News

ARTICLE
Date ArticleType
5/21/2018 Member News

Washington County working with homebuilders on equitable housing project


With funding from the Metro Equitable Housing Grant, Washington County is drilling down to a site-specific level of analysis of equitable housing barriers and solutions, including code specific changes to allow for more and varied types of development. The HBA recently met with the county to address improvements to the development process.

The primary purpose of this project is to clearly identify regulatory and code requirements that negatively impact development feasibility and/or increase development costs for projects that include residential uses, with a focus on encouraging equitable housing development in Washington County. The County has proactively made land available for more affordable housing developments, increased staff capacity to address housing issues, and is working to identify ways to amend regulations and processes to encourage and support equitable and affordable housing development.

After meeting with a group of HBA members, the county staff has also acknowledged that an overall approach to improving the development process is required, including inspection coordination and plan review. They have agreed that the final work program should include recommendations addressing those items.