T1.2 Middle-density housing *
Reevaluate and change zoning as needed to allow for a range of housing types to promote social economic integration of housing near the region’s urban centers or moderate-density zones.
Olympia has been working on a missing middle housing ordinance for the past several years. Some features of the proposal and the city’s failures to follow the legal requirements in the process have generated a lot of well organized citizen opposition. (There’s a summary on the Overview – Local Density & Smart Growth page.)
Portland just passed an ordinance allowing up to four homes on almost any lot in the city, and sixplexes for price-regulated projects. It also removed removed all parking mandates from three quarters of the city’s residential land, combining with a recent reform of apartment zones to essentially make home driveways optional citywide for the first time since 1973.