Monroe’s growth spurt just starting

Monroe is projected to grow at a rapid pace for at least the next two decades. More than 6,000 people are expected to move into the city within the next 18 years.

The trend is not unique. The entire region is experiencing the same surge. That means more homes are needed. So far, builders are keeping up in Monroe.

“All of Snohomish County is experiencing growth, and none faster than Monroe,” said Mike Pattison, Snohomish County manager for government affairs. “It is what I would call a ‘hotbed of growth’ today.”

About 800 single-family units will be constructed in the city within the next four to five years, said Monroe’s community development director Ben Swanson. Those homes are in various stages of development. Some are still in the preliminary permitting process. About 85 percent of the planned construction is north of U.S. Highway 2, he said.

The city of Monroe received nearly half of the building permits anticipated for the entire year within the first three months of 2017. Revenue from building permits this year was projected at $568,900. The city has already made roughly $272,000, or about $130,000 more than what was expected for the first quarter.

Land supply and proximity to jobs have led to this rapid expansion, Pattison said.

“The reasons for Monroe’s growth are very clear ones — our entire region is facing a critical housing shortage, and Monroe happens to be one of the few jurisdictions left with a buildable land supply,” he said. “Further, while Monroe may seem to many like a long commute to job centers, it is really — in terms of what is available — as close as you are going to get to job centers today.”

The Puget Sound Regional Council helps cities like Monroe to prepare for and manage growth. By 2035, the population of Snohomish County is projected to hit roughly 4.7 million, according to the agency. About 650,000 more people will stake out a life in the nearly 2,200-square-mile county within the next 18 years.

“I would term those numbers as aspirational. They are part of a bigger regional plan, where the cities and the counties work collaboratively to distribute the area’s predicted growth,” Pattison said. “Each city, in essence, signs up for a number that is just a long-term planning figure. What is planned for and what actually happens can be two entirely different things.”

Large corporations, such as Georgia-based Pulte, Texas-based D.R. Horton and Quadrant Homes are helping to fill the housing gap in Monroe, Swanson said. There are also other smaller companies coming in. Single-family homes are and will be the majority of what is constructed. Some condos and townhouses are also coming down the pipeline, he said.

Quadrant, which has operated in the Puget Sound region for almost 50 years, and is owned by California-based TRI Pointe Homes, is building its Evergreen Heights community on 71 plots on Roosevelt Road in the northwest corner of the city.

Bonnie Geers, Quadrant’s senior vice president of community development, said Monroe’s proximity to recreation opportunities along U.S. Highway 2 and the city’s open spaces appealed to the Bellevue-based company.

“We identified that property in 2014, because we saw that Monroe was set for growth, and we wanted to be in front of that and a part of that,” she said. “We were monitoring improvements being made to (State Route) 522 and other developments. This is a place where families want to live, and it is a short commute to a lot of Eastside employers.”

Monroe’s 2015-2035 Comprehensive Plan, among other studies and policies, guides planning strategies. One goal is to facilitate more opportunities for high-density housing.

Swanson said the land that can still be developed is sometimes vacant, but often already contains a single-family home. Companies come in and tear down the unit, then subdivide the plat into smaller parcels to build more homes. The process is called infill development, he said.

Code was adopted in 2011 that allows a 30 percent density bonus for building, Swanson said. It makes it easier for companies to come in and complete infill development. Various design standards must be met under those rules, he said.

“The laws make it easier for plats to be rezoned and incentivize necessary growth,” he said.

Moving toward high-density housing, or concentrated urban growth, aligns with state law. It is also a common aspect of comprehensive plans throughout the region, Pattison said.

Legislation requires counties that have reached a certain growth rate to follow the 13 planning goals outlined under the Growth Management Act. Snohomish County was one of the first to comply, along with King and Pierce counties, in 2015. Other goals include reducing urban sprawl, historic preservation and providing affordable housing.