Public hearings set for Othello housing regulations

OTHELLO — The Othello Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. April 21 on amendments to city zoning regulations that would allow the establishment of transitional and other types of temporary and supportive housing within the city limits. A public hearing is scheduled for the April 28 Othello City Council meeting. 

Othello Community Development Director Anne Henning said state law mandates the changes. The city is not required to build what is called “STEP” housing, however. 

“We have to change our codes to allow someone to build it if they want to,” Henning said Tuesday. 

Existing city codes don’t specifically prohibit the specific types of housing, she said, but it doesn’t specifically allow them, either. However, anything that’s not specifically allowed is prohibited, she said. 

The types of housing that must be allowed include an emergency shelter, transitional housing, emergency housing and permanent supportive housing, according to the Washington Department of Commerce. 

A form of emergency housing is allowed in Othello, Henning said; people in need of emergency shelter can get a voucher for a limited stay at a hotel through Adams County agencies. But currently, that’s all there is within the city limits, she said. 

“We don’t have anything built specifically for those things that I’m aware of,” she said. 

An emergency shelter is defined as a place that provides temporary shelter for homeless people, including day centers and warming centers. Transitional housing provides housing and services for residents for two years, or longer if necessary. 

Emergency housing is temporary housing for people who are homeless or at imminent risk of it. The “temporary” designation applies to the people living at the residence, not the residence itself, Henning said. 

Permanent supportive housing is subsidized and can be permanent housing for people who have physical or behavioral health conditions that put them at risk of homelessness. The requirements to live in permanent supportive housing usually are less restrictive than other forms of housing, according to the WDOC. 

The city will not be allowed to put what the state defines as “undue burdens” on housing. In a memo for council members, Henning cited a stipulation requested by the Othello Planning Commission as an example. 

Religious organizations will be allowed to host encampments, and provide safe parking, overnight shelters and temporary small houses on property the organization owns or controls. Planning commission members expressed concern about some specifics of that. 

“The planning commission would like to restrict hosting within 1,000 feet of a school,” she said. “(The Department of) Commerce has advised this likely will not meet the test of ‘substantially burdening’ the location controlled by a religious organization.” 

The city would have the right to impose some local requirements for a hosting religious organization, including placing time limits on the use by individuals of a specific location, requiring bathroom access for people and a waste dump for RVs if they’re allowed on the site. The city could require a fence, a case-by-case review of fire and safety requirements, and could restrict the number of vehicles allowed on the site to the number already permitted for religious organizations. The hosting organization would be required to sign a memorandum of understanding with the city.  

In Othello, emergency shelters and emergency housing would have to be allowed in parts of town that are zoned for hotels, Henning said. Permanent supportive housing and transitional housing would have to be allowed anywhere in the city that is zoned for hotels, or houses and apartments.  

RCW 35A.21.430 and RCW 35.21.683 require cities to allow:  

Emergency shelter: temporary shelter for homeless people, including day centers and warming centers. 

Transitional housing: Housing and support services for up to two years or longer under qualifying conditions. 

Emergency housing: Temporary housing for people at imminent risk of becoming homeless. 

Permanent supportive housing: Subsidized housing for people who are experiencing homelessness, or could experience it, due to complex or disabling behavioral health or physical health conditions.  

SOURCE: Washington Department of Commerce