Recommended Future Steps
Expanded Language Inclusion
Lack of funding for language translation was a primary barrier in equity and inclusion with non-English speaking populations in conducting this research. Spanish language speakers and Hispanic populations make up the largest portion of non-English language speakers in Bellingham and Whatcom County, and Spanish language community members were the main language minority group contacted in conducting this research. There are several existing community advocacy groups, including the Community-to-Community Partnership, a newly forming Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who are already actively working to support Hispanic populations in Bellingham and Whatcom County. There is also a Hispanic Student Club at Western Washington University, as well as faculty who are first-language Spanish speakers.
When planning language inclusion and engagement, community partners express the vital importance of in-depth and long-term engagement. Specifically, this means not just translating engagement content into additional languages but translating the results of their input back to the target language community and ensuring meaningful, ongoing inclusion of minority community needs and contributions. This requires a dedication to ongoing dialogue and partnership with minority communities.
Conduct a city-wide Zoning Audit
Bellingham currently has over 100 different zoning districts, specific to each designated neighborhood. Each one is developed directly with individual neighborhood associations, and many of them are overdue for update and revision in compliance with current comprehensive planning requirements under the Growth Management Act and recently passed legislation. Conduct a city-wide zoning audit that compares existing housing inventory in Bellingham with new density allowed under House Bills 1110, 1337 and projected 20-year density goals under House Bill 1220.
Case Studies & Model Programs:
- St Paul, Minnesota – 1-4 Unit Housing Study Phase 2. Zoning Text Amendments, March3, 2023.
Continuing Research
Regional Equity Dashboard
Create a Bellingham/Whatcom County Housing Equity Dashboard as a live online web app using ESRI software services and programs, modeled after the Tacoma Equity Dashboard. This could be a multi-quarter studio class with WWU GIS and Planning students. The primary metrics to track will be owner occupancy vs rental units, homeownership rates amongst racial minorities, and tracking cost of housing units against available local jobs.
Case Studies & Model Programs:
- Tacoma, WA (Home Page – Tacoma Equity Map, n.d.)
- Kirkland, WA (City of Kirkland Housing Dashboard, n.d.)
Is there still a meaningful difference between “Accessory Dwelling Units” and a Duplex or Triplex?
What do we mean by the term “accessory dwelling unit”? As of the 2023 package of pro-housing laws passed by the WA State Legislature, there is no meaningful distinction between a two- or three-unit multifamily residential property, and a single-family home that has added the maximum allowable number of accessory dwelling units (currently two units, under HB 1337). At this time, the only functional distinction between a single-family lot with accessory dwelling units on it, and a duplex or triplex, is simply whether the lot was zoned single family or multifamily to begin with. In Seattle, the legal structures of condo associations are being used to produce homeownership opportunities. As practiced in Seattle, commercial developers purchase single family properties for re-development into micro-cluster subdivisions, legally structured as a condo association, maxing out allowable density for accessory dwelling units on a single-family lot.
Table 15 – Is It Single Family or Multifamily?
| Single Family with an ADU | Duplex, Triplex, Fourplex | More than Four Units | ||
| May be zoned Single Family or Multifamily | Any existing residential zone w/in urban boundaries (hb1110) | Must be Zoned Multifamily (policy is undetermined) | ||
| Units may have separate utility meters, units may also have a single utility meter. | Units must have separate utility meters. | Units must have separate utility meters. | ||
| Accessory structures may be constructed with a separate sewer connection. | Lot typically has a single sewer main. | Lot typically has a single sewer main. | ||
| Likely to be owner occupied. | May be owner occupied, more likely to be fully operated as rental units. | Maybe condo units, but typically owned/operated by commercial developer | ||
| Eligible for owner-occupancy mortgage rates & first-time homebuyer down payment assistance. | May be eligible for owner-occupancy mortgage | Not eligible for any kind of subsidized or federally backed mortgage assistance, treated as commercial investment property. |
The impacts and implications of House Bill 1110 on residential property development require multiple industries to reconsider the definitions of single family and multifamily zoning, as well as single-family and multifamily property appraisals. Does single family zoning still exist in established urban zones within the State of Washington? What are the impacts on mortgage finance industries, and the kind of mortgage products that are available to home buyers? The answers to these questions will be negotiated over the next several years, as housing industries adapt to the impacts of House Bill 1110.
Economic Analysis for Local, Vertically Integrated, Prefabricated Modular or Panelized Housing Production
This researcher has made extensive reference to modular housing programs in the literature review and case studies sections, as well as reviewing the potential cost savings of modular pre-fabrication for affordable housing production. It is also true that the company, 360 Modular, has already made an attempt to produce prefabricated modular housing specifically to serve low- and middle-income households in Whatcom County and their business model failed. 360 Modular was established in 2020 with extensive support and encouragement directly from the Port of Bellingham, including a generous land grant that included a warehouse and operating facility located in Ferndale. Despite this economic support and numerous contracts with both Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham that included building emergency weather shelters, stacking modular units for multifamily construction, 600sf detached accessory units, and FEMA trailers, 360 Modular was not able to maintain a positive cash flow and they were not able to produce a small footprint housing unit that was genuinely affordable to target low-income demographics while also following International Building Code and Energy Code standards for insulation thickness and high-efficiency mechanical appliances. When I toured the 360 Modular factory in August 2022, they also cited excessive delays in permitting processes as a significant barrier to maintaining business operations. By the end of the 2022 fiscal year, 360 Modular had folded and ceased business operations.
This researcher recommends a detailed economic study of why the 360 Modular business model failed, with comparison to what is working for the FABER Construction business model and emerging modular housing producers across the United States, for a consideration of what it would take to develop vertically integrated modular housing production in Whatcom and/or Skagit Counties. Such a study should include case studies of winners from the Enterprise Community Partners Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge: MiCasita in Texas, and Forterra in Tacoma/Darrington.
