PORT TOWNSEND— A lack of affordable housing and available rentals is the city’s most important immediate issue, according to the four candidates running in this year’s contested races for the City Council.
“Affordable housing and living-wage jobs go hand in hand,” said David Faber, who is running against Travis Keena for the Position 7 slot in the Nov. 3 general election.
“You can’t have affordable housing if people can’t make a living, and there are very few options for people who are working in day-to-day jobs in Port Townsend,” he added.
Faber, 32, and Keena, 39 — along with Position 6 candidates Paul Rice, 32, and Amy Smith, 33 — appeared before about 70 people at a meeting of the Port Townsend Rotary Club on Tuesday.
Keena said he is concerned about all housing, affordable or not.
“It has been very difficult for people who are moving here to find a place to live,” he said.
“I think there might need to be some loosening of codes in the near future allowing for houses to actually get built in a timely and cost-effective manner.”
Smith said she agreed with Faber, adding that housing and jobs are one issue, while Rice said he advocated the creation of a public development authority to focus on affordable housing.
All candidates said the affordable housing issue is linked to the practice of short-term, high-priced rentals that take properties off the long-term rental market.
Short-term rentals
“There are people who use rentals as a way to pay their mortgage and whatever their daily bills are,” Faber said.
“At the same time, we cannot be incentivizing vacation rentals when there is such an incredible housing deficit.”
Faber said he favored more restrictions on vacation rentals “because people need places to live year-round.”
Keena said a high number of vacation rentals does more than only forcing up prices.
“If people are renting out houses to people who don’t live here, you end up with empty houses in neighborhood and lack of community feeling because the houses become businesses rather than becoming a home,” he said.
“When it comes to people who might have a room available in their homes and renting them out to pay the mortgage, I’m all for it.”
Rice said the city should discourage short-term rentals, specifically mentioning accessory dwelling units (ADUs), sometimes called mother-in-law apartments.
“If there is legislation that allows ADUs as vacation rentals, I will not be for that at all,” Rice said.
“I think we need to encourage people who have built ADUs to rent them to the general public and not turn them into short-term vacation rentals.
“That may be more lucrative, but it’s not good for Port Townsend.”
Smith said she had “an initial knee-jerk reaction” against vacation rentals based on so many people her age who are looking for housing.
“It is important to recognize that it’s OK to have your opinion change after you research an issue,” she said.
“I think that it needed to be looked at super carefully, with all of the legislation in one place, and all of the information needs to be compiled.
The candidates will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, which was mailed to voters Oct. 14.
Anyone who has not received their ballot should contact Elections Supervisor Betty Johnson at 360-385-9117.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
