PORT ANGELES — The City of Port Angeles has made permit-ready designs for housing available for free in hopes of streamlining the construction process.
The plans — which can be downloaded from the city’s website — provide pre-approved designs for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), small lot homes and single and two-story townhomes. Available designs include a 480-square-foot studio; 600- and 800-square-foot bedrooms; 800-square-foot two-bedroom and a townhome unit of up to 2,543 square feet.
The plans are part of the city’s efforts to increase housing within city limits. Other North Olympic Peninsula jurisdictions including the City of Port Townsend and Jefferson County also offer stock housing plans.
“All of the plan sets were developed by professionals specifically for Port Angeles Municipal Code design standards and zoning requirements,” said Nathan West, Port Angeles city manager.
“Multiple housing types and configurations have been included to provide flexibility to local builders developing the various and unique sites in our city.”
The program is funded with money from the state Department of Commerce Housing Action Plan Implementation grants which provided Port Angeles with $100,000 in 2022. The are currently five pre-approved plans available at the city’s website.
In effort to increase the amount of housing in Port Angeles, the city is also offering other incentives including building permit fee waivers for eligible housing; tax exemptions for eight, 12 and 20-year multifamily properties; community enhancement grants and affordable housing sales tax and use grants.
Building plans are typically between 5-20 percent of the total construction costs, the city said, and with free plans, officials hope to help limit those costs and reduce the amount of time needed to get plans approved. Eligible housing types will also have their permit fees waived.
“The Permit-Ready Plans program aligns with our commitment to creating affordable housing opportunities,” West said. “We are proud to offer a new tool to streamline processes and reduce barriers to infill housing development in the Port Angeles community.”
Jefferson County set up a similar program this summer with the same goals in mind. Because the state updates its building codes every three years, pre-approved plans are only eligible for the duration of the current code cycle.
The Jefferson County and City of Port Townsend planning commission sub-committees will hold a joint meeting to discuss stock plans in Chimacum on Wednesday. The joint meeting will be held Tri Area Community Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
