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Councilor reports progress on affordable housing parcel and relaunch of Snow Valley jobs board
Summary
Councilor Wotton said talks are ongoing about tax parcel ending in 9033 for an affordable housing project; he said smaller-scale developers that can produce 40-unit developments may fit Snoqualmie's context. He also said the Snow Valley jobs board will be relaunched this week after automation work.
Councilor Wotton told the Snoqualmie City Council on July 28 that the housing task force is continuing discussions about options for tax parcel ending in 9033 and that the city is engaging potential nonprofit and developer partners.
Wotton said the primary challenge for producing deeply affordable units (for example targeting 60% area median income) in Snoqualmie is achieving sufficient density and unit counts to make projects financially feasible. "The biggest challenge is this, is that when you have a developer or nonprofit that comes in to do the project, it is really difficult to do it and to get to the AMI of 60% without density," Wotton said. He said the city is in talks with one group that specializes in smaller-scale developments and that "their smallest development is 40 units." Wotton called the outlook "encouraging."
Wotton also reported that the Snow Valley jobs board — a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and the Snow Valley Innovation Center — will go live this week after delays converting a manual process to an automated platform. He said the board will help connect approximately 125 employers with about 15,000 job seekers annually.
Why it matters: Affordable housing options and job placement resources affect economic opportunity and housing stability for residents. The parcel under discussion will require further planning and partner commitments before proposals come to the council for review.
Next steps: Staff and the task force will continue partner conversations and report back; no formal council action was taken at this meeting.
