As many Port Angeles residents struggle with the cost of housing, the City is working to increase housing availability and address affordability for both renters and first-time buyers.
The City of Port Angeles’ 2025 draft Housing Action Plan presents a number of specific actions to tackle housing needs and challenges. Residents are encouraged to review the draft online now, then provide feedback by email to vision2045@cityofpa.us by Oct. 22, when the feedback will be shared at a Planning Commission Public Hearing.
“There are a lot of great new things we’re proposing, so we want the community to share their thoughts and help us figure out the right balance,” explains Jalyn Boado, Housing Administrator with the City. “The proposals are innovative and a lot of it has been based on grassroots community feedback.”
Once complete and approved, the plan will help ensure residents have access to safe, stable and affordable housing.
While some of the proposed strategies are brand new, others build on 2019 initiatives, such as the fee waiver program for infill, multi-family and affordable housing, and pre-designed, permit-ready building and engineering plans, available free to Port Angeles residents.
Here’s a look at a few new areas the City is exploring to help increase housing variety and address homelessness in the community:
- Housing Pipeline Demonstration Project – Designed to provide affordable housing and address the housing gap, the City will develop a 14,000-square-foot lot, to be sold or leased to a developer to provide housing available to individuals earning below 80 percent of the area’s median income.
- Multifamily Builders Training – In partnership with the North Peninsula Builders Association, Port Angeles Realtors Association and Peninsula College, the City will host a workshop series for prospective multifamily housing contractors and vendors, sharing best practices for building multifamily housing to meet the community’s diverse needs.
- Co-living municipal code updates – The City will explore code changes to support co-living developments, which include individually rented living and sleeping units, with shared kitchen and sometimes shared bathrooms.
- Down payment assistance – Recognizing the Port Angeles’ significant ratio of renters to homeowners, the City will work with community housing partners, the Port Angeles Association of Realtors and local financial institutions providing home loans to find innovative ways to help more community members become first-time buyers.
- City-wide Homelessness Navigator – To assist residents facing housing instability, a City navigator position would coordinate services, bridge gaps and connect residents with resources.
- Blighted Property Reduction Strategy – Recognizing the importance of all available housing stock and available land, the City will explore new steps to address nuisance vacant buildings and explore connecting the blighted property reduction strategy with the existing low-income homeownership sweat equity programs like Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County, Peninsula Housing Authority and the Olympic Housing Trust.
The final 2025 Housing Action Plan will be integrated into the City’s Comprehensive Plan Update this December.
To learn more, visit cityofpa.us/1012/Housing-Action-Plan and learn about the ideas and opportunities to transform housing in Port Angeles.
