Commerce awards nearly $5 million to 12 projects through Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Department of Commerce today announced a third round of Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program (CHIP) grants that will help expedite construction of 1,102 affordable housing units in 12 counties statewide. The nearly $5 million in funding awarded to local governments can be used to pay for water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure…
Tag Archives: Growth management
OLYMPIA, WA —Eight Washington cities have been named Smart Communities Award winners for 2022. Launched in 2006, the Governor’s Smart Communities Awards program annually recognizes local governments and their partners for exceptional work in implementing the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA) to shape future growth, economic vitality and quality of life in communities across Washington. Award winners can serve as models for other communities on solutions to issues of statewide…
Projects will develop vulnerability assessments and identify measures for reducing vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Department of Commerce has awarded $2.1 million in growth management planning grants to help King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and multiple cities within each county, plan for local impacts of climate change. Proposals from the 27 communities awarded funding, reveal a wide range of creative approaches…
Funding will support housing strategies to increase urban residential building capacity and streamline development regulation in 28 communities across Washington state. OLYMPIA, WA – Decades of underbuilding homes at all income levels has created a supply and demand imbalance playing out today in the affordable housing and homelessness crisis in communities across Washington state. One study suggests the shortage is more than 225,000 units. To help communities address this growing…
Grants fund utility connection fees and improvements needed to connect affordable housing to municipal water and sewer. OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington State Department of Commerce today announced $17.5 million in funding for 26 projects that will support the development of nearly 2,100 affordable housing units throughout the state. Funds will lower the effective cost of development by about $8,000 for each housing unit. “The communities receiving grant funds have…
Annual awards recognize outstanding work in community planning and development Olympia, WA — The Washington State Department of Commerce today called for nominations for the 16th annual Governor’s Smart Communities Awards, a program that recognizes outstanding work by local governments and their partners on long-term community planning and development. Nominees offer a view into the values and long-term priorities of their communities through their plans and actions shaping how they…
Funding for housing action plans and transit-oriented development helps communities address years of underbuilding that left middle and lower-income residents priced out of housing as state’s population boomed. A 2020 report tagged Washington state with one of the 10 worst housing shortages in the nation, underbuilding by over a quarter of a million homes over the prior 15 years. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies documented the nationwide housing shortage and…
State produces a technical assistance resource to promote civilian-military coordination in land-use planning OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington State Department of Commerce today released the Washington State Guidebook on Military and Community Compatibility, a technical guide to land use planning surrounding military installations. Primary users of the guidebook will be professional planners and municipalities. It also promotes general public awareness and information exchange about the importance of coordinated civilian-military planning…
MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design to develop Washington State Guidebook for Military and Community Compatibility Olympia, Wash. – The Washington State Department of Commerce announced today that independent consulting firm MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design, LLP will develop a Washington State Guidebook for Military and Community Compatibility. MAKERS, which has offices in Seattle and San Diego, Calif., will help Commerce develop written guidance and technical assistance tools for communities across…