Longview housing task force urges ombudsman, zoning changes and expanded incentives to boost affordability

The Longview Housing Task Force presented a package of recommendations to the City Council on Dec. 11 aimed at expanding shelter, rental and ownership options.

Shetiva Marshall, who chaired the task force, told the council the group defined affordability using local medians and found that median household income in Longview “ranges from 62,000 to 65,000,” which after taxes equates to roughly $57,000 and makes many newly built homes unaffordable. “Using this standard benchmark, the housing should cost no more than 30% of a family's income,” Marshall said.

The task force outlined three subcommittee tracks and top recommendations for each. For shelter and transitional housing, Marshall recommended creating an ombudsman program to help vulnerable residents manage rental obligations and connect with case management, exploring mandated mental-health evaluations "when appropriate" to connect people to services, and strengthening coordinated-entry partnerships with local behavioral-health providers.

On rental housing, the group recommended better local data and landlord outreach—publishing a comprehensive rental resource guide, hosting quarterly landlord roundtables, and creating a property/landlord database with incentives for participation. Marshall said Longview has about 1,200 housing vouchers and lacks a centralized rental inventory to inform policy and recruitment.

For new construction and homeownership, the task force recommended expanding and renaming the SLIP program to a citywide Safe and Livable Incentive Program offering permit-fee reductions, partial tax abatements and fast-track permitting. Marshall also urged modernizing zoning to legalize duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and cottage courts, and introducing voluntary inclusionary incentives to spur entry-level development. "Longview basically needs about 3,200 homes over the next five years," she said.

Marshall said the consultant Matrix has received community input—578 community surveys, 48 stakeholder questionnaires and 58 employer questionnaires—and will present final housing-study results to council in May. She asked council to expect a detailed report with case studies and funding proposals in the months ahead.

Council members probed implementation details, with questions about whether an ombudsman would be a volunteer role, required training and funding. Marshall said funding had not yet been finalized and that the city would return with specific funding options if council directed further action. Several council members expressed support for the recommendations and for returning with specific cost estimates and timelines.

Next steps: staff will deliver a full task-force report and Matrix will present the housing-study findings in May, after which council will consider funding and ordinance changes to implement recommendations.