Olympia City Council to review housing displacement risk findings

The City of Olympia's Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) team will present an update on housing policies, including new state-mandated requirements and housing displacement risk findings.   

The CPED staff will discuss housing at a city council study session on Tuesday, June 24. The move is in response to recent changes in House Bill 1220, which was amended in 2021, that requires local governments to “plan for and accommodate” housing affordable to all income levels. The goal was to encourage affordable housing.  

As part of complying with the housing goals, the city partnered with nearby jurisdictions — Lacey, Tumwater and Yelm — to conduct a Housing Displacement Risk Analysis. It aims to identify communities most vulnerable to displacement, and shape policies around equity and stability.  

Olympia and its partner cities entered a contract with Seattle-based consulting firm Uncommon Bridges to assess housing displacement risk and identify strategies to protect vulnerable residents.  

The consultant held four community affinity group roundtable discussions. Participants included people with live experience and connections to manufactured housing communities, low-wage workers, military families and households, and accessory dwelling units. 

The consultant also conducted a survey that gathered feedback from 167 residents.  

According to the staff report, the displacement analysis revealed several trends in Olympia between 2010 to 2023: 

• A significant increase in racial and ethnic diversity among residents between 2010-23.  

• A decrease in cost-burdened renter households, but an increase in cost-burdened and severely cost-burdened homeowner households between 2015-19 and 2017-21.  

• A slight increase in affordable units for extremely low-income households (earning between 30% and 50% area median income (AMI).  

• A notable increase in low-income renters (50%-80% AMI) and a decrease in low-income and extremely low income-homeowners between 2015-19 and 2017-21.  

• An increase in overall homeowner households.  

Based on these findings, the analysis recommends policy actions: 

• Preserving manufactured home communities. 

• Incentivizing the maintenance of existing affordable units. 

• Allowing single-room occupancy housing in all multifamily zones.  

• Aligning Olympia’s Home Fund strategy with the county’s fund to better meet shared regional housing goals.  

The city contributed $40,000 for the consultant. The total cost for the analysis was capped at $99,999.  

The Comprehensive Plan periodic update is funded, in part, by a $175,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce.