ARCH presents middle-housing options; commission asks staff for draft ordinance in March

City planning staff and ARCH, a regional housing coalition, briefed the Newcastle Planning Commission on middle-housing requirements and inclusionary-housing options during the Feb. 26 meeting, outlining how the state-mandated allowance for duplexes and other “middle housing” could be paired with local policies to generate affordable units.

Lindsay Masters, executive director of ARCH, told the commission that ARCH and its member jurisdictions have used a mix of strategies — including inclusionary zoning, fees in lieu and local investments — to produce affordable rental and for-sale homes across East King County. ARCH staff said the coalition has helped produce roughly 10,000 affordable homes regionwide and that ARCH-administered inclusionary programs have delivered more than 2,300 rental units and about 800 homeownership units in member cities.

ARCH’s feasibility work, Masters said, shows that allowing additional density typically raises land value, which creates an opportunity to capture value for affordable housing. At the same time, she cautioned that middle-housing product types in East King County often remain expensive…