The Chamber

Livable communities offer a variety of affordable housing choices, nearby employment opportunities, an economically viable commercial sector, good schools, safe neighborhoods, quality public services, parks and open space, efficient transportation systems and utility infrastructure. To promote livable communities, governments should sufficiently fund transportation and infrastructure that provides the framework for a community’s quality of life and lays the essential groundwork for accommodating quality commercial, industrial and residential growth. Furthermore, these objectives should be met through market-driven approaches that foster a wide-range of urban, suburban and rural housing choices at all price levels. To achieve this goal, the Chambers will:

• Support policies that promote an appropriate jobs-to-housing ratio by:
• Improving OFM population projections to include relevant data about local economies, relevant market factors at the national, state and local levels and anticipated economic/job growth projections
• Encouraging countywide planning policies to account for enough homes within the regional housing market sufficient to accommodate employment growth
• Support policies that accommodate growth by:
• Clarifying the intent of the Growth Management Act to accommodate growth by planning for the availability of a variety of residential densities and housing types
• Ensure sufficient buildable land capacity for housing and employment growth
• Provide for “no net loss” of housing and employment opportunities
• Provide incentives for housing opportunities that accommodate growth
• Encourage performance measures to help communities determine how well they are accommodating growth and ensuring communities make adjustments to plans by adopting reasonable measures necessary to accommodate growth and provide housing opportunities
• Support modification to the condominium laws and insurance reform to encourage builders to construct dense housing without the constant fear and expense of class action lawsuits