Lacey’s strategies for addressing the housing crisis show promise -- and leadership
For a long time, many Olympians have criticized Lacey for not doing enough to offer services to homeless people or to address the need for affordable housing to help prevent homelessness.
But in the last few years, homeless tent camps have popped up in Lacey, most notably on state Department of Transportation land along the freeway, near the Department of Ecology building and the Saint Martin’s University campus.
Lacey leaders have figured out that clearing camps is mostly futile, as it just moves them to other locations. And they’ve hired two Police Department outreach workers who are kind and helpful to camp residents who need help connecting with services, and arrange for camp garbage removal.
And while some criticism of Lacey’s slow start on this work may be warranted, it also may be exaggerated.
In 2019, Lacey pioneered a push to make it easier for people to build accessory dwelling units, which can be either very small houses or additions to an existing house or garage. The city commissioned four pre-approved plans for ADUs, and waived utility hook-up fees when they are connected to an existing home’s water and sewer systems.
These changes came not long before the pandemic hit, so not many have been built. And although interest in them is picking up now, it is constrained by big price increases for building materials. Still, this strategy is promising enough that Olympia and Tumwater have adopted Lacey’s pre-approved plans. On this measure, Lacey is the leader.
Now the Lacey City Council is working toward zoning changes that allow greater density in single-family housing areas similar to Olympia’s “missing middle” efforts. That work also includes amendments to an “emergency housing” ordinance that first authorized church-hosted tent camps, and aims to expand it to accommodate other similar efforts. And Lacey convened a year-long community work group study of homelessness whose recommendations are due next month.
Lacey also is working towards an August adoption of its Housing Action Plan, which is part of a regional effort to coordinate and harmonize housing policies across Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater. At a recent City Council work session, a draft identified six strategies (also called goals by Mayor Andy Ryder):
Increase the supply of permanently affordable housing for households that make 80 percent or less of the area median income.
Make it easier for households to access housing and stay housed.
Expand the overall housing supply by making it easier to build all types of housing projects.
Increase the variety of housing choices.
Continually build on resources, collaboration, and public understanding to improve implementation of housing strategies.
Establish a permanent source of funding for low-income housing.
But in the discussion of how the city could implement these strategies, hard truths emerged.
One idea was to require Planned Residential Developments of single-family houses to include some percentage of affordable homes. But, as Mayor Ryder noted, “we missed the boat on that one,” because so many have already been built that Lacey is running out of buildable land for them.
“I still haven’t seen anything that could accomplish these goals,” Ryder said, lamenting the city’s “heartbreaking dependence on the private sector.”
Calculating what qualifies as affordable also is an issue. “If you’re a barista, you can’t afford to live anywhere without a roommate,” noted council member Malcolm Miller. He estimates that 30-40 percent of the population is priced out of the current housing market for either renting or owning a home. That leaves many people paying far more than the 30 percent of their income that is commonly cited as affordable housing.
The council’s frustration was palpable, and only two small points of light came on: First, at about $80,000 per unit, ADUs are the most promising source of new private-sector affordable housing. About 2,000 homes in Lacey are on lots large enough to accommodate them, but it remains to be seen how many will be built.
Second, the goal calling for a regional (namely county) source of funding for nonprofit-provided low-income housing looks like it will attract majority council support, in spite of opposition from council member Lenny Greenstein. Council member Carolyn Cox, Lacey’s lead representative on the Regional Housing Council, is a strong advocate for creating a county version of Olympia’s Home Fund based on a-penny-per-$10-purchase sales tax.
We are glad to see Lacey coming to grips with the urgent and difficult challenge of preventing and reducing homelessness and the poverty that unaffordable rents induce. The city council is supported by competent staff and led by a smart, straight-talking mayor. There is promise here, but, like everywhere else, success will only be possible if there is an injection of regional, state and federal funding that matches the scale of this deepening crisis.