Residents and local officials offer creative ideas during public comment on housing

During the meeting’s public comment period, a series of residents and local officials offered support for the committee’s work and suggested creative approaches to expand housing supply and reduce costs.

Amy Miller (S1), a Port Angeles resident who noted she also serves on Port Angeles City Council but was speaking as a resident, thanked the room and urged the committee to follow the presenter’s recommendations. “I am making public comment to express gratitude for everyone in this room… and to make solutions,” she said.

Danny Steiger (S14), representing the City of Port Angeles, encouraged the body to consider a wide set of creative options and to study examples from elsewhere. “This was admittedly 15 minutes on chat g p t, which I realize can give you very false positives,” he said, but offered to follow up with a researched report comparing different approaches.

Dallas Petroski (S10) suggested a mix of public‑private strategies and nontraditional housing models such as tiny‑home villages and shared‑amenity communities, and he encouraged exploring legal interpretations to accelerate conversions of accessory dwelling units into separate ownership where feasible.

Nancy Stephens and others highlighted local programs, including the Olympic Home Share platform, and asked the committee to continue outreach to recruit hosts and renters.

Speakers generally voiced support for continued collaboration between the city and county and urged the committee to consider both conventional funding and innovative partnerships; no formal policy changes resulted from public comment at this meeting.