Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Affordable Hometown Port Townsend?

Affordable Hometown Port Townsend is a non-profit organization of Port Townsend residents that are advocating for affordable, workforce and middle-income housing while seeking to minimize the negative impacts of growth on existing Port Townsend neighborhoods.

2. What are the goals of AHPT?

At the outset, we are asking the City for clarification of the enacted zoning regulations.

We want to take the twenty-year housing goals for Port Townsend that have been adopted by the Washington State Department of Commerce and create a housing plan that is the best fit for Port Townsend. This means significantly amending the recently enacted upzoning changes and ensure that any changes accomplish the desired goals of affordability for all concerned residents: unhoused, unemployed, working, and fixed-income.

Our concern is that the City’s upzoning is extreme and could lead to housing teardowns and displacement of residents, outpace infrastructure, strain neighborhoods, and thereby fail to deliver meaningful affordability.

3. Why is AHPT concerned about the City Council’s upzone?

We are worried about the scale and speed of the changes, including:

Up to a sixplex in a single structure 45’ high allowed on 5,000 SF in most residential neighborhoods
Failure to address parking challenges and/or revisit the 2023 decision to eliminate any on-site parking requirements for new building
Increased building heights (35–45 feet)
Reduced setbacks and elimination of protections that kept your neighbor from taking away your sunlight
Potential stormwater and drainage impact due to 60% lot coverage
No affordable housing or anti-displacement measures

The changes adopted far exceed what similar cities have adopted and what is required to address our housing shortfall while failing to ensure housing for all income levels.

4. Is this effort anti-housing or anti-growth?

No, it’s about preventing the unintended consequences of growth. The concern is not about whether housing should be built — it’s about how, where, and what. And how fast.

This group supports:

Thoughtful, phased growth
Housing strategies that truly improve affordability
Development that matches local infrastructure capacity
Local builders, local financing

5. What are the biggest infrastructure concerns?

Many residents believe local systems are already strained and may not be ready for rapid, widespread density increases.

Concerns include:

Road congestion and traffic safety
Further road surface deterioration
Parking spillover into surrounding neighborhoods
Stormwater systems that are fragmented or undersized
Utilities and public services that may lack funding to scale up
Cost shifting burdens on residents while developers profit and run if infrastructure upgrades fall to residents rather than developers
Unwarranted increased land valuation due to speculation, leading to higher taxes.

6. Will upzoning automatically create affordable housing?

No. Increasing the supply does not always lead to more affordable house. Extreme development in many other places has shown that upzoning leads to:

Gentrification and remote ownership
Market-rate or luxury development
Rising land values can encourage speculation and higher taxes
Existing rental homes could be replaced with higher-priced units
Renters, seniors, and small businesses could face displacement pressure

We are seeking clear, enforceable affordability strategies, not just increased density.

7. Are there alternative approaches being proposed?

Yes. We support more targeted and phased solutions, such as:

Focusing higher density near transit and commercial areas
Gradual increases in targeted areas with infrastructure instead of blanket upzones
Incentives for ADUs, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes
Inclusionary zoning and subsidized housing tools
Growth strategies that support local builders and local jobs
Reintroducing neighborhood design, including restoring daylight plane protections where appropriate.
The City Planning Commission recommended four units per lot (32 per block) in the R-II per 5000 SF lot. The City should consider adopting that as the default limit in the R-II, instead of an urban density of six units (48 per block), as more in keeping with the small-town character of most of the R-II in Port Townsend.

The goal is to align growth with capacity, character, and affordability outcomes.

8. Why does city size and character matter?

Smaller, tourist-based cities often have:

Housing markets that attract outside buyers and speculative pressure
Limited infrastructure capacity
Volunteer boards and smaller municipal staff

What might be manageable in a large metro area can feel overwhelming and destabilizing in a smaller community. The State of Washington and its Department of Commerce treat small cities differently for a reason. Adopting strategies that may work for high population areas do not necessarily work in small cities.

9. Didn’t the City have to adopt these upzoning changes under state law?

No. Port Townsend already adopted what was required in 2023 when it allowed two detached ADUs in all areas that allow single-family homes and the conversion of single-family homes into fourplexes.

10. Didn’t the City have to adopt the Comprehensive Plan by the end of 2025 or lose grants?

While the City was required to adopt a Comprehensive Plan by December 31, 2025, its original Public Participation Plan stated that the Plan and any development regulations would be rolled out to the Public in March or April, go to the Planning Commission in April or May and be passed by the City Council in May or June. What actually happened is that it went to the Planning Commission on October 23, 2025, without an advanced public rollout and the Public was not presented a Plan with draft regulations at the City Council level until November 17, 2025.

