Affordable Housing

03/22/2007: "CC & Auditor At Odds On Emergency Funding For Affordable Housing"

01/23/2007: "Robert F. Buck Family Sells Land For Affordable Housing"


( One Third of the 46 Acre Parcel outlined in blue will be made available to Home Trust)

Robert F. Buck's three children and their spouses have agreed to sell one-third of their 46 acres to a supporter of the Home Trust, and to collaborate on the creation of permanently affordable housing. The San Juan Community Home Trust announced the new partnership with Vincent and Jane Buck, Carolyn and Bob Norman, and Jai and Bequin Boreen. The land is adjacent to the former gravel pit, and within several blocks of Friday Harbor Elementary school.

The vision shared by the Buck family and the Home Trust is for a high quality mixture of detached single-family homes, town homes and co-housing, with an emphasis both on fitting in with island traditions and green building techniques. The goal would also be to provide for a diversity of family incomes and ages, including homes specifically for seniors. Both the Home Trust and the Buck family are interested in cooperating with the Trails Committee to provide a pedestrian access route from town to both the future park on the gravel pit site and Jackson Beach.

Home Trust board members Larry Soll and Peter Kilpatrick, and local realtor (and Buck cousin) Sam Buck Jr. facilitated the agreement with the owners. Kilpatrick said, "We need to really acknowledge the Buck family's contribution as being much more than just a land sale. They feel strongly that it is something that their father would have supported as a lasting contribution to this community."

Their father, Bob Buck, was San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney from 1947 to 1952, succeeding his father Sam Buck Sr. in that position. According to Vincent Buck, "He strongly believed that we all have an obligation to make a positive contribution to the communities we live in. It was his hallmark. He also would have appreciated the integration of income levels that this affordable housing neighborhood will bring to Friday Harbor."

Bob Buck's many contributions in both Seattle and in Friday Harbor included: first president of OPALCO, Friday Harbor Port Commissioner, President of the Washington Bankers Association, Chairman of the Virginia Mason Medical Center, Chairman of the Economic Development Council of Puget Sound, President of the Pacific Northwest Trade Association, President of the Rainier Club, and President of the University of Washington Alumni Association. His work included being Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration in Washington D.C. during the late 1950's, and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Rainier Bank in Seattle during the 1960's and 70's.

Bob's first wife, and the mother of Vincent and Carolyn, was Georgina Templin Buck, whose family has even deeper roots in the islands, stemming back to the Hudson Bay Company's Bellevue Farm in 1850. Her great grandfather, Robert Firth, lived in the house at American Camp that is now known as Captain George Pickett's house. Her parents owned and operated Templin's Store in Eastsound for many years.

Bob's second wife, Barbara, is Jai Boreen's mother. She continues to live in a family home near Shipyard Cove and is active in civic affairs in Friday Harbor and Seattle. Buck Park, near Eastsound, is located on land donated by Bob and Barbara Buck to the county in 1980.

A number of steps are required before any development will take place, including the expansion of the county-designated Urban Growth Area around the Town of Friday Harbor. This will require an agreement by the Town and the County and subsequent annexation of the parcel into the Town. According to Home Trust board member Larry Soll, "This is an opportunity for the Town and the County to significantly increase the number of permanently affordable homes on San Juan Island."

11/01/2006: "Permit Director: 'Abolish The Owner Builder Permit!'"

(file photo)
Planning & Building Director Ron Henrickson took the County Council -and the audience- by surprise on Tuesday, when near the end of his budget presentation he asked the Council to "abolish the Owner Builder Permit". Under questioning by the Council, Henrickson strongly attacked the ordinance, listing a litany of complaints, calling it "outdated, dangerous, and expensive to administer".

When it came time for questions and comments from the Council. Councilman Kevin Ranker told Henrickson that he had no interest in getting rid of the ordinance. Under questioning by Chair Lichter, it seemed that Henrickson was not overly familiar with the history of the OBO (Owner Builder Ordinance), and his responses to Lichter's questioning seemed at odds with some of the basic facts and intent of the OBO, and how it works.

