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Port Orchard staff push for local middle-housing ordinance to avoid state model default
Summary
City staff recommended the land use committee endorse a locally adapted middle-housing ordinance so Port Orchard can avoid automatic application of the state's model ordinance if no local code is adopted by the statutory deadline.
Port Orchard’s Community Development staff asked the Land Use Committee to consider recommending a locally tailored middle-housing ordinance to City Council so the city does not default to the state’s model ordinance.
Nick Bond, community development director, told the committee the planning commission and City Council have reviewed the draft and the planning commission will hold a public hearing June 3. “Again, with the state mandate, if we don't adopt something by the June, we will have to, implement the state's model ordinance, which takes effect by default and supersedes our regulations,” Bond said. He urged adopting a local code even if some later cleanup is necessary: “My recommendation is to pass this now unless it's a really easy change to make. And then if we need to do further cleanup down the road, we can.”
Why it matters: the state-mandated timeline would cause Port Orchard to be governed by the state's model middle-housing ordinance if the city has not adopted its own code. Committee members said they were generally comfortable with the planning commission's review. Council member Scott (last name not specified in transcript) said he was comfortable with the planning commission’s recommendation; Jay Rose Pepe and others asked for time to review materials and noted the planning commission had not yet completed its recommendation.
Discussion covered process and schedule rather than substantive code edits at the meeting. Staff noted the committee is not required to make a recommendation but can report that the land use committee reviewed the draft and is comfortable moving it forward for adoption. Bond said the draft is scheduled for City Council adoption on June 17 if the planning commission’s input is complete.
No formal vote was recorded at the land use committee meeting; staff requested the committee’s recommendation be forwarded to City Council as the next step.
