Sequim planning commissioners review draft 2025 housing chapter, discuss AMI, incentives and coordination with Clallam County
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Summary
At its Nov. 18 meeting the Sequim Planning Commission examined the draft housing chapter of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan, asking staff to define AMI in the narrative, to show dollar AMI values, and reviewing proposed incentives (an "affordable housing exceptions" code, multifamily tax-exemption options) and coordination with Clallam County on urban growth area allocations; no formal land-use decisions were taken.
The Sequim Planning Commission on Nov. 18 reviewed the draft housing chapter of the city's 2025 Comprehensive Plan, pressing staff for clearer definitions of area median income and discussing incentives the city could offer to encourage affordable and middle housing.
Planning staff said the packet will be revised to add an explicit AMI definition and to display the reported family AMI for Clallam County (shown in the materials as roughly $93,000) directly in the chapter narrative so readers are not required to consult an appendix or footnote. "We'll add an AMI definition down under source," staff said, and agreed to move the exhibit showing the AMI up to the first page of the housing chapter so the dollar amounts appear in the text.
Commissioners focused on how the city can promote deeply affordable housing while avoiding measures that might "chill" middle-housing development. Staff described a drafted "affordable housing exceptions" section of the code that would provide incentives'for projects that commit to long-term affordability'by permitting increased density and waiving or modifying development standards such as setbacks and height limits. As staff put it, "the affordability is the thing that gets you those incentives." The draft would aim to preserve affordability over long terms (staff referenced a 50-year affordability target in the discussion) and permit nonprofit housing providers or private developers using subsidies to apply for the incentives.
The commission also discussed the city's modest affordable housing tax-credit fund, which staff said currently contains about $150,000. Staff noted the fund could be used for limited gap financing or targeted measures such as permit-fee waivers but would be far too small to build and sustain housing on its own. "This fund will never raise enough money to actually build and sustain housing," staff said, describing the fund as useful for closing financing gaps rather than delivering whole projects.
On the topic of tax policy, staff walked through multifamily tax-exemption (MFTE) options (7-, 10- and 20-year programs), describing how some MFTE variants include an affordable-unit requirement while others are market-rate tools used to make projects feasible. Staff warned that MFTE programs shift tax revenue and that counties use different approaches to distributing the foregone revenue, so the local net fiscal effect varies by county and program design.
Commissioners also asked about coordination with Clallam County on urban growth area (UGA) allocations. Staff said they have been working with the county's Department of Community Development on a land-capacity analysis by income band. Because the county's UGA currently has little nonresidential zoning allowing emergency housing, staff said some upzoning is needed in the UGA and that Sequim can accommodate a reallocation of 27 emergency housing beds into the city limits if the City Council concurs. "We have capacity for 5,400 beds in four of our commercial zoning districts," staff said when explaining how the city could absorb the allocation.
Habitat for Humanity's project that the city is sponsoring with a CHIP grant was discussed as a near-term example: staff said the project has land-use entitlement and needs final engineering and construction permits, and that the grant is valid through June 2027, so construction will likely need to start in 2026 to meet grant timelines.
On outreach and implementation, staff said they will re-establish a developer forum, attend the County Housing Solutions Committee, and continue one-on-one meetings with local developers and nonprofit housing providers (including Habitat for Humanity and Serenity House). They also proposed an annual check-in on short-term rental trends using the AirDNA data service to determine whether additional policy action is needed.
No formal land-use decisions or ordinance adoptions were made at the meeting. The commission approved its Oct. 21 minutes by motion early in the session and adjourned at 6:45 p.m. The draft housing chapter and accompanying technical documents will return for further review in December; staff said a redlined full plan will be distributed after the Dec. 16 meeting for review over the holiday season.
