Stories by Alexis Weisend

Columbian staff reporter

@weisend_alexis

(360) 735-4536

alexis.weisend@columbian.com

City of Redmond senior planner Ian Lefcourte explains that the Together Center in Redmond was built with money generated by an inclusionary zoning program that requires developers to designate 5 percent to 10 percent of units as affordable with lower rents. Developers can choose to pay a fee instead.

Is requiring new apartments to include affordable units the right move for Vancouver? It’s working in Redmond

December 9, 2023, 6:14am Business

The city of Redmond, a Seattle suburb, requires 5 percent to 10 percent of new apartments to set rents at a level deemed to be affordable. It’s a policy called mandatory inclusionary zoning, and it’s generating affordable housing not just in Redmond, but also in Seattle, Portland and 500 other… Read story

Adam Fractor and Chelsea Rooklyn, employees for Portland-based Killian Pacific walk through Eagle View Park between Ninebark apartments and the Columbia River in Washougal.

Developer voluntarily makes affordable apartment units available in Washougal

December 9, 2023, 6:12am Business

A Northwest developer is voluntarily charging lower rents on 10 percent of the units in its Washougal apartment complex, Ninebark. Read story

Elizabeth Cochran, left, and Ace Salu of Columbia River Mental Health Services take a break with the clinic’s new community response team van on Friday afternoon.

New van allows Columbia River Mental Health Services team to aid those in need along Fourth Plain

December 9, 2023, 6:06am Clark County Health

A Vancouver agency is offering an alternative to police response for people experiencing mental health crises along the Fourth Plain corridor. Read story

Rain falls over the Esther Short Commons apartment building in Vancouver. The building will receive a new roof, flooring and more.

Vancouver Housing Authority plans to renovate Esther Short Commons; building’s value helps pay for renovations

December 8, 2023, 6:03am Clark County News

After The Columbian reported that Vancouver Housing Authority planned to renovate its 72-unit Cougar Creek Apartments in Hazel Dell, a project that the quasi-governmental agency estimated in public documents would cost $38 million, many people had questions about why the renovations were so expensive. Read story

A colorful mural on the side of the new Fourth Plain Community Commons celebrates the diversity of the neighborhood and its residents.

Vancouver raises income limits for Affordable Housing Fund homeownership projects to make benefits available to more people

December 6, 2023, 6:08am Business

The Vancouver City Council voted Monday to increase the income limits for homeownership projects using Affordable Housing Fund money and the amount of funds these projects can receive, from $50,000 to $75,000. Additionally, it will require all fees for services to be included in gross rent of projects receiving the… Read story

‘The victim has the right to feel more safe’: Delegates from country of Georgia visit Clark County to learn about electric monitoring, victim notification system

Clark County District Court administrator Bryan Farrell, center in gray, talks with law officials from the country of Georgia at the Clark County Courthouse on Tuesday morning.

Keland Hill was arrested in September 2019 for pushing his wife, 35-year-old Tiffany Hill of Vancouver, into a wall and preventing her from calling 911. About two months later, he was arrested again after putting a GPS tracker on her car. Read story

‘We’ve been saved’: Community steps up for The Giving Closet in Vancouver, keeping store for low-income people open

Leticia Amezcua looks for clothes Aug. 16 at The Giving Closet. Amezcua said she’s been shopping for her family here for 15 years.

December 5, 2023, 6:05am Business

A few months ago, Denise Currie thought her store with free items for people with low incomes, The Giving Closet, would close by Christmas. But after media outlets, including The Columbian, shared her plight, the donations came flooding in from community members. Read story

‘All of us want help’: Unhoused residents in Clark County prepare for colder-than-normal winter

Smoke billows from a campfire under cold conditions as Vancouver resident Greg Wilson, background left, who is not a resident of the Burnt Bridge Creek encampment, helps his friend set up his gear in the new location Wednesday morning.

November 29, 2023, 6:32pm Clark County News

Residents huddled around campfires to stay warm at a homeless camp along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail during this week’s cold snap. Two men murmured to each other that the man who laid sick in a nearby tent could use some soup. Read story