Affordable Housing Incentives | Pierce County, WA

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Affordable Housing Incentives

Affordable Housing Incentives

Pierce County offers financial and regulatory incentives to encourage the development of affordable housing for low-income families.

Benefits

Affordable housing benefits individuals, families, businesses, and our community by:

	Adding to the diversity of housing
	Creating stability for individuals and families
	Supporting local businesses, job creation and economic growth

Affordable housing incentives can benefit developers and builders through:

	Reduced costs
	A faster review process
	Site design flexibility

Incentives

The incentives apply to both multi-family and single-family housing projects within urban zones.

Pierce County allocates funding annually to fund the incentives in the order of request received.

Financial incentives

Expedited permit processing:

The project review is prioritized, with most projects receiving an initial review within 10 days.

Waived fees:

Some or all of the project may be eligible for impact and development processing fee waivers. Traffic impact fees for multi-family housing projects, as an example, range from just over $1,000 per unit to just over $6,000 per unit in 2023. This incentive is subject to available funding.

Regulatory incentives

Bonus housing units:

This incentive provides an option in some of the zones to exceed the number of dwelling units typically allowed when designating some units as affordable housing.

Alternative development standards:

Some or all of the project may be eligible for reduced standards related to height, parking, parks and open spaces, and lot area and width.