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PSRC Housing Education & Technical Assistance Program (HETAP) Framework
As part of both its regional land-use planning efforts and its economic development strategy, the Puget Sound Regional Council has begun to create a Housing Education and Technical Assistance Program (HETAP). The goal of the HETAP is to support local governments (including elected officials, planning commissions and staff) in enacting and implementing existing regulatory tools and other incentives that promote the production and preservation of affordable housing choices located near job centers for workers at all wage levels. By helping local governments clarify and achieve their housing affordability goals, this program will not only increase the ability and capacity of jurisdictions in the central Puget Sound to address housing issues but will also increase affordable housing opportunities throughout a continuum of income categories.
Program Framework: Includes three elements:
- Education/Outreach: Engage in outreach to local governments to encourage adoption and implementation of existing housing affordability tools and incentives
- Technical Assistance Resources: Develop useful resources accessible to all local governments to support effective planning and implementation of housing affordability tools and incentives
- Technical Assistance Demonstration Project: Provide direct, intensive and ongoing technical assistance to 2-4 cities to demonstrate how effective technical assistance can create long-term success stories
| Program Element |
Components |
| Education/Outreach |
Target audience: local elected officials, planning commissions and planning/housing staff
Recruit, train and administer a Speakers Bureau
Develop education/outreach materials: PPT presentation, handout materials, etc.
Emphasize housing affordability tools currently available to implement local housing plans and policies; highlight the opportunity provided by the GMA-required 2011 comprehensive plan update to revisit and strengthen housing plans and strategies
Utilize existing regional forums to communicate message: King County Suburban Cities Association, Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, Pierce County Regional Council, Snohomish County Tomorrow
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| Technical Assistance Resources |
• Provide an online library of housing resources for local governments
- Clearinghouse of “best housing practices” and “housing affordability tools”
- 4-county inventory of housing affordability tools currently being used by local
jurisdictions and # of units produced
- Model ordinances for enacting housing affordability tools
- Model housing policies and comprehensive plans for addressing housing affordability
- Short-list of highly effective tools, with guidance on how to select and tailor them to varied communities
- “Housing Pages” directory of local housing professionals, programs, resources, etc. |
| Technical Assistance Demonstration Project |
Provide direct, intensive, and ongoing technical assistance to 2-4 cities to help plan,
develop, and execute comprehensive plans and strategies for housing affordability
Connect cities with local housing experts and/or provide a part-time Housing Planner to
execute the project
Demonstration cities will be chosen to represent the diversity of housing needs and market
conditions present throughout the region’s varied communities |
*AMI: area median household income
Back to Regional Housing Strategy Working Group
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