Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Kenmore planning commission kicks off 2026 housing strategy update, emphasizes need for deeply affordable units
Summary
The Kenmore Planning Commission began a multi-month update to its 2026 Housing Strategy Plan, focusing staff and commissioners on producing more units at or below 50% area median income. Staff emphasized that deeply affordable housing typically requires subsidy and ARCH or other regional funds to assemble viable projects.
Kenmore — The Kenmore Planning Commission on April 7 began a multi-meeting review of the city's 2026 Housing Strategy Plan, with staff pressing the commission to focus policy tools on producing units serving households at or below 50% of area median income.
Todd Hall, the city's principal planner, told the commission the update is intended to implement the 2024 housing element and respond to recent state-level changes: "We need to think about proactive strategies to hit those numbers, particularly at the lower end of the income spectrum," he said, outlining an action-oriented schedule that anticipates draft code work this spring and a tentative public hearing in September.
Why it matters: Kenmore faces both high home prices and a growing share of cost-burdened households. Staff presented data showing that while Kenmore has zone capacity overall, market dynamics are not producing the large volumes of deeply affordable housing the city's regional targets…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