According to Henrickson, the OBO allows a house to be constructed without regard for health and safety considerations, and that when the house is sold, the new owners may be surprised to find the building was constructed without meeting code requirements. In response to a question from Councilman Bob Myhr, on what can we change in the ordinance to address Hendrickson's complaints, he said it was not possible to change it, that we were locked into it, so all we could do is abolish it. This was only one of his statements that appeared to be confused with the facts, and at odds with the history of the ordinance The current version of it is vastly different from what it originally contained, and the addition of requirements to the ordinance that have been inserted over the years would seem to be almost the same list of areas that Henrickson said were lacking.

In regard to Hendrickson's concerns about health and safety: the ordnance contains an entire section entitled "Life safety requirements", that lists many of the standard requirements one finds in a "normal" permit, such as smoke detectors, guardrails, fire walls, and clearances for stoves, to name but a few.

As for his concern that new owners may not know what they are buying, that too is hard to square with the facts, since the mechanisms for full disclosure are greater than for a normal permit. A signed statement is filed with the Auditor that the house may not meet all normal code requirements becomes part of the title search in a sale, and the ordinance also clearly states that "No structure built under an owner/builder permit shall be sold, leased or rented" until the seller has given "the prospective purchaser, tenant or renter a written notice that the structure has been completed under the provisions of this article and may not meet all UBC standards."

Hendrickson's statements on the history of the ordinance also seemed out of step with the facts of why the OBO was created. The purpose, and it is spelled out in the very beginning of the ordinance, states that the ordinance is intended to allow "maximum flexibility as to design and materials employed." One of the early proponents of the ordinance was former County Commissioner Rhea Miller, who used the Owner Builder provision to constructed a house using the now widely accepted method of using hay bales to provide inexpensive insulation, and a base for stucco and plaster walls. Another member of the club is also a former Commissioner, John Evans, who was able to use lumber cut from storm downed trees on his property to build his house. In both cases this was made possible by use of the OB permit.

As the Owner Builder ordinance evolved over the years, about the only thing that has remained is the lack of inspections and code requirements for the actual structural aspects of a house, thereby allowing the use of post-and-pier construction, or field rock and mortar foundations, without having to hire an engineer to design and approve it, and also allowing the use of re-cycled lumber or locally cut wood, which, ironically is far superior in structural integrity and resistant to rot than the farm grown trees that has become the norm. As for Hendrickson's concerns about earthquakes and windstorms.

Cliff Lowe, a highly respected and longtime builder on the island, has told the story that when a client wanted to convert one of the old farm barns into a house, they were required to hire an engineer and also spend $5000.00 on special steel brackets "so that the barn, that has withstood countless storms without any damage, would not blow away".

If Henrickson seemed to be on shaky ground with the Council as he listed all of his complaints, it was also clear he was unaware of just how much support the ordinance has had over the years. Councilman Ranker pointed out that at least three County Commissioner's have taken advantage of the ordinance, and that he had personal knowledge of a number of people that were able to build an inexpensive house because of the ordinance, and thereby remain on the island -an early form of "affordable housing".

Ron Henrickson as been the Director of CD&P (Community Development & Planning) since moving here to accept the position eleven months ago, and has in that time expressed some strong opinions about how things should be done, and what the County is doing wrong. Not all of those opinions have gone over very well with the public, or even a number of members of his staff, and any action to now abolish the right of people to try something new, or use wood from there own land, can be expected to -once again- fill the council chambers with a crowd of very unhappy people.

09/21/2006: "Open House" For Homes For Islanders"


The public is invited to an Open House on Friday, September 22, for a ceremony at 2 p.m. and a celebration BBQ (ribs with all the fixin's) from 4 to 7 p.m., for Homes for Islanders official opening of the Leeward Cove Development. (a mile out of town on Beaverton, Look for balloons and signs)

With the assistance of the RCAC (Rural Community Assistance Corporation), and the hard work of volunteers and staff, Homes For Islanders has made it possible for some San Juan Island families to own their homes; a goal they once believed was out of reach due to the high cost of land in San Juan County. Due in part to a $357,000 loan provided by the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) to Homes for Islanders, a nonprofit organization formed in 1998, as well as an approved Community Housing Development Organization, the public will be able to see what can be achieved when the private and public sectors come together to help citizens help themselves by hard work and commitment to a goal.

