Recording in progress.

Good evening.

I'd like to call to order the May 18th, 2023 Planning Commission regular meeting.

First item is roll call, Ms.

Holkzma.

Commissioner Callahan.

Here.

Commissioner Mosier.

Yep.

Vice Chair Wamishonje.

Present.

Chair Sanger.

Here.

And Commissioner Brinson is absent with notice, and Commissioner Gloska is also absent with notice, and I have not heard from May Shell at this point.

Commissioner Lynn, I mean.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next item is approval of the agenda.

Is there any changes to the agenda?

And the minutes from April 20th, 2023.

Anyone have any comments or changes?

Great, thank you.

That brings us to general public comment.

Ms.

Hoxma, do we have anybody signed up for general public comment tonight?

I do not, or we do not.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, that brings us to our study item, which is the 2024 comprehensive plan discussion of middle housing.

Good evening, Commissioners.

Our topic tonight is middle housing.

My name is Elise Keim, Senior Planner with Shoreline.

And a lot has been happening with middle housing both at the state level and right here in Shoreline.

So let's get into it.

We are covering a number of topics tonight, and this presentation is a bit lengthy, but just to let you know what you're in for, we're gonna start with a uh an update on the grant and overview of some recent changes to housing policy at the state level and what that could mean for the future of residential zoning in Shoreline, and then uh get into some discussion questions.

And of course, if you have any questions for me along the way, feel free.

Uh first a brief recap of what middle housing is.

Very simply put, middle housing is a range of house scale buildings with multiple units.

And that's it.

Middle housing can help establish walkable neighborhoods as these homes are built at sufficient densities to support neighborhood businesses like coffee shops and salons and corner stores that people can walk to.

The city has been doing some work related to middle housing that is grant funded.

And in light of recent changes in state regulations, this grant is really giving Shoreline a head start on the topic of middle housing.

Uh that it's gonna be a part of comprehensive plans really throughout the state.

So we are getting that head start.

The work on middle housing, it does not end in June when the grant ends.

Uh we will continue to work uh preparing comprehensive plan goals and policies and updating the development code to comply with state requirements.

But this grant does have some specific deliverables, including an existing conditions report, public outreach and summary, a racial equity analysis, and draft policies and implementation concepts.

And all of these materials are still in draft form, so tonight I'm just providing you an update on what has been done so far.

The existing conditions report being prepared, it's pretty similar to the cottage housing existing conditions report, uh, with some updated data points and obviously a broader focus on middle housing.

The report looks at drivers of housing choices, and the adage that we hear in real estate is that it is all about location.

Uh, but there are in fact some other factors that go into a household's uh choices about housing.

These include location certainly, but also a household's budget, the life stages and associated needs of the household residents, and the kind of housing that's available in a given housing market.

So let's take a look at available housing choices in shoreline.

The option for housing currently fall into three broad categories.

These are single family detached, single family attached, meaning townhomes, and multifamily.

The majority of housing types in the city are single family detached.

And from 2022, the median sale price of a single family home came in at just under $823,000, while monthly rent was 1,635.

As the report is finalized, we will see if there are any updated median prices and incomes that are available.

But the bottom line that we're seeing here is that choices of different forms of housing in Shoreline are pretty constrained and also pretty expensive.

A racial equity analysis of Shoreline's housing policies is being prepared to evaluate these policies for racially disparate impacts, displacement, and exclusion in housing.