or representations on
paper, of a piece of land subdivided into lots, with streets, alleys, etc., usually drawn to a scale.
Jefferson County's first subdivision regulations were adopted in 1971, as Ordinance Number 2.
Without the benefit of subdivision regulations that consider stormwater, road, school, flood and fire
impacts, these late 1800's and early 1900's plats may encourage development in floodways, steep
slopes or where transportation, stormwater and septic infrastructure is infeasible
With the recent uptick in the real estate market, the Department of Community Development (DCD)
and the Department of Environmental and Public Health (EPH) have received applications to develop
entire old plats at urban-level densities in areas outside the existing urban growth area overlay. For
example, DCD has a pending application to redevelop an old plat in the R-5 zone into approximately
70 lots. Under current zoning, the applicant would be entitled to develop four lots. DCD in recent
months has received several other similar proposals.
Jefferson County currently has no code mechanism concerning whether to recognize these plats as
legitimate land divisions. Over the last few decades, the county staff has administratively adapted to
respond to the need to combine lots in old pre-existing plats for development through a number of
different methods. There has been no legislative initiative,coupled with public participation,to examine
the extent of the problem or options for dealing with these small lots.
Many other counties, faced with similar situations have developed a code process which limits
development of old plats and substandard lots. Examples of jurisdictions with such legislation include
Skagit County, Kitsap County, King County, San Juan County, and Thurston County. The Washington
State Attorney General's Office has issued a number of opinions on the issue of recognition of old plats
which opine that counties may and sometimes are required to apply modern land use and zoning
requirements to these old plats.
DCD included the below-referenced overview and timeline in the May 24, 2021 BoCC agenda packet.
• Legal Lot of Record Code Revisions (Chapter 18.35 Jefferson County Code)
o Project Overview: Code revisions addressing a regulatory gap in the UDC relating to
nonconforming lots. The UDC's definition and treatment of"legal lots of record" is
ambiguous. County Departments, including DCD, Environmental Public Health, and
the Assessor's Office have struggled with how to determine if a lot is "legally created"
and/or which parcels are non-conforming legal lots of records. This code revision
would provide clear standards on which substandard lots are recognized as legal
nonconforming lots.
o Timeline: Summer 2021 —Project scoping, kickoff, initial research/data collection.
Fall/Winter 2021 —Development of pre-draft development regulations. Spring 2022—
draft development regulations.
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The above timeline assumed that DCD's management team would remain in place and that project
scoping, kickoff, and initial research/data collection would have be undertaken this past summer. This
did not occur because of staff transitions. In preparation for the November 22, 2021 Public Hearing,
DCD collaborated with Environmental Health, the Accessor's Office and the Prosecuting Attorney's
Office to draft a revised scope of work(SOW).
This revised SOW includes the following key components.
1. Communications Plan: DCD recommends a communication plan to update the public and
meet the Growth Management Act's goal of early and continuous public input. As part of a
communications plan, the County would expand the preliminary list of Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ), flowcharts illustrating the permitting processes, and create ways to stay
informed such as list serves. Frequently community members do not understand the terms
used, so a proactive step may be to share widely the definitions of terms such as: Subdivision,
Plat, and Lot. DCD will also provide information to the community on the process of
subdivision, the reasons we need to certify lots as buildable when below the base zoning
density, and how the law of boundary line adjustment affects these processes..
a. Team: Environmental Health, DCD, Prosecuting Attorney's Office and Accessor's
Office
b. Ongoing throughout the moratorium
2. Regulatory Approaches: Study old plats and the land use effects of different regulatory
approaches in the urban growth area overlay, resource lands, rural areas, and shoreline areas.
Analysis and literature review of regulatory approaches to development within critical areas
(geological hazards, frequently flooded, wetlands, stream and creeks, and critical aquifer
recharge areas) including shorelines that will protect health and the environment. Review of
possible regulatory approaches in different western Washington counties.
a. Team: Team: Environmental Health, DCD, Prosecuting Attorney's Office and
Accessor's Office, the Jefferson County community members including Planning
Commission
b. Timeline: Winter& Spring 2022
3. Participatory Planning& Code Drafting: Participatory planning as defined here involves
the systematic effort to envision Jefferson County's desired future as outlined in the
Comprehensive Plan and planning for that future, while involving and harnessing the specific
competencies and input of community residents, leaders, and stakeholders in the process.
