Commission continues proposed "local tenant preference" after debate over residency rule and school-district exemption

The Planning Commission on Wednesday held a public hearing on a proposed local tenant preference ordinance (Title 21.04) intended to give priority for affordable units to county residents, workers and other local groups, but continued the item to allow staff to refine the text after legal concerns about a durational residency requirement.

Senior planner Stephanie Rex presented the draft ordinance and the commission’s April recommendations. The ordinance would apply to projects with four or more units that are affordable or that receive county development assistance. It lists a set of preference categories — displaced households, neighborhood residents, county residents, workers employed by county employers, households with high housing cost burdens, households with children in local school districts, and agricultural employees as defined in county code — and proposes that each qualifying preference carry one…