The June 22 Don Brunell opinion, “Seattle missteps shows need for new approach,” provided some concepts worth considering to address affordable housing and our homeless situation. What the article missed is a discussion on what we need to do locally.

Kitsap County recently updated its Homeless Crisis Response Plan and has created zoning changes to provide some additional housing options (Transitory Accommodations). Further changes are needed to revise the single room occupancy (SRO) dwelling zoning and allow accessory dwelling units (ADU), such as “granny flats” and “mother in law rooms.” To move us forward, the county needs an affordable housing task force to identify strategies and actions to increase the number of affordable housing units.

The city of Port Orchard needs to get on board and catch up with the County efforts. Port Orchard has yet to implement any zoning changes and lacks both a well-articulated plan for affordable housing and a homeless plan. We need to get in front of these challenges and I urge you to contact your elected City and County officials today.

Roland Arper

Port Orchard