Lisa Gardner, City Council Communications Director, 509.625.6226
Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 8:44 a.m.
During Monday’s Legislative Session, Council voted unanimously to adopt Ordinance C36232. This interim zoning ordinance allows for permitting and construction of attached homes, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in more residential zoned areas of the City, aiming to increase construction of multi-family housing near centers and corridors.
“The housing crisis in Spokane has reached a boiling point,” said Council Member Michael Cathcart who co-sponsored the ordinance with Council Member Betsy Wilkerson. “The median home price in Spokane County has increased over 26% in a single year, reaching $430,000 in April of this year—those statistics are extreme and create a severe gap for those who are looking to achieve the American dream of homeownership and those looking to attain affordable housing. This ordinance proves that we heard the concerns of our community. We worked hard with our planning department, and as a Council agreed upon a path forward with simmering the desperate need for housing in our neighborhoods. Families and individuals in our community deserve a home they can afford in safe neighborhoods they want to live in.”
The ordinance implements strategies laid out in the City’s Housing Action Plan (HAP) and several action items from City Council’s HAP Implementation Plan and Mayor Woodward’s July 26, 2021, Housing Emergency Proclamation. This collaborative effort was an historic measure that received well-deserved applause from the audience following the vote.
