Officials discuss solutions for Tualatin’s affordable-housing crisis

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Some of the attendees at the recent “Community Discussion: Barriers and Solutions to Housing” meeting were (from left) Tualatin City Councilor Christen Sacco, Tualatin City Councilor Cyndy Hillier, Metro’s Housing Director Patricia Rojas, Tualatin Mayor Frank Bubenik, Tualatin City Council President Valerie Pratt, and Washington County Director of Housing Services Molly Rogers. Barbara Sherman/Tualatin Life
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Washington County is the least affordable county for renters in Oregon and has the highest rental rates in the state.

Therefore, Tualatin has a housing crisis, or more specifically, an affordable-housing crisis. Despite planning for and building more units, Tualatin seems to be getting farther behind, which led city officials to hold a meeting on “Community Discussion: Barriers and Solutions to Housing” on Sept. 30.

Attending were Mayor Frank Bubenik, Tualatin’s city councilors and city manager, and several representatives from regional entities that work on affordable-housing issues.

“We are required by the state to hold this meeting because our severe rent-burdened population is above 25 percent,” Bubenik said. “We have staff and experts here with a goal to see more people get permanently housed.”

In Tualatin, 26.8 percent of the population is severely rent burdened for several reasons: Tualatin has a lack of affordable housing, and there is a deficit of higher-density land-use designated land; household incomes have not kept pace with rental or housing prices; and the median rental rate is up.

If a household earns $35,400 per year, it should pay no more than $890 in monthly rent or pay no more than $97,000 to $115,000 to purchase a home. A household with an annual income of $140,280 should not pay more than $3,510 on monthly rent or pay more than $386,000 to $456,000 for a home.

Molly Rogers, Washington County’s director of housing services, said, “We envision where everyone has an affordable home with the support and opportunities each one needs to survive.”

How can local jurisdictions influence housing development? They can provide funding, offer incentives and adopt development standards, which can have a generational impact on families.

In Washington County, where the vacancy rate is 8.5 percent, the median rent is $1,695, and there are 18,000 applicants on a waitlist for affordable housing. Approximately 44 percent of residents are cost-burdened, and 773 people were experiencing homelessness at the county’s 2023 point in time census.

Renters earning less than $32,000 annually face a shortage of 16,401 affordable units, and high-income renters save money by renting affordable units that would otherwise go to low-income residents.

Metro’s Housing Director Patricia Rojas noted that in 2018, voters approved a $652.8 million affordable-housing bond measure to create permanently affordable homes across Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties. Metro is working with local partners and communities to bring affordable homes to 14,000 people, including seniors, families and veterans. This includes 1,600 “very affordable” units and 1,950 family-sized units.

In May 2020, voters in the tri-county area approved a new regional supportive housing services fund paid for by a personal income tax and a business income tax. Metro supportive housing services taxes went into effect in 2021 and are set to expire in 2030 unless extended by voters.

Although there are currently 13 projects under construction around the area, “we’re going to be in this boat for a while,” Rojas said. “There isn’t enough money, so we will have to prioritize our choices. We may have to go back to voters. We have a lot more work to do and more conversations to have, but I am confident we will take steps forward.”

Rachael Duke, executive director of Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH) for the past 10 years, explained the non-profit’s goals: build affordable housing, manage it into the future, support its residents with services, provide services to the homeless, and be advocates for housing justice.

Currently the organization operates 11 apartment communities with a total of 531 homes, primarily in Washington County.

CPAH also provides services for kids, thriving-in-place services for seniors, eviction prevention/housing stabilization, community building, and providing permanent supportive housing. 

“Plambeck Gardens in Tualatin is coming soon,” she said. “There will be 116 apartments with two, three and four bedrooms. There will be two buildings, and one is opening soon.”

Several of the Tualatin city council members asked questions and made comments. Maria Reyes asked what people can do to speed up the process of finding an affordable apartment while facing long waiting lists and noted, “It’s a tough situation.” Cyndy Hillier noted that one-third of Tualatin’s population lives in Clackamas County. 

Bubenik noted that Metro is in discussions with the three county chairs “but not the mayors about a proposed (supportive housing services) bond measure next year.” Speaking to Rojas, he said, “You haven’t come out to the cities to talk about it.”

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