The mission of Homes for Islanders is to work independently -or with other housing organizations throughout San Juan County- to provide all types of housing and housing assistance to low and moderate income and other residents in need. The RCAC loan has been used to purchase and develop five acres of "rural cluster" land just outside of Friday Harbor that is now known as Leeward Cove. The land was split into eight 3,000 square foot lots on which "mutual self-help" homes will be built by volunteers including the homeowners themselves.

RCAC has been involved in mutual self-help housing projects for more than two decades. Through mutual self-help projects, low- and very low-income rural citizens attain the American dream of homeownership. In a mutual self-help housing program, a group of eight to twelve families and individuals work together under the guidance of a construction supervisor hired by a nonprofit housing developer such as Homes for Islanders. In lieu of a down payment, those in the program provide labor as "sweat equity." Homes in any given program are built simultaneously, with future owners providing at least 65 percent of all labor. No family moves into their new home until all in the program are completed.

Mutual self-help homeowners have mortgages that are generally far less than those of standard new or resale homes and the program -which has seen nearly 25,000 homes built since 1971- boasts a delinquency of a mere 3 to 4 percent.

"This will be the first affordable housing development on San Juan Island with homeownership available on less than five acres," said RCAC loan officer, Lucy Shelby. Affordable housing is desperately needed on San Juan Island, according to John Campbell, Homes for Islanders' development project lead.

"Homes for Islanders was formed in response to a real need for affordable housing that has been exacerbated by growth management legislation in the county," Campbell said. Homeownership has become increasingly more difficult as an influx of retirees have driven the price of homes skyward, leaving homeownership well out of the reach of most local low- and moderate-income working families. In fact, according to Washington State University research, San Juan County residents have the greatest gap between household incomes and housing prices of any county in the state. That research says the median county home price is $300,000 while median household income is only $58,200; meaning a median income family can afford only 66 percent of the payment required for a median price home.

"This RCAC loan is the beginning of Homes for Islanders' help so eight hard-working local families can build and own their own homes," Campbell said.
(Story written with material from Homes for Islanders and RCAC)

06/02/2006: "FH PC Recommends Approval Of 68 Homes"


(Standing room only at joint FH Town Council & Planning Commission Hearing)
In a double header hearing Thursday night, the Friday Harbor Planning Commission recommended approval of two land use applications intended to provide new housing in Friday Harbor.

Both applicants told the combined Town Council and the Planning Commission members hearing the applications that their proposals would provide affordable housing in the -projected- 300 to 400 thousand dollar price range. The first application was proposing a traditional residential subdivision called Country Village, and according to the developer, Bobby Ross, there will be very restrictive and tight controls on the type, and style, of homes that can be constructed. The second proposal was for a planned residential development of clustered housing near the beginning of the FH Labs property north of Friday Harbor.

County Village
The first application was a subdivision application & a SEPA checklist submitted by Country Village LLC (Bobby Ross) to create 25 single family residential lots on a parcel of land next to Lampard road, and this in itself resulted in a standing room only crowd at the hearing. Due to the controversial purchase of land in the same area by the County Council for a future County Public Works facility, and a garbage transfer station, Lampard Road has been in the news this past year. The neighbors have rallied in opposition against the plan in general, and in particular have expressed their concerns of what the impacts may be on Lampard road, a narrow dead end road often used as a walking area by local island residents.

This new proposal had some of the Lampard neighbors concerned that Lampard road would either not be able to handle the new traffic loads unless it was widen and improved, and on the other hand, were concerned that improvements would increase it's use and decrease its attractiveness as a walking area.

When all was said and done, the Planning Commission agreed that the subdivision should be allowed to go forward, since in the words of Town Attorney Don Eaton, "If you find the proposal meets the requirements of the Town, then you should approve it, if you think it does not, then you need to say why not". In recommending approval, the Commissioners took note of the public's concerns about Lampard road, and while noting that whatever the problems may be, they are the Town's problems, and recommended the Town Council review and address the issues raised by the public.

