The Land Use & Environment Committee of the Olympia City Council met on Thursday, August 27, 2026, from 4:20 p.m. to 6:22 p.m. in Council Chambers and online. Chair Robert Vanderpool and Committee member Paul Berendt were present; member Clark Gilman was excused. Staff included Community Development Director Tim Smith, Housing Director Ashley Chambers, Senior Housing Program Specialist Christa Lenssen, and Housing Program Manager Jacinda Steltjes. The meeting covered land banking strategies, manufactured home community preservation, and public comments on tree protection.
Land Banking Strategies: Housing Director Ashley Chambers presented an overview of land banking as a tool for affordable housing, including benefits (preventing loss of strategic properties, reducing development costs, securing long-term community benefits), potential drawbacks (timing, competition for financing), and examples of city projects (Ity Commons, Lotus Court, The Landing, Franz Anderson PSH, 3900 Boulevard). She proposed creating a strategic framework with evaluation criteria (strategic alignment, public benefit, feasibility, market opportunity, funding capacity) and suggested next steps such as an inventory of city-owned property and development of a program framework.
Committee members expressed strong support for a deliberate approach. Member Berendt requested a comprehensive inventory beyond city-owned property to include state, school district, port, and other public lands, as well as abandoned properties. He emphasized using land banking not only for affordable housing but also for other public uses (parks, public facilities). Chair Vanderpool agreed and suggested a tiered approach, prioritizing city-owned land first while also listing other public parcels. Both members supported developing the strategic framework simultaneously with the inventory, exploring funding sources (including impact fees and land swaps), and considering mixed-income housing and small-scale developers.
Manufactured Home Communities Preservation Recommendations: Senior Housing Program Specialist Christa Lenssen presented recommendations based on research and community engagement. She outlined challenges faced by manufactured home communities (risk of displacement due to redevelopment, rising rents, infrastructure costs) and relevant state legislation (SB 5198 offering right to compete to purchase, HB 1217 capping annual rent increases at 5%). Staff recommendations included: developing educational resources and workshops for residents (3-5 months), tracking funding opportunities (e.g., new Commerce infrastructure grants), exploring regional/local funding for infrastructure upgrades (e.g., revolving loan fund for septic-to-sewer conversions), creating a prioritization matrix for targeting interventions, and expanding affordable homeownership alternatives (starter homes, townhomes).
Committee members expressed strong support for all recommendations. Member Berendt emphasized the importance of resident education and proactive intervention strategies to avoid crises. Chair Vanderpool noted the value of coordinating with Lacey and other jurisdictions, and highlighted the need to lay groundwork for cooperative ownership and to avoid burdening residents with multiple financial hits. The committee directed staff to bring the recommendations to City Council as a regular agenda item (not a study session) in October or November 2026.
To the uh land use environment committee uh of the Olympia City Council. Today is Thursday, August 27th, 2026. I'm your chair, Robert Vanderpool. Paul, would you like to introduce yourself? All right, can I get approval of the agenda? I I move that we adopt the agenda as proposed. Second, off air. I alright, we have an agenda and we have several public commenters. Starting uh in person if you want to treat it is indeed unfortunate that state law prohibits temporary zoning law, as that would have been a simple solution to how we can protect our biggest trees till there is a new ordinance. I do object to the statement that was made at the last meeting that a look at permits reveals it is just not possible to both build and protect these bigger trees. When I, for example, look at the permit for Spring Creek. I see that in a two-block area that is being developed, there would only be three trees over 40 inches DBH that would have needed to have been saved. I certainly think that some adjustments could have accommodated it. I think one advantage to trying to do something different in the next two years, is doing the experiment that can inform your ordinance writing experience. We feel that protecting the largest trees by keeping bigger setbacks actually creates more affordable and livable housing. Houses built out to small property lines, are simply more expensive and don't help with affordable housing stocks. Whole developments done this way create long-term housing without shade for cooling, pollution removal, or stormwater management against flooding. Two possibilities for consideration. One, speed up the way too long two-year timeline for creation of the new tree ordinance, or two adopt a permanent language such as the county has that requires every new project to do a tree survey and submit a tree plan with the initial permit application. This would in the short term allow CPED to encourage preservation of the big trees, and it will be necessary part of any updated tree ordinance. So it would not be premature or prejudicial to pass it now. Many modern tree codes have two tracks, one for development and one for already developed properties. This allows a lot of flexibility and rulemaking. Right now, our largest trees are on older, already developed properties and will need a way to not like Tomwater, lose them all in a two sh two-year short period in which they've lost almost all of their 10 largest trees. This past weekend I visited Olympia's oldest tree. Well, biggest tree. Not inches, foot. We do not have two years to figure this out. Thank you. So we have a Charlotte Persons. Hi, I'm Charlotte Persons, and I live in Northeast Olympia. I am here today to remind you of the benefits that trees provide us, especially mature trees. You may be most aware of the climate benefits. A major reason why tree protection is part of Olympia's comprehensive plan. As they grow, trees absorb more and more carbon until they're about 40 years old. However, because of their large canopies, mature trees continue to absorb and capture more carbon dioxide than smaller trees. Some people think that all that carbon bunt dioxide just goes back into the air. And it's true, about 70% is transpired, but in the vapor that they give off as well as oxygen. But the rest of it actually is still being sequestered by the tree, the 30% into either the tree its structure itself or into the soil around the tree's roots, which is why mature trees, even though they're not growing as fast, are still absorbing a lot more carbon dioxide than small trees. Similarly, mature trees provide more benefits than small trees in stormwater management. Large tree roots absorb and sequester more surface water. Because they have more leaves, mature trees are more effective at removing from the air the particulate pollution that causes asthma, heart conditions, and cancer. If the trees are planted within 100 feet of the residents, one of the easiest benefits of mature trees to demonstrate is urban cooling in summer and heating in winter. On July 28th, I was able to go on Tomwater's tree tour, a bus ride through different subdivisions to learn the effects of past regulations and of proposed new ones. One of our last stops was Bronington Drive subdivision, built in early 2000 under Thurston County Route codes. Tomwater's urban forester Brian Coughlin told us that this was the coolest area of the city because of 20 years of tree growth. His hind heat index survey of Tomwater showed that in summer this area is 12 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the city average. In winter, because mature trees protect against wind, Bronington Drive subdivision is six degrees warmer. Because of the benefits of retaining older, more mature trees, I urge you to include an Olympia's tree code, incentives, and regulations that will preserve existing trees in current housing areas and especially in new subdivisions. You can look for ideas in the proposed changes for the Tomwater Tree Code and in Thurston County's residential tree code.