Amid the affordable housing crisis, the Centralia City Council unanimously approved the adoption of the Centralia Housing Assessment and Action Plan (CHAAP) at its Tuesday night meeting.
The CHAAP is a comprehensive plan the city developed in partnership with BERK Consulting. Centralia Community Development Director Emil Pierson said Tuesday the city got a $75,000 Washington state Department of Commerce grant to create the plan.
“These grants are intended to increase the housing options in Washington communities, and the grant requires the city to adopt this housing plan by the end of June,” Pierson said.
Dawn Couch, of BERK Consulting, was on hand to explain the process of creating the plan as well as the draft recommendations the plan proposed. The majority of the CHAAP’s recommendations revolve around amending existing zoning and housing construction requirement codes.
“By accepting the plan, it does not enact any of the recommendations,” Couch said.
BERK’s analysis showed several challenges Centralia currently faces including — like much of the nation — an undersupply of housing, with close to half of Centralians renting their homes, Couch said. Flooding risk was another challenge as it limits where new housing can be developed.
To view the CHAAP, its drafts and all the research utilized in its creation, visit https://www.cityofcentralia.com/510/Housing-Assessment-and-Action-Plan.
What The CHAAP Entails
During a workshop held an hour before Tuesday night’s meeting, Couch broke down the main points of the CHAAP.
Based on BERK’s analysis, the plan’s main objectives are to maintain housing production while increasing housing type diversity and focusing on affordable housing for those earning less than 30% of the area median income.
Other objectives include reinvesting in existing neighborhoods, making effective use of existing infrastructure and expanding infrastructure to effectively use urban land. The objectives also include reducing displacement of vulnerable populations and encouraging walkable neighborhoods, quality new rental housing for all income levels and development patterns focused on reducing flood risk to people and property.
To accomplish these goals, the CHAAP has a number of recommendations, starting with identifying areas for upzoning, Couch said.
“Your current zoning scheme has a kind of range of intensities, but the number of acres committed are really kind of lopsided. We have a lot more acreage to the low intensity, and very little to your R:15, R:20, your more kind of higher density, midrange kind of zones,” Couch said.
The focus will be on encouraging walkability of local businesses while increasing density in zoning areas adjacent to commercial zones, such as Centralia College, Couch added. Reducing restrictions on where multi-housing units can be developed is also recommended.
Population projections show continued growth, meaning more traffic will come with it. Reducing or removing garage requirements for various types of homes is recommended to help encourage housing development on smaller lots.
“The city has a lot of requirements around garages,” Couch said. “It’s the first time I’ve actually seen so many requirements for garages in a city’s code.”
Couch said housing developers often look at parking requirements first before deciding to develop in a certain area, so reducing or removing the requirements will give developers a lot more options with what they can build on certain lots.
“This is not saying you don’t require a parking space. This is just saying you don’t require that parking space to be in a garage,” Couch said.
Changes to building development limitations have also been recommended. For example, Couch said the city could change the maximum building height for R:8 housing from 30 feet, what’s currently allowed, to 40 feet.
“If you want new, high-quality rental housing to be built … even without the garages like we recommended, to make the sites work, having them a little higher makes a big difference,” Couch said.
How The CHAAP Was Developed
BERK, in conjunction with Centralia’s Housing Development department, performed a number of studies and community engagement sessions and workshops.
Couch and her colleagues found patterns on segregation and exclusion limiting housing opportunities, with people in areas with increasing housing costs being vulnerable to future displacement.
“2020 Legislature laws require cities to review data to identify racially disparaging impacts on the community and long-range planning implications for segregation solutions,” Couch said.
BERK conducted community engagement in Centralia to build a common understanding of unmet housing needs, determine desired housing for people at all income levels, gather diverse perspectives to promote equitable housing and create equitable outreach and engagement strategies with the goal of creating consensus for strategies and tactics in the CHAAP.
According to Couch, BERK’s findings showed Centralians value a small-town feel and recreational opportunities. While the majority of residents felt their housing needs had been met, it wasn’t the case for all.
“Even then, about one in three residents report that they have unmet housing needs,” Couch said, later adding, “Those unmet needs were most common among renters and people who participated in the Spanish-speaking engagement activities, so predominantly identified as Hispanic or Latino residents.”
Additionally, Couch said no matter the income level, the majority of residents felt rising housing costs and a lack of housing variety were major challenges Centralia currently faces.
