Abolishing single-family zoning had no effect on Olympia housing development in 2021
Despite a zoning code overhaul that effectively abolished single-family zoning in 2020, Olympia saw little to no growth in development of missing middle housing in the year since.
The city permitted 24 units of missing middle housing in 2021 – meaning housing that’s in between single-family houses and multifamily apartment buildings – roughly the same amount as in 2019 and 2020. Those permits included nine duplexes, five Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and one townhome, according to data provided by the city’s Department of Community Planning and Development.
Last December’s zoning reform package allows for up to fourplexes in R 4-8 (Residential 4-8 units per acre), the city’s most common zoning district that previously limited development to mostly single-family homes. (Townhomes and ADUs were already allowed citywide, but the ordinance lifted burdensome parking, size, and owner-occupancy restrictions on ADUs).
One person who is not too surprised by the lack of a middle housing boom is Leonard Bauer, director of Olympia’s Community Planning and Development department.
Zoning is only the first step, Bauer said. There are many other things in the private sector that need to change, including the way banks set up loans and how real estate agents approach sales.
“The housing options ordinance was always about a long-term change,” Bauer said. “It’s a slow process to move an entire industry in a different direction.”
There’s also the matter of COVID-19 and supply chain issues, which have slowed all types of construction.
Across Washington, regulations that outlaw missing middle housing are being slowly dismantled. Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee included a mandate to legalize multifamily housing statewide as part of his housing proposals for the upcoming legislative session.
Bauer said that Olympia is hiring a new employee to review its permitting processes and look for ways to make it simpler. Currently Olympia has more than a dozen different categories of land use permits, whereas Seattle and Jefferson County have only five.
“It’s very complicated to follow, even for our staff at times who’ve been here for a while,” Bauer said. “For an individual coming in for their first permit, it’s almost impossible to figure out.”
Among other elements of the city’s Housing Action Plan, the city will look at reducing parking requirements, which drive up the cost of new housing construction.
One category of housing that saw a slight increase last year was duplexes, although none of them were in neighborhoods affected by the zoning changes. For example:
- Seven duplexes permitted in 2021 are part of a planned community called Briggs Village off Henderson Boulevard near Yelm Highway. It is zoned as an “Urban Village,” which includes apartments and other housing types.
- Three duplexes permitted in 2021 are near Chambers Lake, just across Olympia city limits from Lacey. That’s zoning district RM-24 (Residential Multifamily 24 units per acre), which includes apartment buildings and mobile home parks.
- 12 townhouses were built downtown this year, part of the Westman Mill apartment project. Downtown has long allowed multifamily housing.
Olympia’s zoning overhaul last year was the culmination of a contentious four-year battle that saw a previous attempt to loosen restrictive zoning regulations thrown out by a state Growth Management Hearings Board, after it was appealed by a group representing homeowners. In response, the state legislature changed the process for some zoning changes, exempting them from appeal under state environmental protection laws in 2019.
The homeowner groups that opposed the zoning changes sometimes argued they would lead to a rapid development of multifamily housing in neighborhoods previously reserved for single-family detached houses.
This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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