Public commenters urge cheaper alternatives; home‑sharing program reports listings

In public comment, Dallas (identified in the meeting as a Port Angeles resident and real estate appraiser) urged the committee to evaluate whether county construction dollars produce the most units per dollar and suggested acquisition or other lower‑cost approaches could yield more housing. Dallas provided example calculations comparing a reported $9.3 million project cost for 24 units (roughly $285,000 per unit in his example) with lower‑cost development approaches and asked the committee to clarify its goals: most units, lowest cost per unit, or highest subsidy impact.

Later in the meeting Nancy Stephens (S10) provided a brief update on the Olympic Home Share program: she said there are three active listings, two more incoming, and announced a public talk at the Port Angeles library on April 18 at 2 p.m. Stephens suggested trust funds could be used to acquire existing properties to rent to households below defined AMI thresholds as an alternative to new construction.

Why it matters: Public commenters highlighted that rising per‑unit construction costs reduce how many households can be served per dollar; the committee discussed acquisition, manufactured‑home park acquisition and other strategies earlier in the meeting as possible lower‑cost options.

Next steps: Committee members suggested following up on acquisition feasibility and developer incentives and noted the home‑share program’s outreach event.