Planning staff told the Tumwater Planning Commission on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, that the housing element of the city’s comprehensive plan needs to confront a projected shortfall of affordable units, and that meeting that need will require partnerships and outside funding rather than city action alone.

“The private market builds majority by far of the housing and what we can do to support that is very high,” a staff member said during the discussion, emphasizing that the city’s influence is substantial on plan and permitting processes but limited for building and funding large volumes of deeply affordable housing.

Why this matters: commissioners and staff framed the housing challenge as both a local and regional problem. The city cannot alone finance or build the full quantity of low- and very-low-income housing the technical appendix projects will be needed; staff urged continued work with the Regional Housing Council, housing authorities and state/federal funders.

Key points from the discussion included preservation of existing housing stock, support for people in rentals and mobile-home parks who face displacement risk, and leveraging federal and regional funding streams. Staff noted the region’s existing programs and recent changes in regional allocations: the packet referenced $9 million available in the prior year for regional projects and that available funding had been reduced to about $5.5 million in the current cycle. Staff also described the city’s current contributions to housing programs as modest: Tumwater’s dedicated sales-tax (“home funds”) contributions were described as roughly $100,000 a year, and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-style allocations circulate about $1 million to Thurston County on a three-year cycle.

Commissioners and staff discussed examples and possible tools. Staff cited a recent local conversion where a hotel on Capitol Boulevard was remodeled into housing with the housing authority as the lead funder and the city providing limited remediation funding to fill gaps. The example illustrated staff’s point that such projects typically rely on state or federal funding and partnerships rather than being funded solely by the city.

Commissioners asked high-level questions about scale and accountability and suggested the comp plan note that the city cannot meet the full housing need alone. One staff member summarized the conclusion succinctly: “we can't do it by ourselves.” Commissioners asked staff to prepare materials that make the scale of need and likely roles clearer for council and the public.

Outcome: with some commissioners absent and a quorum at risk later in the meeting, commissioners agreed to continue the housing-element discussion at the Planning Commission’s June 10 meeting to allow additional review and focused questions. No formal policy vote was taken on funding or new programs during the session.

Ending: staff recommended commissioners read the technical appendix and send focus questions in advance of the next meeting; the record shows staff and commissioners will continue detailed review with possible refinement of implementation actions and funding priorities as the plan moves toward adoption.