HomeMy WebLinkAboutDCD Building Stock PlansJEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of Commissioners
Mark McCauley, County Administrator
FROM: Brent A. Butler, AICP, Director of Community Development
Matt Sircely, Vice Chair, Planning Commission
DATE: May 8, 2023
RE: Stock Plans
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
The purpose of this agenda request is to update the Board of County Commissioners ("BoCC")
on one of the three initiatives underway to develop stock plans. Recognizing that the
Department of Community Development ("DCD") is at a critical review phase with final
submission of stock plans due Monday, May 15, 2023, we propose to update the BoCC to
receive further guidance.
BACKGROUND:
Stock plans typically are residential or commercial plans designed by a Washington State
licensed design professional ("design professional") such as an architect, professional
engineer, land surveyor, or landscape architect, who is licensed or authorized by law to
practice such profession (see Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 51.24.035). A municipality
may accept plans from designers who are not licensed; however, these professionals would not
benefit from the immunity afforded by RCW 51.24.035. As an alternative, the BoCC may
require that unlicensed submitters have an insurance policy in place to indemnify against
design errors and omissions in those instances that RCW 51.24.035 fails to provide immunity.
For designs to become `stock plans,' meaning used as a design for more than one site, the
applicant must pay the established stock plan fee that recovers archiving costs and other
reviews consistent with the state's reasonable fee recovery requirements in RCW 82.02.020.
After payment and submittal of the building application, the plans examiner reviews and
approves the plan set and any variations thereof. After use on the first site, the municipality
passes the savings on to customers on future sites. For stock plans, the fees not only recover
costs for site specific review and inspections based on the building's value but also other costs
related to the design's reuse. Importantly, the number of inspections which applicants pay for
may vary. Plan review typically occurs after the applicant pays the designer (referencing either
licensed and unlicensed designers) to develop the plans. To develop `affordable housing'
stock plans, the county or another party must pay for the plan review in advance and collect
the inspection fees from the applicant.
ANALYSIS:
In May 2021, the BoCC identified "stock plans" as an innovative approach warranting further
consideration. On July 11, 2022, the Department of Community Development's agenda
request to the BoCC listed the development of `affordable housing' stock plans as one of the
voluntary/innovative programs that is currently underway, as more fully set forth below.
Stock Plan Subcommittee of the Planning Commission
The Jefferson County Planning Commission established a Stock Plan Subcommittee consisting
of Commissioners Coker, Sircely, and Alen to assist in their review and drafting of
recommendations. With two Planning Commissioners conferred graduate degrees in
architecture on the subcommittee, namely Commissioners Arlene Alen and Kevin Coker, and
a third who is a housing advocate, the subcommittee selected four ADU Universe designs from
https:Haduniverse-seattlecitygis.hub.arc isg com/, a City of Seattle call for projects supported
by the University of Washington. The selected plans were deemed lower cost to construct,
accessible or do it yourself (DIY) ready. As envisioned, these plans could be used either as an
ADU or, alternatively, a primary home. Unfortunately, Commissioner Alen resigned from the
planning commission to accept a new position and Kevin Coker recused himself from the
subcommittee to enable his own submission of plans.
BoCC Prior Guidance
On August 8, 2022, DCD submitted four plans to the BoCC for consideration of plan review
funding. At the time, DCD explained that any plans slated for plan review as `stock plans'
would sunset upon enforcement of the new building code cycle, July 1, 2023. With this
information and knowledge that a parallel effort to obtain locally drafted plans was underway
by Housing Solutions Network ("HSN"), the BoCC recommended that DCD return with plans
that have specific users identified. To accomplish this, DCD prepared a press release (see
attached). This press release started with a 90-day call for projects followed by the posting of
the plans on the County website so that community members could select plans that interest
them.
Stock Plan Review by the Community
The date for submittals is May 15, 2023 whereupon the plans will be posted online for
community members to select those that they would be interested in purchasing for use. Using
the BoCC's August 8, 2023 guidance as a preliminary next step, DCD issued a press release
stating that the department would post the plans received on its website for comment after the
call for projects was over. We sought to determine if there was community interest in light of
the BoCC's direction.
4
After the submissions and accompanying questions arrived earlier this week, DCD posted
responses online below.
The webpage link is: https://www.co.iefferson.wa.us/1645/Stock-Plan-Subcommittee
In the event that there were no submissions, DCD planned to move ahead with posting the four
plans identified below through the City of Seattle's call for projects, as explained below. This
is no longer relevant, as we have received two submittals and expect to receive several more
before the close of the call for projects. For this reason, DCD decided to return to the BoCC
with some fundamental questions, which are listed below.
1) Should we post the locally submitted plans on the county's webpage along with the
Subcommittee's selection (see the four plans selected in the subsequent pages)?
2) Is there a minimum number of plans that we should consider as evidence that we have
sufficiently advertised to move ahead with posting the submittals online from May 17th
to May 31 st
3) Should we extend the call from 90 to 120 days? This means that the approved plans
will be available after the official start of the new three-year code cycle.
Artisans Group - good universal access, costs are hourly
Seattle DADU interior — accessible one -bedroom DADU
with vaulted ceilings (gable roof option)
• ___. ___'. artisans
Seattle DADU — accessible Floor plan
Shape Arch plan - the base of the Accessory Dwelling Unit is a garage
T?1 .
