City of Spokane Valley issued the following announcement on Oct. 2.
Do you live or work in Spokane Valley? Then we want to hear from you! Please take our brief online survey about your housing needs. All responses are anonymous.
The City of Spokane Valley is growing. To be proactive, the city is assessing its housing stock to ensure it meets the needs of our growing population. Assessing our needs will help us plan for and encourage the development of a variety of housing options that are affordable for people of all incomes.
In 2019, the Washington Legislature passed E2SHB 1923 to increase residential capacity in cities across Washington. The bill emphasizes the need to increase housing supply for all income levels, and encourages cities to prioritize the creation of affordable, inclusive neighborhoods. In early 2020, the city applied for and received a grant from the state Department of Commerce to develop a Housing Action Plan consistent with E2SHB 1923.
A Housing Action Plan (HAP) is a policy document and implementation guide that develops clear, actionable strategies to meet current and future housing needs. Washington state law requires that HAP strategies encourage construction of a greater variety of housing types and housing at prices that are accessible to people with a wide range of incomes.
Project approach and timeline
Our project begins with a housing needs assessment. This assessment will tell us how much and what types of housing stock we have within the city limits, what we are projected to need in the future, and what gaps exist between what we have and what we’ll need.
After we complete the housing needs assessment, we will share the findings with the community and field an online survey to gather feedback on whether the findings align with your experience living in Spokane Valley. During this early phase we will conduct a series of stakeholder interviews with businesses, organizations, and community groups that work in the housing sector to gather feedback on our process and findings.
Next, we will conduct a technical assessment to explore our housing policies and city code to ensure any recommendations we develop do not conflict with our current housing code.
The final technical step includes developing a housing strategies evaluation and implementation plan. We will develop a draft plan, share it with the community, and use an online survey to gather feedback on the recommendations. We will update the recommendations to align with public feedback and then share with the community through a formal adoption process.
Original source can be found here.
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