Planning Department staff and the City of Yakima Planning Commission on May 28 reviewed five years of land-use and code changes and heard public concerns about housing access and green space.

Staff presented a summary of code work since 2020 that the commission has reviewed, including comp plan amendments tied to large projects (a farmworkers clinic at Summit View on part of the former Johnson Orchard and the Racket Lane townhomes), revisions to accessory dwelling unit (ADU) standards, cottage-housing/tiny-house regulations, changes to the binding site plan process, updates to wireless communication facility rules, adjustments to downtown development and sign standards, and revised subdivision bonding and appeal processes. Staff said the transportation element will be updated as part of the periodic review and noted additional text and comp plan amendments are expected during the current update cycle.

Staff also provided permit statistics for the period beginning Jan. 1, 2020: 1,926 residential certificates of occupancy issued, 5,711 building permits issued in total, and $625,000,000 in valuation added to the city. Staff said the periodic-comp-plan deadline has closed and three comp-plan amendment applications had been submitted for the current cycle.

Commissioners raised concerns about the amount of usable green space in recent multiunit development and pedestrian access to nearby parks; one commissioner said many recent projects provide little on-site green space and noted Chesterly Park can be difficult to reach safely from some new developments. The commission indicated it will consider subdivision and open-space standards later this year when reviewing subdivision criteria.

During public comment, a resident identified as Shelley urged commissioners to consider the influence of large institutional investors on housing and warned that rising institutional ownership can reduce homeownership opportunities for individual buyers. Shelley said, “Follow the money,” and argued the trend affects housing affordability and wealth-building for prospective homeowners. The remarks were presented as commentary and opinion; no policy or code action related to institutional investor ownership was taken at the meeting.

No formal land-use decisions were made at the meeting; staff said more text amendments and comp plan amendments are expected to come back to the commission as part of the periodic update.