Equitable Housing Site Barriers and Solutions

   

Background

Multifamily rental housing is in short supply—regional vacancy rates are well below 5 percent and rents are rising more quickly than the national average. Washington County’s 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan estimated an affordable housing gap of 14,000 to 23,000 units for residents at or below 50 percent of median family income (roughly $36,750 for a family of four). With one out of four County households earning less than $35,000 a year, the current supply of regulated affordable housing falls short of the need.

The primary purpose of this project is to clearly identify regulatory and code requirements that negatively impact development feasibility and/or increase development costs for projects that include residential uses, with a focus on encouraging equitable housing development in Washington County. The County has proactively made land available for more affordable housing developments, increased staff capacity to address housing issues, and is working to identify ways to amend regulations and processes to encourage and support equitable and affordable housing development.

With funding from the Metro Equitable Housing Grant, the County drill down to a site-specific level of analysis of equitable housing barriers and solutions, specifically:

• Further evaluate affordable housing opportunities in the Cedar Mill Town Center;
• Further evaluate specific affordable housing opportunities in the Aloha Town Center area;
• Evaluate one to three additional affordable housing opportunity sites in transit-supported areas.

 

Study Area

The general area for this project is the unincorporated urban area of Washington County. However, previous planning work has identified focus areas within unincorporated Washington County that may be more suitable locations housing, particularly housing affordable to lower-income households. These Opportunity Areas are identified in the Washington County Affordable Housing Development Strategy, which includes the Cedar Mill Town Center, the Aloha Tomorrow project study area, and the Washington Square Regional Center.