HomeMy WebLinkAboutOlympic Housing Trust - 080723 p Co!�r;���ss Board of County Commissioners
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Q94i). 7 ,0 o 1820 Jefferson Street
�o� PO Box 1220
Port Townsend, WA 98368
'ISNING.S° Kate Dean,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3
August 7, 2023
To Whom it May Concern,
The Olympic Housing Trust is Jefferson County's only community land trust. We support their first
project for affordable workforce housing in Jefferson County, and to this end have seen fit to allocate
$80,000 in our final ARPA funding towards their Dundee Hill project. Our staff, as well, is prepared to
support future grants that require sponsorship through the County government, such as CHIP, or
CDBG.
The housing crisis is impacting workforce housing in a manner difficult to address in the public
sphere, and we are encouraged by the community land trust model, and their specific project on
Dundee Hill. With most public funds directed to 60% and below of AMI, it is doubly critical to find
ways to support workforce housing. The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners believe that
Olympic Housing Trust is a natural candidate for future funding from the county as a local non-profit
housing provider.
This letter is to support Olympic Housing Trust's development of that project as they focus on
workforce housing in Jefferson County. We wish them success and hope to see them able to develop
these five units of permanently affordable workforce housing. Our social fabric depends on the
preservation and development of housing on all rungs of the housing continuum and supporting
community land trusts is an important element in that housing course correction.
Sincerely,
On Behalf of Jefferson County Commissioners
Greg Brotherton, Chair
District 3
Phone(360) 385-9100 Fax(360) 385-9382 jeffbocc@cojefferson.wa.us