What to Look for This Year

The new term for the Salem City Council begins tonight, with the swearing-in ceremony. I am looking forward to open, honest conversations about possible solutions to some of Salem’s complex issues. Among those items to be discussed are: the new, unique-to-Salem Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, and another attempt to ease the restrictions on our current in-law apartment ordinance.

The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board is working hard to approach the regional housing crisis from many different angles. Salem can’t solve the problem alone, but we can do our part. This doesn’t mean that the city will allow over-building, or the erasure of single family residence zoning. The Board is doing a lot of research into best practices for both Inclusionary Zoning and ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) Ordinances. By researching how other communities have tackled the problem, and learning from their shortcomings, we can build stronger, better-written ordinances that are specifically written for Salem and what our community needs, while protecting what we love about the city.

Look for the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance to be introduced to the City Council very soon. The main thrust of the ordinance is to require deeper affordability for new housing development, which many councilors made very clear was important for the residents of Salem, during last year’s Council session. When the Board is ready to present the ordinance, I will post it for everyone to review and discuss.

The work on the new ADU Ordinance will include some incentives for providing affordable units, which was also an important point of discussion during the last session. Accessory Dwelling Units are built by private home owners, and therefore, the city can’t impose restrictions on how much can be charged for rent, we an build some incentives into the ordinance to encourage affordability.

I look forward to the discussions about each of these ordinances.