Amanda Lynn: San Juan Island Needs 400 More Affordable Homes

THE FULL EPISODE OF “HEY… WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND HERE” IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

Amanda Lynn, who has led the San Juan Community Home Trust for three years and counting, is an incredible asset in the community. She is as committed to affordable housing as a human could be. She is articulate, well informed on policy, a can do thinker, an inspiring speaker, and a Big Picture person.

She even has experience as an aide in the State Legislature. One wonders if she might be destined to return to Olympia someday in the future — perhaps as governor? She is that sharp. But for now, she seems all-in on Friday Harbor and San Juan Island. She commends the island’s “solidarity and unity” around our priority on affordable housing. She says that cannot be said of many communities.

At 1 minute and 20 seconds (1:20) into the interview, Amanda explains her career in the affordable housing movement.

At 5:00 Amanda describes her small but mighty staff, with a tip of the hat to her predecessor Nancy Devaux.

At 6:30 Jeff asks if Amanda feels pressure to solve the affordable housing crisis.

At 7:45 the local housing crisis in the context of the national and state housing crises.

At 9:00, the discussion turns to the five ways that SJI’s affordable housing problem is harder to solve than mainland affordable housing is (spoiler: ferries, rural, older population creates lower turnover of housing stock, challenges inherent in our local economy, and higher construction costs on an island).

A two-minute break starts at the 12:30 mark.

At 15:00, Amanda reveals the number of new or additional affordable houses needed: 400. She explains that land is available here (unlike many communities), but lack of capital stands in the way of a more robust response. Amanda goes into some detail as to how 400 affordable homes would be built here. She said the Home Trust is now wanting to develop affordable rental housing, too.

At 20:00 Amanda describes the basic affordable housing model, and the advantages of the affordable housing model benefits both the people who live in the houses but also the broader community and broader economy.

At 27:00 the discussion turns to worker housing, including seasonal worker housing (the Home Trust’s emphasis is on permanent residents, and not seasonal workers).

At 28:30: Why is all the affordable housing being built in town and not outside town limits?

At 30:00: How good of a partner is the Town of Friday Harbor in affordable housing development?

At 32:30: a brief update on the HolliWalk dispute with the Town

At 33:00, the magnitude of the challenge in navigating toward affordable housing solutions in the Town of Friday Harbor, which also underscores the importance of the County and Town governments being in synch.

At 35:50 Jeff puts a foot in his mouth implying the County might be more responsible for Town – County acrimony over the fairgrounds water issue. (Jeff does not have good line-of-sight to know the causes of the differences between these two good governments).

At 36:20 Jeff cleans up his previous observations!

At 36:50, Jeff asks if it is possible to meet the need for 400 new affordable houses in less than a decade or two? Can the community decide to fix this now, and what would that look like?

At 39:50, the focus moves to “the missing middle” — middle income families who cannot buy a house here. Heather shared that she has recently interviewed a young doctor who is challenged to afford a house here. And low- and middle-income residents here also happen to donate to the Home Trust. Everyone is part of the quest for a solution.

At 43:50, Amanda discusses the importance of the REET (Real Estate Excise Tax), and how it helps attract additional funds from the State of Washington.

At 46:00, we are reminded of the unusual fact that the San Juan Islands have a history of solving its problems on its own, not waiting on outside help.

In closing, Amanda invited the public to attend the Home Trust’s Summer Series concerts and beer garden.

After the end of Amanda’s interview at 50:30, Jeff and Heather talk with Aja Eyre, whose family runs the Blakely Island General Store & Marina — another installment in CNL2’s continuing coverage of San Juan County’s smaller islands. We’ve been covering happenings on Blakely and Shaw, and we hope to include Decatur and Waldron, too.

In addition to talking about news of the smaller islands, we like to discuss the ways life on the smaller islands can be quite different from life on the larger islands. Because we are one of the state’s smallest counties, and we are all in this together.

This CNL2 video is approximately 69 minutes in duration.