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Planning commission debates how to make housing more attainable; agrees to form informal working group
Summary
Commissioners spent the bulk of the meeting debating whether state and local building‑code requirements are driving up housing costs, cited specific elements (insulation R‑values, blower‑door tests, soils compaction and geotechnical reports), and agreed to form an informal working group of builders, engineers and commissioners to compile a prioritized list of county regulations and state code provisions to present to county commissioners and legislators.
The King County Planning Commission devoted its longest discussion of the Oct. 8 meeting to strategies for improving moderate‑income housing availability. Commissioners and builders raised multiple examples of regulatory and cost drivers they said make new homes unaffordable in the county.
Commissioner Doug Heaton argued that some code requirements—pointing to recent shifts such as the move from R‑19 to R‑28 wall insulation and mandated blower‑door (air‑tightness) tests—have increased construction costs and suggested the state could make certain standards optional or allow local discretion. He estimated blower‑door testing and related upgrades add roughly…
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