Everett presents 10‑pillar housing strategy; staff to return with action items in September

City staff on Aug. 13 briefed the Everett City Council Parks and Built Environment Committee on a draft five‑year housing strategy that organizes the city’s housing work into a 10‑pillar framework and directs staff to return in September with more specific initiatives and implementation steps.

The strategy, presented by Frank Hong, Everett’s housing project manager, and introduced by Julie Willie, Community Development Director, frames housing as foundational to public safety, public health and economic mobility and pairs broad strategic pillars with shorter‑term action items. "Housing is a foundation for so many other issues," Hong said during the presentation.

City staff said Everett faces rapid growth and a large housing shortfall. Hong cited regional planning data that estimate Everett’s population could reach about 179,000 — roughly a 57% increase over the baseline used for the projections — and said the city would need nearly 38,600 additional housing units plus about 2,400 temporary shelter beds to meet modeled demand. He also said 2023 census data show about 58% of Everett renters were cost‑burdened (paying a high share of income for housing).

Why it matters: Committee members and staff described the strategy as a road map intended to align previous planning efforts — including the 2021 Rethink Housing action plan, the city’s 2044 Comprehensive Plan, the consolidated plan and a recent Everett Affordable Housing Solutions Plan (AHSP) funded by a Commerce grant — with new, prioritized initiatives for 2026. Julie Willie said the city completed 14 of 18 action items from the Rethink Housing plan and intends to carry the remaining four (which touch tenant protections, monitoring and land‑banking concepts) into the next five‑year strategy.

What staff presented: Hong summarized the framework’s 10 pillars — leadership; supply; innovation and industrialized production; healthy and resilient communities; funding; workforce development; education; access and stability; collaboration and partnerships; and permitting and regulatory streamlining — and said specific tactics under each pillar will be presented at a later briefing. "We need to think outside of the box," Hong said when describing the innovation pillar and methods to increase the pace of housing production.

Committee discussion and clarifications: Council members asked for context on the projections and on the roles of state and regional requirements. Hong and Steven Swadzczuk, Planning Director, said the projections rely on a Snohomish County HO5 modeling exercise and the Office of Financial Management figures; Hong said recent OFM numbers show a current growth rate below 2% (he cited roughly 0.7% in recent counts), while the HO5 scenario used for the 20‑year planning horizon produces larger totals to account for household size shifts and an existing housing shortfall.

On tenant protections, a council member asked whether the short‑term actions tied to tenant protections should be considered partially complete given recent state legislation. Hong replied that the state has advanced tenant‑protection measures but local options remain and that the city would continue pursuing additional local tools where appropriate. Willie noted some nearby cities have adopted further local tenant protections beyond state law.

Staff direction and next steps: Staff told the committee they will return in September with detailed strategic initiatives under each pillar and proposed monitoring tools. Willie also said the city is aligning Hong’s housing work closer to Community Development to better connect planning, funding and services. No formal motions or votes were taken at the Aug. 13 briefing.

Other related items noted to the committee: Staff said the manufactured‑home overlay and related development regulations are moving to the Planning Commission (timing described as next week and in September in different exchanges) and that the city intends to publish more monitoring data and transparency tools tied to housing outcomes.

Ending: Committee members praised the direction and asked staff for more comparative data on neighboring jurisdictions, the multifamily tax exemption program and potential permitting improvements. Staff repeated that more detailed initiatives and proposed actions will be returned to the committee and full council in September and that the department aims to finalize launchable initiatives for 2026.