HomeMy WebLinkAbout020725 email - THOWs as primary residence in Port TownsendALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Hello Commissioner Heather Dudley-Nollette,
I thought you would like to see a copy of the e-mail I sent to the Port Townsend Planning Commissioners. I have not yet received a response.
Congratulations on your recent election to the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners.
Best wishes,
Ron Good
(360) 774-2227 cell, text OK
Begin forwarded message:
From: Ron Good <ronportergood@gmail.com>
Date: January 22, 2025 at 8:07:06 PM MST
To: PTPC@cityofpt.us
Subject: THOW as a primary residence
Rick Jahnke, Chair
Samantha Bair Jones, Vice-Chair
Viki Sonntag
Lois Stanford
Robert Doyle
Andreas Andredis
Stephen Mader
Dear Commissioners:
Since 2016, my partner and I have owned a 6,500 sf R2-zoned lot on P Street in Port Townsend. Unfortunately, because of the high costs of housing construction, we have been unable
to move forward with placing a home on our property.
We have been closely following the recent changes in the City code that now allow as many as two THOWs to be placed on properties like ours so long as there is an existing permitted
home on a foundation on the property.
With these code changes, the City is allowing people to live in a THOW as their permanent residence, so long as all of the relevant health, safety, and welfare City code requirements
are met.
We are interested in living in a THOW ourselves as our primary residence. Of course, we are willing to go through any required permitting process in order to make that happen as well
as pay appropriate property taxes to provide an adequate tax base for the city.
Consequently, we are wondering why the City requires the existence of a permitted non-THOW home on the property before a THOW is allowed? This requirement does not seem to relate
to concerns over the health, safety, and welfare of the residents since the recent code changes allow people to live in THOWs placed as ADUs year round.
With the extreme lack of affordable housing solutions available across the state, but especially in Port Townsend, what is the reasoning behind keeping property owners, such as ourselves,
from being permitted to make a THOW our primary residence? We have not been able to get a direct answer to this question. Can you please help us understand the specific reason why
a THOW is safe for an ADU, but not acceptable as a primary residence?
In one of his first official acts, Governor Bob Ferguson issued an executive order regarding making housing more affordable and said, "We must make it easier, faster, and less expensive
to build housing of all kinds." Is it not time for Port Townsend to truly look at "all" kinds of housing as possible primary homes? What can be done to allow THOWs to be built not
just as ADUs, but as primary residences?
I look forward to hearing from you in the near future, and working with you in order to make our dream of living in a home on our property in Port Townsend come true.
Sincerely,
Ron Good
(360) 774-2227 cell, text OK