City Council passes first round of code amendments during six-month moratorium

The Gig Harbor City Council on May 29 passed its first group of amendments to the city’s six-month residential development moratorium.

Ordinance No. 1389 passed 6-1. It allows what the council refers to as “group one” amendments to the city’s municipal code to become law. The ordinance was brought to the council for a first reading and consideration during the May 14 meeting and changes were made after comments heard from the public and Washington Department of Commerce. Councilman Jim Franich voted against the ordinance.

The amendments include:

• Amending Chapters 16.01 and 16.04 in the municipal code to define “serial short plats” and to prohibit serial short plats.
  
  
• Amending Chapter 17.14 to allow residential development in zones B-2 and C-1 with a conditional-use permit; allow residential in the Downtown Business District as long as the residence is above or below street-level commercial uses (also known as vertical zoning); allow a maximum density of six dwelling units per acre in B-2 and C-2 zones and allow a maximum of eight dwelling units per acre in the Downtown Business District.
  
  
• Amending Chapter 17.16 to eliminate a minimum number of dwelling units per acre requirement in R-1 zones.
  
  
• Amending Chapter 17.89 to prohibit the use of conditional use permits to increase maximum dwelling units allowed in any zone.
  
  

During the May 29 meeting, two residents spoke on the issue of eliminating residential zoning.

John Holmaas, Gig Harbor resident, said the city is missing out on opportunities to provide additional affordable housing, with beautiful views of the local mountain ranges. Holmaas said he and his wife own some commercial-zoned properties with older buildings that will need to be redeveloped in the future.

“For the city to limit that property to only eight units per acre, it could hold a lot more units,” Holmaas said. “It would have great views of Mount Rainier and great views of the Olympics. You can gain something really nice up there.”

Marlene Druker, Gig Harbor resident, spoke about the apartment complexes near Harbor Greens Natural Market on Olympic Drive Northwest, saying those apartments are great examples of how allowing more dwelling units in commercial areas can improve a city.

“When we talk about the character of the city, it’s the height and the size of the buildings that are more relevant,” she said. “That’s a site under five acres, and there are 60 dwelling units there. I don’t understand why that density is too much for the city of Gig Harbor. That is a chance for people to have fairly affordable housing. There is some demand for that kind of housing.”

Mayor Kit Kuhn said he agreed with Druker and Holmaas that condos and apartments could be a great way to offer diverse housing options in certain parts of the city.

"I am afraid of sweeping rules across the harbor,” Kuhn said. “Condos can be more affordable than houses. If we eliminate, then we have to increase in certain areas."

Councilman Bob Himes said he didn’t believe the amendments were perfect, but would rather pass the amendments as a stop-gap measure and then bring the issue back to council in the future.

“I have concerns that we are two-thirds of the way through this moratorium and we haven’t passed our first group, our supposedly, easiest group of amendments,” Himes said.

Franich tried unsuccessfully to convince his colleagues to lower the number of maximum dwelling units allowed in the Downtown Business District from eight to six.

“We have too many people who want to come here, and we need to have control on density until our infrastructure can contain this,” he said.

Councilman Spencer Hutchins, who works full-time as the owner of a local real estate firm, did not approve of Franich's measure.

“When we limit the number of units, we are not limiting the size,” Hutchins said. “We are going to make larger units. And that affects people in different socio-economic states. We don't want to out-price people from our community.”

Franich's proposal lost on a 4-3 vote.

This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 12:53 PM with the headline "City Council passes first round of code amendments during six-month moratorium."