Additional preliminary code drafting questions include whether the supply of small lots further
reduces housing and affordability by limiting supply and, if so, what measures may be
undertaken to reduce, minimize or eliminate that housing and affordability impacts.
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Should the county retain subject matter experts to evaluate the impact on affordability based on
various scenarios? Should the county allow regional variance within the county's planning
areas (see Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan Exhibit 1-17) or base the code revisions
solely on land use category or a combination of the two? Should the County accept area
specific public comment through the corresponding Commissioner Districts or some other
venue?
a. Team: Team: Environmental Health, DCD, Prosecuting Attorney's Office and
Accessor's Office, the Jefferson County community members including Planning
Commission
b. Timeline: Spring & Summer 2022
4. State Environmental PolicyAct (SEPA): This final stepinvolves review of impacts on the
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environment as more fully outlined in the Washington Administrative Code, Chapter 197-
11 and public engagement.
a. Team: Team: Environmental Health, DCD, Prosecuting Attorney's Office and
Accessor's Office, the Jefferson County community members including Planning
Commission
b. Timeline: Summer & Fall 2022
2) UGA Planning
In May 2021, BoCC accepted the below-referenced project overview to create a sub-area plan and
envisioned project scoping and kickoff in the summer 2021. Without adequate staffing, none of this
work was started. Additionally, after consulting with Public Works and meeting in September 2021
with community members who were involved in sewer planning, DCD recommends delaying
community outreach until the proposed Phase 1 sewer service area outreach is complete and DCD has
additional planning capacity. Additionally, DCD may limit the scope of this planning analysis to
evaluate how best to eliminate the potential that UGA Zoning in the Phase 1 sewer service area will
change conforming residential uses to nonconforming ones.
DCD included the below-referenced overview and timeline in the May 24, 2021 BoCC agenda packet.
• Port Hadlock/Irondale Urban Growth Area Sub-Area Plan
o Project Overview: Sub-area plan analyzing current and future conditions of the Port
Hadlock/Irondale Urban Growth Area with a focus on aligning development
regulations (zoning) with implementation of the Port Hadlock sewer project.
o Timeline: Summer 2021 —Project scoping, kickoff, initial research/data collection,
and draft public participation plan. Fall/Winter 2021 —Draft sub-area plan.
• Recommendation that the draft sub-area plan, including implementing actions
be included in the 2022 Docket.
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3) Affordable Housing Study and Implementation Strategies
In May 2021, DCD presented the BoCC a list of project deliverables and anticipated actions
designated to start in the Fall/Winter of 2021. DCD believes the project scope and timeline would be
feasible as outlined below:
• Affordable Housing Study and Implementation Strategies
o Project Overview: Holistic study analyzing potential DCD strategies and implantation
actions to address affordable housing in the County. The study will analyze: (1)
regulatory revisions (e.g., UDC revisions); (2)policy changes (e.g., code interpretations
or building policies); (3) incentive programs; and, (4) voluntary/innovative programs
(e.g., offering pre-reviewed building plans, pilot projects). Study will create an
implementation plan with strategies based upon efficacy and cost/time effectiveness.
o Timeline: Summer 2021 —Project scoping, kickoff, initial research/data collection,
and draft public participation plan. Fall/Winter 2021-2022. —Development of pre-draft
affordable housing study and implementation plan, and public participation. February
2022—Draft study.
■ Recommendation that implementation strategies from the study are selected for
inclusion on the 2022 Docket.
Review areas 1 and 2—Regulatory Revisions and Policy Changes
a. Streamline: Review development regulations for streamlining. This review could engage
focus groups of recent applicants and obtain a list of concerns or issues that are barriers to
development.
b. Barrier Removal: Review land use barriers for affordable housing, the types of housing
allowed in the county and analyzing the impact of changes to Planned Rural Residential
Development ("PRRD") requirements.
c. Accessory Dwelling Units: Consider options for attached and detached accessory dwelling
units and allowing both on one single-family lot in the urban growth area.
d. New Development Standards:
• Creating new standards for manufactured homes,
• reviewing and revising definitions pertaining to single family housing,
• creating an explicit allowance for accessory dwelling units in our planned rural
residential development(PRRD) regulations.
e. Increased Density: Density Bonus provisions pursuant to JCC 18.15.520 have been seldom
used in the past 20 years, and primarily for PRRD by larger developers. Should the County
reduce the minimum acreage for PRRDs that rely on old plats?
