Thurston County Planning Commission backs zero minimum parking for new Grand Mound multifamily, raises Grand Mound densities and recommends Thurston 2045 update

The Thurston County Planning Commission on Aug. 27 voted to set a minimum of 0 parking spaces per multifamily unit in the county’s rural unincorporated areas where multifamily developments of five or more units are allowed, unanimously approved proposed increases to residential densities in the Grand Mound urban growth area and recommended that the County adopt the Thurston 2045 comprehensive-plan update as amended by the commission.

Maya Tipel, senior planner with Thurston County Community Planning, told commissioners the draft policy gives a range of 0 to 1.5 spaces per unit as an option and that the existing standard is 2 spaces per unit for multifamily developments of five or more units in the Grand Mound area. “We have to select something within that range,” Tipel said. “The existing number is 2 … and we deferred that discussion to this meeting.”

The debate centered on housing affordability and transportation access. Commissioner Daniel Bumbarger said reducing parking requirements could lower housing costs and increase unit counts because developers would allocate less square footage to parking. “More density means a cheaper house in a complex,” Bumbarger said. Commissioner Colin Bartlett and others urged commissioners to weigh whether areas targeted for higher density would have transit or other…