11. I heard the City Council ignored the recommendations of the Planning Commission. Is that true?

Yes. The Planning Commission adopted lower density and lot coverage requirements than the City Council. Normally any changes would go back to the Planning Commission but that did not happen. In fact, some changes, like the adoption of sixplexes in most residential areas, were so last minute they were introduced after the City Council had closed the public comment period.

12. How can I help?

There are several ways to participate:

Make a donation
Submit public comments to the City Council or Planning Commission
Attend City Council or Planning Commission meetings
Join neighborhood meetings or town halls
Write letters to the editor or opinion pieces
Contact councilmembers directly
Share information with neighbors and local networks
Join our mailing list by going to www.affordablehometownpt.org

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Affordable Hometown Port Townsend?

Affordable Hometown Port Townsend is a non-profit organization of Port Townsend residents that are advocating for affordable, workforce and middle-income housing while seeking to minimize the negative impacts of growth on existing Port Townsend neighborhoods.

2. What are the goals of AHPT?

At the outset, we are asking the City for clarification of the enacted zoning regulations.

Our concern is that the City’s upzoning is extreme and could lead to housing teardowns and displacement of residents, outpace infrastructure, strain neighborhoods, and thereby fail to deliver meaningful affordability.

3. Why is AHPT concerned about the City Council’s upzone?

We are worried about the scale and speed of the changes, including:

Up to a sixplex in a single structure 45’ high allowed on 5,000 SF in most residential neighborhoods

Failure to address parking challenges and/or revisit the 2023 decision to eliminate any on-site parking requirements for new building

Increased building heights (35–45 feet)

Reduced setbacks and elimination of protections that kept your neighbor from taking away your sunlight

Potential stormwater and drainage impact due to 60% lot coverage

No affordable housing or anti-displacement measures

The changes adopted far exceed what similar cities have adopted and what is required to address our housing shortfall while failing to ensure housing for all income levels.

4. Is this effort anti-housing or anti-growth?

No, it’s about preventing the unintended consequences of growth. The concern is not about whether housing should be built — it’s about how, where, and what. And how fast.

This group supports:

Thoughtful, phased growth

Housing strategies that truly improve affordability

Development that matches local infrastructure capacity

Local builders, local financing

5. What are the biggest infrastructure concerns?

Many residents believe local systems are already strained and may not be ready for rapid, widespread density increases.

Concerns include:

Road congestion and traffic safety

Further road surface deterioration

Parking spillover into surrounding neighborhoods

Stormwater systems that are fragmented or undersized

Utilities and public services that may lack funding to scale up

Cost shifting burdens on residents while developers profit and run if infrastructure upgrades fall to residents rather than developers

Unwarranted increased land valuation due to speculation, leading to higher taxes.

6. Will upzoning automatically create affordable housing?

No. Increasing the supply does not always lead to more affordable house. Extreme development in many other places has shown that upzoning leads to:

Gentrification and remote ownership

Market-rate or luxury development

Rising land values can encourage speculation and higher taxes

Existing rental homes could be replaced with higher-priced units

Renters, seniors, and small businesses could face displacement pressure

We are seeking clear, enforceable affordability strategies, not just increased density.

7. Are there alternative approaches being proposed?

Yes. We support more targeted and phased solutions, such as:

Focusing higher density near transit and commercial areas

Gradual increases in targeted areas with infrastructure instead of blanket upzones

Incentives for ADUs, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes

Inclusionary zoning and subsidized housing tools

Growth strategies that support local builders and local jobs

Reintroducing neighborhood design, including restoring daylight plane protections where appropriate.

The goal is to align growth with capacity, character, and affordability outcomes.

8. Why does city size and character matter?

Smaller, tourist-based cities often have:

Housing markets that attract outside buyers and speculative pressure

Limited infrastructure capacity

Volunteer boards and smaller municipal staff

9. Didn’t the City have to adopt these upzoning changes under state law?

No. Port Townsend already adopted what was required in 2023 when it allowed two detached ADUs in all areas that allow single-family homes and the conversion of single-family homes into fourplexes.

10. Didn’t the City have to adopt the Comprehensive Plan by the end of 2025 or lose grants?

11. I heard the City Council ignored the recommendations of the Planning Commission. Is that true?

12. How can I help?

There are several ways to participate:

Make a donation

Submit public comments to the City Council or Planning Commission

Attend City Council or Planning Commission meetings

Join neighborhood meetings or town halls

Write letters to the editor or opinion pieces

Contact councilmembers directly

Share information with neighbors and local networks

Join our mailing list by going to www.affordablehometownpt.org

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