Spokane Mayor Highlights Housing Strategies in State of the City Address

In her State of the City address, Mayor Nadine Woodward emphasized Housing supply as one of her six key strategic initiatives. Among her key highlights presented:

• Declared a housing emergency and set in motion a lengthy set of action items to address the need for additional inventory and access
• Reduced the single-family residential permit processing commitment to 2-weeks, (down from 6 weeks)
• Met second consecutive year of record-demand for residential and total construction
• Achieved a two decade high level of multi-family units
• Prioritized hiring to focus on housing outcomes (new planning director added)
• Leading a Shaping Spokane Housing Initiative that proposes more flexibility for residential development, particularly for duplexs, townhouses, accessory dwelling units, and short-term rentals in commercial zones.
• Addressing the State Legislature on prioritizing land lost to the North Spokane Corridor project for housing inventory
• Implementing the Housing Action Plan with a priority on code changes to allow for different and more flexible development options
• Reconvening the Housing Task Force to work on local and regional solutions

In recent weeks, the Mayor’s team has outlined her slate of code changes (READ THE STORY HERE) to the Spokane Association of REALTORS, with promises of more changes still to come.