BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A new Bellingham code change is aiming to make it easier to build affordable housing units.
The Bellingham City Council voted unanimously on Monday, Sept. 14, to give final approval for the city’s Low-Income Housing Development Incentive.
The ordinance will exempt some city-funded development projects from most zoning and land use regulations.
The exemption only applies to projects with exclusively permanently affordable units, which would be designed to attract households earning less than 80% of Area Median Income.
Councilmember Michael Lilliquist called the ordinance “well-meaning and beneficial,” but voiced frustration over what he believes will add barriers to addressing income segregation within the city.
“We have programs that create segregation of housing by income. And the solution to that, supported by city policy, should look for mixed-income development,” Lilliquist said at the meeting. “Yet this ordinance, as written, actually penalizes having mixed-income development. It says you have to be 100% affordable, you can’t mix market rate with affordable housing, you won’t get any of these supports or benefits. That’s a policy mistake.”
The city planning commission recommended the code changes in July.
The commission says removing the zoning regulations will support increased affordable housing and make those projects easier for developers to carry out.
