Council to consider zoning moratorium
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
COLLEGE PLACE – The College Place City Council is holding a public hearing on a proposed zoning moratorium for manufactured home parks at its regular meeting tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. The council is also expected to vote on the moratorium.
The 12-month pause is proposed on any kind of development in areas zoned as manufactured home parks as that switches over to multi-family residential zoning. The city has two such communities: Country Estates and Sunset Villa. Some residents own their own homes there but lease the land. The mobile home park zone has been eliminated and the communities have been rezoned to multi-family residential.
Because the zoning change is considered likely to cause an increase in the cost of housing in those parks. The city wants to use the time to gather input from the community and stakeholders as to whether it should lift the moratorium, continue to work further on the issue for six months, or regulate the affected land differently within the law.
The moratorium will not prohibit a landowner from evicting tenants or increasing rents as long as they are in compliance with the law.
The council will also consider marking a crosswalk at Whitman Drive and Birch Avenue. This is due to more students and parents walking to Davis Elementary School. The proposal is endorsed by the police department and the community development department.
The meeting is streamed on the city’s YouTube channel. It is also available on Zoom. The ID number is 973 3725 9877.
