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Commissioners review housing and community services draft; focus on affordability, capacity analysis and code changes
Summary
The commission reviewed the merged housing and community services chapter, discussed the land-capacity analysis and state-required elements, debated adding childcare support and allowing residential uses in light-industrial zones, and flagged required code changes and outreach steps ahead of a 2026 adoption timeline extension.
The Liberty Lake Planning Commission conducted a detailed review of the draft housing and community services chapter, focusing on the state-required residential land-capacity analysis, housing affordability findings, and recommended strategies to expand housing availability and affordability.
Amy (staff member) outlined why the housing element was merged with community services and explained required submittals under state guidance, including a residential land-capacity analysis and a racially disparate impacts assessment. “The residential land capacity analysis is something that Commerce will also be appended as a point of reference, but there are specific boxes I have to check in the housing element,” Amy said, and she told commissioners the draft separates required items from recommended strategies so the public and City Council can see which provisions are mandatory.
Commissioner discussion touched on several substantive topics. A commissioner asked whether the packet could include Spokane County population projections for context; Amy agreed to include a regional context note. Commissioners debated whether the city should allow medium-density residential uses (for example, stack flats at roughly 16 units per acre) in existing Light Industrial zones. Staff explained the Light Industrial district currently has almost no residential uses except for a single caretaker dwelling and that allowing residential in industrial areas could pose impacts to existing businesses (noise, truck traffic). Some commissioners favored keeping the draft language unchanged; others noted the mixed-use conversion approach had been used elsewhere, for example with Meadowood Technology Campus, which had previously re-zoned from light industrial to mixed use.
Childcare and caregiver support drew focused attention. A commissioner proposed expanding policy language to move from passive “support” toward actively “promoting” childcare and caregiver relief programs; Amy and the commission agreed to add proactive language where appropriate and include enabling provisions that allow nonprofits and human-service providers to use public facilities for childcare support and events.
Commissioners examined the draft’s affordability and disparate-impact charts. One commissioner flagged an apparently large decline in the recorded Asian population between 2018 and 2023 and asked staff to confirm data sources; another asked for a comparison of cost-burdened households in Liberty Lake with Spokane County over the same period. Amy said she would ask the consultant for additional breakdowns and clarified that census block groups do not align neatly with city boundaries, which can skew visual maps.
On required development-code updates, staff noted many of the state-required housing measures will require changes to local code and that the city will need a significant code overhaul in 2026 to implement the element. Commissioners caught several specific drafting items staff had intended to remove — for instance, a proposal to revise parking standards based on bedroom counts that the commission previously rejected, and a suggested requirement for balconies on multifamily units — and confirmed those items should be removed from recommended code changes.
Amy concluded with next steps and engagement plans: staff will send the housing element to the Washington State Department of Commerce for an early review, develop an implementation schedule tied to a 2026 code update, and begin public engagement at seasonal venues including the farmers market. Staff also told commissioners that a legislative extension moving the comp-plan adoption deadline to Dec. 30, 2026, is advancing in the state legislature, which provides additional time for code work, though staff said they will aim to keep the element on the original timeline where practical.
No final vote on the housing element was taken; commissioners treated the meeting as a workshop to refine policy language, flag data questions, and identify code updates and outreach steps.
