Olympia City Council to vote on housing code changes to provide relief to renters
A majority of Olympia residents are renters, but many are struggling to find housing they can afford as prices and demand have risen rapidly after the state’s pandemic-inspired eviction moratorium expired.
Christa Lenssen, the city’s Housing Programs specialist, cites a 2022 statistic from the National Low Income Housing Coalition that states for a person to afford a market-rate one-bedroom apartment in Olympia, they’d have to work 57 hours a week at minimum wage of $14.49 an hour.
But the Olympia City Council is expected to pass a hefty package of amendments to the city’s rental housing code. During its Aug. 9 meeting, the City Council was presented with proposed new parameters and language regarding how much a landlord can charge at move in, as well as rent-increase protocol.
It was the first reading of the ordinance, and the council is set to adopt it on Aug. 16.
The amendments
After reviewing procedures in cities such as Seattle, Kenmore and Auburn for how their recent housing code changes have played out, Olympia’s Land Use and Environment Committee came up with three recommendations for the city.
Rent increase notification: The amendment would require that landlords provide 120 days’ notice for rent increases over 5% and 180 for increases over 10%. In comparison, state law requires 60 days’ notice for any rent increases, and Seattle requires 180 days for any. Kenmore requires 120 days for more than 3% and 180 days for more than 10%.
Pet damage deposit: Lenssen said Seattle is the only peer city that has defined limits on pet deposits, so they went with similar language. The updated code would limit pet deposits to 25% of monthly rent that can be paid over a three-month period.
Lenssen said there was interest in removing the option of requiring monthly pet rent, but that might conflict with state law and the prohibition on rent control statewide.
Limits to move-in fees: The committee is recommending prohibiting the collection of non-refundable fees such as administrative fees at the beginning of a lease. Landlords can still charge last month’s rent before a tenant moves in, or a refundable security deposit, but they’re barred from charging more than the amount of one month’s rent for either of those, and they can’t require a holding fee or any other type of one-time fee.
There’s an exception to these move-in fee amendments for subsidized housing where rent is based on the income of the tenant.
Lenssen said the rent increase provision may not go into effect until 180 days after adoption of the ordinance, and the rest of them will be effective 30 days after adoption.
These changes are a culmination of years of work by city groups and housing providers mixed with public feedback. After conducting one-on-one interviews with landlords, renters and advocates in 2021, city staff launched online surveys for the same groups in March and received around 450 responses.
Lenssen said 200 renters responded and roughly 80% said they were cost burdened, having to spend more than 30% of their income on housing. She said there was much support for lengthening the required notice period for rent increases, as well as limiting move-in costs.
Out of 107 landlords who responded to the survey, 65% said they were small owners with five or fewer units. The same number reported tenant rent as being their secondary source of income. About 68% said they’ve had tenants not able to make payments on time or in full at the same level or higher over the last few years.
Lenssen said landlords supported a low-interest loan program that would allow them to make repairs to rentals. She said the Community Development Block Grant program is reestablishing its revolving loan program in September for that purpose.
She said landlords also were interested in a tenant relocation assistance program. City staff have been directed to look at ways to enact policies and programs to provide more information to both landlords and tenants, as well as get more people into affordable housing.
Lenssen said she hopes city staff can find ways to provide incentives to larger developers to build more low-income and affordable housing.
Too much, or not enough?
Elisa Lyles has been a housing provider in Olympia for more than 24 years. During the Aug. 9 council meeting, she said the proposals increase her risk and benefit larger rental companies.
“Housing is like food; it’s better locally owned and managed,” Lyles said. “If it’s gone, it’s gone. Like farmland, you won’t get your local providers back. Wall Street investors aren’t going to take on our disadvantaged.”
She said if the amendments are adopted, she’ll have to raise the price of rent, which doesn’t help anyone.
“We want Olympia weird, we want Olympia ours,” Lyles said. “Keep people local that own it and invest in your community. Don’t rush, don’t run us out of business.”
Cecilia Pérez said she’s lived and worked as a school nurse in Thurston County for four years and can’t afford a down payment on a house. Mayor Cheryl Selby said Patrick Murphy, superintendent of the Olympia School District, has said that enrollment has slowly dropped in the last few years in part because young families can’t afford to live in the city.
Reed Ingalls, an artist and renter in Olympia, said he thinks approving the amendements can help slow the housing crisis. But he worries it won’t be enough. He said rent increases have pushed him out of apartments on multiple occasions during his six years here. Now that he has an above minimum wage job and housing, he’s been notified his rent is going up in October.
“We are being squeezed too tightly,” Ingalls said. “Olympia is my home and I don’t want to be forced out.”
Council member Dani Madrone, chair of the Land Use and Environment Committee, told the council the best solution is to increase the housing supply, but that even if planning got started today, it’s going to take a long time to get to the level the community needs.
“As it stands, relief is needed for our renters,” Madrone said. “This one action in front of us is not a complete solution, it’s one of many strategies in our Housing Action Plan to address the issues around housing in our community.”
Madrone said she sat in on conversations with renters, landlords and advocates. She’s seen how difficult it is to get housing, how difficult situations can become for landlords, and how it all intersects with case management for those who need it.
“Two reasonable people could look at the same issue with the same information and come to different conclusions,” she said. “This isn’t about thinking that one side is bad, or wrong, or an enemy, only that the situation on the ground requires action.”
More information about the ordinance and how to provide feedback can be found on the city’s Engage Olympia website.
This story was originally published August 15, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
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