Latest news with #GrowthManagementAct
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New building tariffs could make it harder to buy a home in WA
This story was originally published on New electrical service could hike up costs for homeowners in Washington. According to a press release from the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is proposing 30% and 40% tariff increases for line extensions. This would include charges to new service lines and extensions, as well as extensions to plats. BIAW argued that these tariffs are too high and could impact the future of home building. 'These increases will be catastrophic to the home building industry in Washington state,' BIAW Legislative Director Andrea Smiley said. 'Already 80% of households in Washington can't afford a median-priced home. Every added cost prices more households out of homeownership.' BIAW noted that one of the best ways to build homes in Washington is directly on undeveloped plats. With PSE's proposal, this could mean that the new cost development would be $82.69, according to the BIAW. 'Washington residential home builders struggle to keep up with the demand for new and affordable housing in Washington,' Smiley said. 'Ever-rising costs of materials, permits, impact fees, and other regulatory costs only make it worse.' A report by the Washington Department of Commerce stated that Washington needs to build 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years in order to keep up with housing needs projections. In 2021, the Growth Management Act (GMA) found that in order to prioritize affordability, housing and utilities 'should cost no more than 30% of household income.' Yet, recent federal data finds that most Washington residents are currently paying more than that. 'Builders in PSE's service area cannot bear the cost of this nearly 40% increase,' Smiley said. 'Because they have to show a level of profit to qualify for financing to build new homes, they will be forced to pass this cost on home buyers, making new homes even less affordable.' PSE's request is currently being reviewed by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). BIAW is urging the UTC to 'consider the harm a 30% to 40% tariff increase for PSE-exclusive services will cause homeowners, home builders, and the public.' Those who want to submit public comments on the matter can do so by visiting this form.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spokane County to host placemaking public forums as part of comprehensive plan update
Feb. 7—Residents in some of the fastest growing and most wildfire-vulnerable areas of Spokane County will soon have the opportunity to weigh in on the county's plans for the future. The Spokane County commissioners and the county's planning department are in the midst of developing the county's 2026 comprehensive plan, which will dictate growth, development and conservation in the region for the next few decades. Washington's Growth Management Act requires county commissions to update their plans every seven years. Starting Tuesday, the county will explore what residents of the West Plains, Spokane Valley and northern Spokane County see for the future of their communities. The county is hosting three community discussions in the coming week that will provide an overview of the work to update the plan, and delve into public space-making and resilient neighborhoods. "This is an important and exciting time for Spokane County as we begin a community conversation about placemaking and the neighborhoods in which we want to live as we plan beyond the horizon, out to 2046," Spokane County Planning Director Scott Chesney said in a news release. The first session will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Enduris Professional Centre off U.S. Highway 2 at 1610 Technology Blvd. The discussion will focus on the greater West Plains, including Cheney, Medical Lake and Airway Heights. Another session will be held Tuesday evening starting at 5:30 p.m. , this one focused on northern areas of Spokane County east of State Route 395. The discussion will be held in the Mead High School Media Center at 302 W. Hastings Rd. Residents of Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Millwood will also have an opportunity to participate in the process. A public discussion will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, in the CenterPlace Regional Event Center at 2426 N Discovery Pl. All three sessions can be attended virtually. A link to attend remotely can be found on the county's webpage detailing the process of updating the plan. There will be more opportunities for community participation in the coming months, including discussions on land use, housing, utilities, transportation, climate resilience and economic development, according to a county news release.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Washington lawmakers look for ways to build more housing in rural areas
(Getty Images) Building more housing in rural parts of Washington is again top of mind for some state lawmakers. Bills to allow backyard cottages in new areas, to expand where developers can receive tax breaks for building apartments and to let property owners split their plots are all making their way through the legislative process. Similar proposals came up last year, but many failed, sparking criticism from Republicans who said the Democratic majority was not doing enough to expand rural housing. This year, bipartisan support and early public hearings could signal an opening for getting the proposals across the finish line before the legislative session ends in April. One bill from Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, would allow counties to approve detached accessory dwelling units, like backyard cottages or mother-in-law suites, in areas outside of cities. The proposal is cosponsored by House Housing Chair Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds. Under the bill, owners could have one additional detached unit on their property. It must use the same driveway and sewage system as the primary home. Water usage must be metered and cannot exceed the limits under current law when combined with the usage of the main property. The detached units could not be bigger than 1,296 square feet, excluding garages, porches and unfinished basements. The proposal would also require counties to penalize those who build these units without proper permitting and to keep track of all the units built outside of their urban areas. A similar idea last year got pushback from Democrats and groups like Futurewise, who warned of suburban sprawl in areas that lack transit, public sewer systems, firefighting services and other resources. Supporters of the bill reject that argument. 'This is not about destroying the environment. This is not about blowing up the GMA,' Low said, referring to the state's Growth Management Act, which is designed to concentrate development in urban areas and to preserve open space, among other goals. 'This is truly about having more affordable housing options for our young people, for our seniors.' Senate Housing Committee Chair Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, said there will be a similar bill in the Senate and that supporters will continue to work on concerns around sprawl. Low's proposal will receive a public hearing in the House Housing Committee on Monday. Another proposal that has support this year would allow property owners to split their lots into smaller parcels. The lot-splitting bill has passed the House multiple times in recent years but has yet to clear the Senate. Sponsor Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, is hopeful this is the year. He told the House Housing Committee last week that there has been a lot of work done since the last session to address opponents' concerns, particularly when it comes to ensuring that the lots are developable after they are redesigned. The bill would prevent cities from denying applications to split lots into two. Both lots must be at least 1,000 square feet and must follow local zoning laws. The split could not result in the demolition of any existing housing that has rent restrictions. 'We've worked on a lot of policy with regards to increasing supply and the ability to build within the confines of an urban growth area,' Barkis said. 'This is a bill that is integral and important to that process.' Bateman said the bill would be particularly helpful in increasing homeownership opportunities for duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes. Being able to split those lots could bring down the costs significantly for people who want to own a unit in those buildings, she said. 'This is the third year this bill is introduced, and this is going to be the year that we're going to pass it,' she said. The proposal received a committee hearing in the House during the first week of the session. It had support from builders, realtors and housing developers who said it was essential to increasing the number of homes in many areas. It is scheduled for a committee vote on Monday. There's also a bill to expand tax breaks developers get for building multi-family housing. Washington's Multi-Family Housing Property Tax Exemption exempts developers from paying taxes on the construction, conversion or rehabilitation of residential property for eight years. The exemption can be extended to 12 years, if at least 20% of the units are affordable. Currently, only five of the state's more heavily populated counties are allowed to offer the exemption. A proposal from Low would expand the exemption to all counties that complete comprehensive plans under the Growth Management Act. That would include 28 counties. In a public hearing last week, the idea drew support from counties and developers who said the exemption could help get more housing up quickly. 'This is a tool that works,' said Anthony Hemstad, who represented Washington Housing Development, LLC. 'If you pass this, it will open areas and more housing truly will be built.' Bryce Yadon at Futurewise said the organization supports the reasoning behind the bill but had concerns about development in parts of the state that lack infrastructure like roads and transit. 'We don't want to incentivize the development of more areas that don't have those amenities if we can,' Yadon said.
