EDITORIAL: Hayden turns a housing light on

To take down the Goliath known as North Idaho’s housing crisis, it’s going to take one well-aimed stone at a time.

And a heck of a lot of stones.

“Affordability” is such a relative term that it’s basically useless. Affordable to whom? Retired newcomers who’ve sold homes in Seattle, Portland and California? Great local homes are within easy grasp for many of them, sometimes on all-cash transactions.

But what about the rest of us? Young families hoping to step up into something a little bigger, maybe with two bathrooms instead of one?

What about people desperately needed to fill key jobs here — teachers, police officers, all sorts of medical professionals? Pay has improved over the past couple years, sometimes dramatically, but the gap is a gulf for those who don’t make a killing on the sale of their homes elsewhere.

Yet there are small steps available, and one that should receive the highest consideration involves families who want nothing more than for their children to move here.

Despite some strong anti-growth sentiments, the Hayden City Council recently made the right call by approving a zone change for a resident seeking the ability to subdivide 1.5 acres so homes could be built — and sold at cost — to two daughters studying in the medical field.

Council President Matt Roetter, often viewed as unsympathetic toward the need for more housing, lent his support to the zoning change.

“On the one hand, we need to protect open lots,” he said. “However, as a dad who has three daughters, and knowing the challenges that are out there for people to find housing… Housing has become so unaffordable that it’s hard for teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen and first responders to find places to live.”

Council Member Roger Saterfiel, a champion for the cause, also put it superbly with his yes vote: “That’s probably the No. 1 thing I hear from constituents — their kids can’t afford to live here. I’d like to see an opportunity where we can keep our kids here.”

Allowing lots to be subdivided for members isn’t plausible or even possible for the vast majority of residents, but it’s a significant piece of the housing puzzle.

Keeping our kids here or making it possible for them to return should be among the very highest housing priorities, and the Hayden City Council deserves credit for taking a very positive step in that direction.

We’d like to see much more of that in Hayden and elsewhere.