L!T!I.CrR - GARWA !nFLOM
Urban Cottage — modular, flexible design, SIP construction with a range of services, and
assembly designs
13NMpG
----------------
II I __ I
PLAN -ONE BEDROOM
jl=1 i-�n�- rn ar wF.rr am�.:a
MAN
L,
Yes Architecture — multi split level design on small footprint.
��..4741 MI
IIIIIII� III■■■ ■i■ii ■■■1
FISCAL IMPACT
DCD anticipates that the cost of plan review for each plan set and the variations thereof will
need to be paid for in advance and that this cost could be substantial as the number of plans
reviewed increase. Community Development charges 65% of the base building fee as outlined
in the International Code Council ("ICC") building journal (see,
https•//www iccsafe org/products-and-services/i-codes/code-development-process/building-
valuation-data/)
DCD envisions charging an additional 35% of the building base fee to recover costs for
administrative storage of the stock plans; this does NOT include site specific land use, public
works and environmental health reviews. This procedure would be consistent with neighboring
jurisdictions. Each subsequent submittal will be charged 20% of the building base fee, which
represents a 45% savings. The 20% building base fee recovers costs associated with site
specific plan review for foundations, fire and egress but would not cover the costs for any land
use, public works and environmental health reviews.
RECOMMENDATION:
After reviewing this agenda request and hearing public comment, provide additional guidance
to DCD.
REVI D BY:
A/Z
"Mark McCau , County Administrator Date
5
Attachment 1 — Press Release
For additional information contact: alovett@co.jefferson.wa.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jefferson County solicits residential housing plans prepared by licensed professionals
The Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) prioritized the development of preapproved plans
commonly referred to as stock plans to reduce residential housing construction costs and shorten
permitting times. To support this priority, the Jefferson County Planning Commission voted to
establish a Stock Plan Subcommittee to assist the Department of Community Development (DCD) in
selecting designs that accommodate community needs.
Our three -step approach to the development of stock plans envisions that you - submitters, licensed
design professionals, will provide plans as a first step by the May 15, 2023 deadline. These could be
plans already created by you for which you have the reproductive rights or newly created plans. As
step two, a joint city/county selection committee will review these plans in June, after posting them
online for public comment from May 17 to May 31. If there are no submittals, staff may consider
posting plans prepared for other communities, as more fully set forth in the August 8, 2022 packet
(https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/1645/Stock-Plan-Subcommittee) —this, however, is an opportunity
for locally designed plans. The goal here is two -fold: it implements the BoCC's August 8, 2022 request
that there be defined interest prior to allocating funding for plan review; it will also assist the
reviewers to understand your concerns and interests. Step three involves plan review using the soon
to be adopted international codes. BoCC Chair, Greg Brotherton urges design professionals to
participate, citing the need and local experience. " This is a real opportunity to develop local housing
designs that make housing and indeed home ownership more accessible to our working population. I
see this work as raising the floor on our social contract and hope that we can produce low-cost house
plans that are informed by local experiences and values and create accessible designs that are
practical and livable.
What type of plans should be submitted?
DCD requests universal designs to accommodate those community members who are 8 years of age
or younger, 80 or older and persons with disabilities largely because single family housing is not
required to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA) accessibility requirements. DCD also
requests easier to build and less costly designs out of recognition of the need for low- and moderate -
income households to build their own homes by furnishing their own labor (sweat -equity. In
partnership with the City of Port Townsend, Jefferson County is eager for three types of plans that do
not exceed the following square foot thresholds; 1) 1,250 for Jefferson County, 2) 800 square feet for
the City of Port Townsend, 3) One plan set that exceeds 1,250 to accommodate a Boarding or Lodging
house/structures in common ownership design or alternatively less than 500 square feet to reduce
the overall project cost and scope. All submitters should be prepared to submit only a plan set at this
step but also be willing to prepare engineered plans, and be available at an hourly rate for design
professional support.
Co
The target audience for these plans are three -fold:
• For community members who own land and others looking to purchase land but cannot
currently afford the full costs of construction, design, and planning.
• For those who might not be able to own a home without an opportunity to build it
themselves.
For persons with disabilities, who can rely upon a greater community of friends and families
to contribute sweat equity to construct their home.
Submitters should:
• Have all appropriate business licenses required by state and local governments
• Ensure designs meet 2021 IBC/IRC/WSEC and JCC
• All Architects, Designers, and licensed professionals shall have proof of Errors and Omissions
Insurance
• Grant DCD the right to reproduce the plan set, and to list the preparer as an ongoing resource
based on an hourly rate
• In the subject line, please include the words "stock plan".
Designs are encouraged to include elements that improve the long-term benefits of their submittals.
• Consider more sustainable, durable products, materials, and design elements; e.g., Low
Impact Design for stormwater such as water cistern incorporation and green roofs
• Consider modularized layouts
• Utilize the city's "grow" homes concept, incremental building
• Universal Access Design for inclusive spaces: 36" to 42" doors, low threshold entry, roll -in
shower, grab bar framing
• Consider ADU size limitations in Jefferson County 1,250 sq. ft. heated area
• Increased efficiencies in component thermal performance -improved floor, wall, window, and
roof systems
• Firewise practices -eliminate roof venting through Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) system, non-
flammable siding, soffit, roofing etc.
• Water conservation -rainwater cistern
• Others -please identify other approached utilized to achieve similar results
The County Board of Commissioners and DCD are looking forward to robust qualified submittals and
also encourages schools with design departments to take on this project as good outreach and
practical experience for students.
Submit to: alovett@co.jefferson.wa.us
Submit by: May 15, 2023
Questions about submittals should be directed to: alovett@co.jefferson.wa.us
7