Legislative Update, Pierce County Council

The Pierce County Council voted 5-1 in favor of passing an overdue update to their affordable housing incentive code on Tuesday afternoon.

“We applaud the hard work done by planning staff, the planning commission, and council members in delivering this update in its current form,” said Jason Gauthier, Habitat for Humanity’s Government Affairs Director. “While we need to work together with local government and building industry leaders to make a true impact on our current state of housing, we acknowledge this is important groundwork for the future.”

The legislation included revisions that are intended to spur on affordable housing development via alternative design standards, and impact and permit fee waivers. The update to the incentive code came from a series of recommendations in a report on the county’s affordable housing program. The report noted that, among other things, updates should be considered to clarify the incentive code, remove minimum unit thresholds, lower the minimum parking threshold for units within .5 miles of a transit stop, and eliminate the requirement to distribute no more than 11% of the moneys budget for the fee waiver program to any individual planning district.

To learn more about Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity’s legislative agenda, visit our Advocate page and/or join our Advocacy update list.