PORT TOWNSEND – There is a housing crisis in Jefferson County and Port Townsend, say those who have helped build most of the area’s affordable homes.
It is a crisis further exacerbated by skyrocketing land prices.
Such was the foundation of discussion during a Housing Needs Action Plan Network meeting at the Pope Marine Building, which drew nearly 40, many of them connected with affordable housing.
“The problem in Jefferson County is finding land,” said Steve Anderson, Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority director, whose agency will have helped build up to 55 “self-help” homes in the county by this summer.
Those homes are built with the assistance of a qualifying low-income owner or family’s assistance, also called “sweat equity.”
Kitsap Housing Authority is building its last eight homes this summer at Hamilton Heights in Port Townsend, he said.
Ten homes add up to about a $500,000 toward the local economy, he said, and owners learn financing and building skills while they help build their homes.
Pete Von Christierson, representing Homeward Bound, agreed.
His organization, which has been known to work in economic development, is working solely to provide housing for working-class families.
Von Christierson said Homeward Bound is trying to develop housing that is “permanently affordable,” which requires Homeward Bound to keep the land, “so the owner only pays for house.”
That reduces the price by about 25 percent, he said.
“We take the appreciation for land and they take the appreciation for the house,” said Von Christierson.
Homeward Bound operates in both Jefferson and Clallam County, he said.
Dollar and land donations from individuals, businesses and groups of businesses would help sustain such self-help programs, he said.
Mark Huth, who has served as board chairman with Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County, said of housing: “It’s always been a problem. It’s just getting worse now.”
Huth said the challenge for Habitat is providing infrastructure as well as affording land.
“Many of the lots sold at less than market value have lacked infrastructure,” Huth said.
“So as you can see, that’s a lot of money that goes toward the housing plan.”
