Greg Wright, seated, a member of the Winthrop Planning Commission, chatted with attendees at a workshop to review the status of the town’s Housing Action Plan.
The Town of Winthrop is asking its residents, and others living in the Methow Valley who are interested, to fill out an online survey that is part of a process to develop a Housing Action Plan to tackle the challenges of housing availability and affordability.
The survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WinthropHAPSurvey. It is available in English and Spanish.
Town Planner Rocklyn Culp said the survey is intended “to collect information on housing experiences and tolerance levels for various efforts Winthrop could undertake to make a difference.”
“We’re interested in collecting as many responses as we can from people from people who live or work in the Methow Valley,” Culp said.
The Winthrop Planning Commission hosted a public workshop on the status of the Housing Action Plan on May 25. Attendees heard presentations by Tom Beckwith, a principal in the La Conner-based Beckwith Consulting Group, which has been hired to come up with Housing Action Plans for Winthrop and Twisp within the context of the greater Methow Valley’s housing market conditions. The studies are funded by a $50,000 state grant that is being shared by the two towns. Beckwith reviewed much of the relevant data collected so far, and some implications for what the local housing market needs and can provide.
The group also heard a presentation by Planning Commission member Simon Windell, and then visited various information stations to learn more about details of the research and possible solutions.
Twisp is expected to schedule a similar public workshop on its Housing Action Plan progress in the near future.
