Washougal reviews housing‑element draft and code impacts of state middle‑housing and affordability laws

The Washougal City Council on June 9 reviewed a draft housing element for the comprehensive plan periodic update and a preview of follow‑on development‑code changes required by recent state legislation. Elliot Weiss, senior planner for Community Attributes, and Jessica Hrsig, the consultant lead for Dowell, presented the draft and answered council questions about how House Bill 1220 and House Bill 1110 affect local planning and zoning.

The consultants said the draft housing element and housing analysis document summarize Washougal’s current housing stock, show a high and growing share of single‑family detached housing, and translate statutory requirements into targets the city must “plan for and accommodate.” “There are some major changes to state statute…that require you to plan for housing types that have not historically been represented at high rates in Washougal,” Weiss said. He described state requirements that an updated housing element include allocations by area median income (AMI) and that the city’s zoning code must allow middle housing types in single‑family zones.

Key figures presented to the council included a rise in single‑family detached housing from about 70% of the city’s housing inventory in 2000 to about 79% in 2023; a Clark County AMI estimate of roughly $100,000 for 2025; and proposed…