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Review Area 3 - Incentive Programs
New regulations pursuant to RCW 36.70A.540 (Affordable housing incentive programs—Low-
income housing units), amends the definition of low-income household to include households
earning up to 100 percent of the area median income.
a. Implement procedures in the County-wide Planning Policies, which specifically state:
"undeveloped land owned by the public entities will be inventoried and those that area
appropriately located should be considered for development of low-income housing.
Consideration of assembling these parcels for development by non-profit housing organization
or private developed should be encouraged." e.g., Seventh Haven.
b. Incentivize multifamily dwellings. Consider use of fee waivers for system development
charges, e.g., UGA Sewer hookup fee, opportunity zones, multifamily housing tax credits,
home rehabilitation loans for the development of accessory units.
c. Review tax exemption policy. Tax Exemptions that larger jurisdictions receive should be
lowered to allow smaller communities such as Jefferson County to enact said legislation.
(need to find proof in legislation)
d. Financial contributions. This program would provide funds for building accessory dwelling
units in consideration of making the unit available to low income households (earning up to
100 percent of AMI)
e. Stock plans for ADUs. Create stock plans, which are available for community members to use
when building detached accessory dwelling structures.
Review Area 3 —Voluntary/Innovative Programs
a. Review funding opportunities by state and federal sources, such as the State of Washington
Housing Trusts Fund to demonstrate leverage and increase the viability of local projects.
b. Consider establishing pathways for alternative ownership models such as housing trusts,
community house model, and co-housing units among others.
c. Create stock plans so that community members can obtain approved architectural plans for
detached accessory structures, e.g., cities of Kent, Seattle, and Clallam County.
4) Transient Housing Code Revisions:
On October 20, 2021, Planner Bryan Benjamin delivered a presentation to the Planning Commission
on the transient housing permits approved since 2006 adoption of these regulations by ordinance.
Planning is underway on the other areas identified in the project overview. A separate PowerPoint
presentation at the November 1, 2021 workshop will provide the BoCC an overview of these findings
and request input. In conclusion, DCD will be able to adhere to the below-outlined scheduled.
May 24, 2021 Project Overview and Timeline
• Transient Housing Code Revisions (Jefferson County Code 18.20.210)
o Project Overview: Code revisions to align Jefferson County's transient rental
regulations with current practices (e.g., Airbnb, VRBO, and Hipcamp). The County's
transient rental regulations lack modern standards, such as building requirements,
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and do not address the variety of current and future regulatory situations, such as
camping. The code revisions will also analyze whether or not the County should limit
future transient rentals.
o Timeline: Summer 2021 —Project scoping, kickoff, initial research/data collection,
and draft public participation plan. Fall/Winter 2021 —Development of pre-draft
development regulations and public participation. Spring 2022—draft development
regulations.
• Public participation to date: At the October 20, 2021 Planning Commission meeting, members
of the Planning Commission made the following comments:
• Concern about impact on tourist industry;
• Questions about whether the extra money is being used to develop additional units;
• Concerns about removal of workforce housing from the supply; and
• How do unpermitted transient accommodations impact DCD's analysis?
5) Development Regulations for Temporary Homeless Facilities
At the October 20, 2021 Planning Commission meeting, Planners Benjamin and Peterson delivered a
presentation on the existing regulations. On November 17, 2021, the Planning Commission will hold
a public hearing on the draft ordinance, attached.
Changes proposed in the draft ordinance include the following:
a) Amend the number of people allowed (cap);
b) Reduce setbacks, as established in the emergency ordinance (barriers to entry);
c) Considering alternative facilities such as parking lots, community facilities, and establishing
temporary provisions for single-family homeowners to accommodate some housing;
d) Renewable planning process (a limit on the time but with additional provisions for renewing;
e) Amend provisions for ex-offenders pursuant to Office of General Counsel Guidance on
Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of
Housing and Real Estate-Related transactions (see link,
https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/HUD OGCGUIDAPPFHASTANDCR.PDF).
f) Address fire safety and/or deviations from the Building/Fire Code.
FISCAL IMPACT/COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS:
DCD recognizes that none of these projects generate recoverable fees and would need to be fully
supported by the General Fund unless grant funding is identified and awarded.
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RECOMMENDATION:
Revise the timelines and scope of work associated with the five affordable housing and homeless
projects identified in this workshop to match available capacity.
REVIEWED BY:
Mark McCauley erim County Administrat Date
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