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Yelm commissioners review draft housing element; staff cite state allocation and upcoming annexation
Summary
The Yelm Planning Commission discussed the draft housing element of the comprehensive plan, clarifying where population projections appear, recent state-driven housing allocation work, potential annexation acreage and zoning implications, and protections or strategies for manufactured-home communities.
Yelm — The Yelm Planning Commission reviewed a draft housing element on June 17 and discussed population projections, state allocation requirements, strategies to encourage affordable housing types and how an expected annexation could change land capacity figures.
Gary Cooper, planning and building manager, reminded commissioners that population and housing projections are located in the draft land-use chapter and said, “The population is projected to be 25,000 and something.” He said housing allocations and projections come from the Thurston Regional Planning Council using a Department of Commerce model required by recent state law.
Commissioners questioned timeline and detail. Commissioner Anne Worman asked where the underlying population numbers are recorded; staff pointed to the land-use chapter and said the numbers come from Thurston Regional Planning Council. Commissioners requested extra time to submit written comments; staff said the commission can continue to submit comments and that a workshop is planned later in the review schedule.
Planning staff said two minor edits had been made since the commission’s last draft: a provision to reduce connection charges and impact fees for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and a clarification that mixed-use development is permitted in commercial zones, aligning code and plan language. A staff speaker identified these as changes to comply with recent state bills.
Commissioners discussed manufactured-home communities and potential protections. Staff said the comp plan language intends to “preserve and protect” existing manufactured-home communities and noted that manufactured housing is generally an allowed use in many city residential zones. Commissioners raised possible municipal strategies, including notice periods or first-right-of-refusal approaches, but staff noted that code changes would require separate council action.
Staff also told commissioners that a planned annexation of roughly 1,200 acres in the city’s urban growth area is under evaluation; if annexed and rezoned as anticipated, those areas could be rezoned at densities ranging from about 4 to 16 units per acre and allow mixed use, which would materially affect the city’s land-capacity analysis for affordable housing. Staff noted the current capacity analysis showed a shortfall of roughly 2,100 housing units in one affordability band, but that updated capacity modeling tied to the annexation may change that figure.
No formal vote was taken on the housing element. Commissioners were invited to send further comments; staff said a commerce-ready submission is targeted for October but that additional local review and a workshop are planned before finalization.
