PORT TOWNSEND — A potential affordable housing project was discussed during a housing forum that drew 100 people last week.
Panel members talked about developing more affordable housing in East Jefferson County at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall on Thursday night.
Panel member Judy Surber, a Port Townsend city planner, mentioned that three small city-owned plots that are expected to be declared surplus could be used to build affordable housing.
Homeward Bound’s David Rymph, for his part, said money is available to build affordable housing if adequate locations can be found.
“The city can provide the land, Homeward Bound can get us the materials, and Habitat can provide the volunteer labor,” said Jamie Maciejewski, director of Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County.
“So we have everything we need right here to build some new affordable units,” she added.
Need for partnerships
Each panelist discussed goals toward creating more affordable housing, and all stressed the need for a variety of agencies to work together and pool resources.
Some partnerships are already in place, while others — such as the surplus-land possibility — were developed on the spot.
The Port Townsend City Council is expected to consider declaring the parcels surplus at its meeting Monday, April 18, at City Hall, 540 Water St. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m.
One parcel is near the corner of Discovery Road and Holcomb Street, another is near Grace Lutheran Church, and a third is at the corner of Beech and P streets.
One of the lots is only 6,000 square feet.
“We would like to develop these parcels with affordable parcels if it pencils out,” Maciejewski said.
“But a lot of people in town seem uncomfortable with increased density in some of these areas.”
Not affordable
Jefferson County has the fourth least-affordable housing in the state for rentals and bounces between second and third least-affordable for purchase, Maciejewski has said.
As real estate prices fall, so do opportunities for jobs paying a living wage, said Jefferson County Department of Community Development Director Al Scalf, a panel member.
“The affordability gap between home cost and household income continues to widen,” he said.
All panelists agreed that the way to ease the problem is through the cooperation of all agencies concerned in the planning and building of affordable dwelling units.
“Everyone in this town knows each other on a first-name basis, so we should be able to make this happen,” said Port Townsend City Councilwoman Kris Nelson, another member of the panel.
Said Peninsula Housing Authority Director Pam Tietz of cooperative projects: “It doesn’t matter who owns what; it only matters whether it gets done.”
Paul Purcell of the Beacon Development Group also served on the panel.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