Friday Cove
While the first hearing had generated a standing room crowd, the next hearing empted the room. The Friday Cove Planned Residential Development (PRD) by an off-island developer was to create a residential subdivision containing 43 clustered single family residents on a portion of the property, and create two additional lots, one of which will be donated to the Land Bank, and the other held for possible future development. After expressing some concerns about landscaping buffers, the application was recommended to the Town Council for approval, with a requirement that a tree/vegetation buffer be protected from removal in the event of the future development of the adjoining lot. As in the previous application, this one also plans to sell their units in the 300 to 400 thousand price range.

While the Planning Commission recommended approval to the Town Council, the process is far from over. The next step will be for the Town Council to review the recommendations and findings by the Planning Commission, then there will be a appeal period, and once that has passed, the property owners will have to submit additional permit applications prior to any actual construction, or alterations of the land.

02/14/2006: "Finally: Hearing On Affordable Housing Tax"

After many meetings on the subject Previous Story , and at times some anger and frustration over the process, the proposed new chapter to the County Code that will allow, and spell out how, a collection of a new one-half of one percent tax on real estate sales, will be collected and spent, is ready for the first round of formal public input. If all goes well today at the hearing (2:30 pm, Tuesday, February 14), the next chance for the public to express their views on the subject will be at an election to be held in May of this year.

In that election, the proposal to collect money from the sale of real estate and make it available to a "Housing Bank Commission" that will become an umbrella group for receiving various funds from the private sector, the State, Federal programs, and now from a tax on real estate, will be on the ballot for voter approval. Any monies collected will be used to fund financing aid for the construction of affordable housing. Previous story on how it will work

12/12/2005: "Affordable Housing "Bank" Still Moving Forward"

(Karen Vedder, SJC Deputy Prosecutor, and John Manning, County lead on the project, discuss proposed Ordinances at an earlier meeting with the BOCC)

The next interesting step to be taken before the BOCC adopts two proposed draft Ordinance that will allow the County to collect, and disburse, a new excise tax on the sale of real estate, is to see what the State Attorney General may have to say on the legality of the draft ordinances.

While the first Ordinance collects the tax, a second Ordinance has been proposed that will result in the "restructuring" of the existing Affordable Housing Commission into an Affordable Housing Bank that will be the county agency that is responsible for disbursing the money collected from the new tax.

While the Prosecutors office seems at this point to be comfortable with the legality of the new tax (after forcefully questioning the first couple of submittals) Karen Vedder pointed out to the BOCC that there are a number of questions on how the enforcement and follow-up of operating the housing bank (the second Ordinance) will work once it has been passed.

The questions appear to be generated by the simple fact that the proposed Ordinance is simply silent on a number of questions that come to mind when it is perused. As examples she asked what happens if a loan is not paid? Who will be responsible to take action? What if there is illegal activity in, or on, a property? What happens if the owner of a property fails to maintain it? If someone qualifies for a home, and then -for whatever reason- becomes flush with money, do they get to stay there forever, even if there making huge amounts of money as a result of their job or profession? Can they pass on the ownership to a family member even if that person would not normally qualify?

The questions point out that what has been hotly discussed for adoption these past months (and will be up to the voters to decide in May, if all goes as planned), is not how all of this is going to work, but only that "something"- in addition to existing programs- is going to be done to provide additional affordable housing.

If one were to look for a simple example to understand what is going on, one could say the Ordnance that will result in the creation of the Affordable housing Bank is analogous to our Comprehensive Plan, in that it is a clustering of ideas, policies and goals; but no regulations, as to how the programs are going to work on a day-to-day basis. Whatever is done is going to have to be reviewed at some point by the planners if it is to become a part of the overall County Housing plan, and so far that appears to not have been happening.

The second ordinance is easy to understand, it simply goes out and grabs the money (99% paid by the purchaser of any real estate sale, and 1% from the seller) to pay for both the creation of the ideas and goals in the first Ordinance into a reality, and also to help pay for -at least- some of the expenses of making "it" all happen. That is, making it happen once we decide what exactly, and how, it is suppose to happen. With respect to the imbalance in who pays the bill, the organizers told the BOCC that those who move here create the problem, so they should pay the costs of solving the problem. The tax will not be retroactive to past sales.

At the end of the work last session, the BOCC agreed by consensus to move forward with the ordnances once discussed minor changes have been made, and then the Ordinances will be ready to be advertised for public comment.

