Youth civic group urges Shelton to use comp-plan update to address homelessness, affordability and racial disparities

A youth civic group presented county-level housing data and policy recommendations to the Shelton City Council, urging the council to use the city’s comprehensive-plan update to address homelessness, affordability and racial disparities.

Julianne Gale, who identified herself as representing Mason County Climate Justice and COSMIC (a youth civic-engagement program), told the council the presentation built on Department of Commerce requirements under recent state legislation. “There are updated requirements in the comprehensive plan housing element… because… house bill 1220 passed, and it has new requirements to handle housing,” Gale said, framing the council’s comprehensive-plan update as an opportunity to meet state standards while addressing local needs.

The presenters emphasized reliance on county-level American Community Survey data because city-level ACS estimates are statistically unreliable for small populations. They highlighted several findings drawn from the Department of Commerce and local analysis: median home prices in Mason County have roughly doubled since 2016; the housing-affordability index for Q1 2024 was about 86 (meaning median buyers had about 86% of the income needed to qualify for a median-priced house by common measures); and cost burden among renters and homeowners has increased, with the presenters saying nearly half of renter households are cost burdened and more than a quarter spend over half their income on rent.

The youth presenters described racial disparities in housing outcomes: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) households are more likely to rent and more likely to be cost-burdened than white households in Mason County. The group recommended steps the city could adopt in the comp-plan update and related policies, including:

- Collecting local, city-level rental data via surveys (the presenters said COSMIC’s affordable-housing survey had about 775 respondents at the time of the presentation). - Pursuing an appeal to HUD for adjusted income limits where appropriate (the presenters noted the 2022 Mason County housing-needs assessment had recommended such appeals). - Incentivizing longer affordability terms for multifamily tax-exemption agreements (the presenters recommended considering 20-year affordability terms for low-income projects rather than shorter market-rate terms). - Supporting community land trusts, prioritizing policies that help low-income renters and ensuring outreach and programs are available in languages other than English. - Considering environmental health risks in siting and remediation before approving new housing in contaminated or hazard-prone areas.

The presenters also argued that increasing subsidized and multifamily housing stock can support local economic growth by helping employers retain and attract workers. They encouraged the council to use the comp-plan process to align zoning, permitting, incentives and outreach to reduce housing insecurity and geographic inequities.

Council members asked clarifying questions about community land trusts, multifamily tax-exemption length and zoning applicability; presenters said most measures would be feasible if zoning and code do not prohibit the chosen approaches and offered to provide additional data for city-level analysis.

The presentation included citations to Department of Commerce guidance, the 2022 Mason County housing-needs assessment and HUD/HUD-derived measures used to estimate need by income level. Presenters said they had reviewed their slideshow with Department of Commerce staff in advance and expected a Department of Commerce presentation to the advisory council in early March.

The council did not take action during the study session; presenters asked the council to incorporate local rental-data collection and the suggested policy options into the comp-plan update work.