Manufactured home community preservation leads Kenmore's near-term housing priorities

What the records say

In materials prepared for the Sept. 1, 2026, Planning Commission meeting, staff presented the final substantive review of the city's draft Housing Strategy Plan update. Manufactured Home Community Preservation Policy/Program Package is listed first among four recommended near-term priority actions, all slated for initiation in 2027–2028 ¹. The plan evaluates 12 candidate actions in total; the other three near-term priorities are a faith-based and public surplus lands strategy, a calibrated MFTE plus inclusionary zoning package for Downtown and TOD areas, and a Community Housing Outcomes Report ¹.

• Manufactured home community preservation is listed first among four recommended near-term priority actions, with 'immediate to near-term' scheduling in the feasibility matrix.
• The action scored low cost and very good efficacy and alignment, but high staff capacity demand and a long implementation time.
• The evaluation used six indicators — cost, capacity, efficacy, alignment, time required, and scheduling — with lower values preferred for cost, capacity, and time, and higher values for efficacy and alignment.
• Actions deferred to 2029–2030, such as the permit-ready ADU catalogue and tenant/homeowner resource hub, may advance earlier if outside funding or a multi-jurisdictional partnership becomes available.

Why it matters

The draft plan treats preserving existing manufactured home (mobile home) communities as a leading tool for affordable housing. The evaluation gives greater weight to units serving households earning 0 to 80 percent of area median income, where unmet need is largest, because the market can typically deliver market-rate housing above those levels without city intervention ¹. The preservation package would work to keep existing lower-cost housing in place — through baseline assessments, displacement mitigation, long-term ownership/transfer options, and replacement housing planning — rather than relying on new construction to replace it ¹.

What changed / what's next

• The draft plan lists manufactured home community preservation as the first of four near-term (2027–2028) priority actions in the housing strategy work program ¹.
• It organizes the remaining actions into a 2029–2030 subsequent tier — including a permit-ready ADU/middle housing catalogue and a tenant/homeowner resource hub — and a 2031+ long-term tier including community land trust partnerships, with stated criteria for moving deferred actions onto the active work program ¹.
• The supplied records do not establish the outcome of the Sept. 1 meeting or the Commission's eventual recommendation to City Council ¹.
• A deferred action may move onto the active work program once a near-term action is substantially completed or a grant, federal program, or partner commitment helps cover the cost ¹.
• The annual Community Housing Outcomes Report or the 2029 periodic review could identify gaps that may require the Council to re-prioritize these actions ¹.
• The available records do not establish the meeting's outcome.