09/19/2005: "New Proposed Tax Moves Slowly Forward"

(Left to Right: John Manning & Randy Gaylord from the County, and Paul Losleben & Susan Dehlendorf from the Housing Project)

The Housing Bank concept continues to move slowly toward appearing on a ballot for voter approval -or rejection. After an initial false start, the group organizing the drive to place an excise tax on the sale of property has made steady progress toward completion of the legal steps necessary to comply with state law in presenting the tax to the voters. If approved, the measure will place a one half percent real estate tax on the sale of all property in San Juan County.

The money collected will be used to fund financing aid for housing through an " application process through which it (the Housing Bank Commission) will consider proposals from private and nonprofit organizations. It will work with financial institutions, private builders and non-profit community organizations to assemble teams around specific projects. It will then respond to proposals by these teams and will apply capstone funding to provide the essential last element of funding needed.

The Housing Bank Commission will recommend to the County Commissioners and the county will then award contracts to the most viable projects that meet the Housing Bank's criteria.", Representatives of the housing group recently met with the BOCC to hammer out differences between their suggested ordinance, and the ordinance that the Prosecuting Attorneys office had prepared.

The issue before the BOCC was resolving which of the ordinances, if any, would appear on a February special election ballot, that if approved by the voters would allow the proposed tax. One of the main sticking points was the question of just who would be paying the tax. The Housing Project group (a part of the Navigating Our Future organization) wanted to make the tax burden fall on the buyer, but the County pointed out that state law requires some sharing of the tax by both the seller and the buyer.

After discussion by the BOCC, a resolution (97-2005) was passed that allows the process to move forward. The resolution will restructure the existing Affordable Housing Fund Commission, and re-name it the "Housing Bank Commission", which will bring it more into line with the goal of the proposed Housing Bank concept.

The next step will be a final ordinance draft that will be made available to the public for comment in a public hearing process, and then the measure -in some form or other- will go to the voters for a Yes or No vote.

08/19/2005: "Housing Bank Proposal Will Not Be On Ballot"

After many meetings, planning and a lot of hard work, the Housing Bank concept will not be on the November ballot after all. Why not depends on who you talk to. According to Paul Losleben of the Orcas Research Group, the blame is due to the failure of the Prosecuting Attorney' office. Mr. Losleben states " I contacted the Prosecuting Attorney's office regularly to inquire about progress. Each time, I was assured that they -were working on it.' I and other members of our group kept the County Commissioners informed of our assumed progress on the ordinance and as the time grew short, we asked them to assist in getting the ordinance through the Prosecuting Attorney's office in time."

As far as Mr. Loslesben knew, everything was going along as it should, and the Prosecutors office did not contact him with questions or concerns until "Karen Vedder called to let me know that they had missed the deadline" because the Prosecuting Attorney's office works for other departments and that since no department had been assigned to -bird dog' the ordinance, that it was not given priority in her office".

Mr. Loslesben has talked to Commissioner Lichter (Kevin Ranker was sitting on a week long Shoreline Hearings Board hearing) about the problem and believes that both he and Ranker "will agree that our county government must become more responsive to the needs of the public. This kind of cover-your-butt government cannot be allowed to continue".

While it is too late to be on the ballot, the group plans to keep moving forward on the project, and will be attending the August 23 BOCC meeting, where they have been told there will be a resolution discussion relating to the issue. In the meantime, they are urging the public to express their concerns directly to the BOCC.

Randy Gaylord explained to The Island Guardian that he believed the problem was a result of miscommunication, and that he is apologetic about any role his department may have played in it. Gaylord said the BOCC lead on the project was Commissioner Miller, and the that the BOCC was required to pass a resolution, and approve a plan on how the tax money gathered would be spent, in order for the measure to be placed on the ballot for the election in November, but that did not happen prior to Commissioner Miller departed the Board.

While it is too late to be on the ballot, the group plans to keep moving forward on the project, and will be attending the August 23 BOCC meeting, where they have been told there will be a resolution discussion relating to the issue. If the BOCC approves the plan for the expenditures of the tax money that the measure will generate, and passes the require resolution, the measure will appear on the ballot for the election that will take place in February.

06/08/2005: "Island Housing Solutions Summit"