Ellensburg’s mayor claimed state-mandated climate resilience rules, coupled with fire, flood and heat hazards, are putting a pinch on consumers. The statements came during an email interview with The Observer immediately before a town hall meeting on Feb. 2.

The climate law, established in 2019, requires every city in Washington to create a plan to take better care of the environment. 

High housing prices

The city is working to provide resources to address Ellensburg’s affordable housing crisis while complying with state-mandated regulations. Warehouse worker and delivery driver Scott Sanders said he lives in this crisis every day.

Sanders spent nearly nine months seeking a new home. He said he lost everything after breaking up with his girlfriend in 2023. He claimed he earned either too much to qualify for low-income housing or too little to afford a median-priced house in Ellensburg.

About three or four months into becoming unhoused, Sanders asked HopeSource for help finding a low-income place to stay. But Sanders said HopeSource denied him because he has a job and makes income.

HopeSource is a nonprofit that connects people to a wide variety of resources.

Sanders admitted he had no prior experience applying for housing by himself. “I had no housing on my record because I was on my girlfriend’s lease,” Sanders said. “I have no background in any housing, so it was another bad hoop to jump through.”

But Sanders still did not fully understand why housing is so inaccessible for him. He claimed regulations regarding buying a home play a role in the high housing prices in Ellensburg.

“[The price of housing] needs to go lower. Someone needs to do something about housing because it’s so crazy and I don’t understand how they expect anybody to live,” Sanders said.

The impact of climate regulations

The Ellensburg City Council claimed the high housing prices have to do with the high costs to build a home. The state legislature recently responded to those high building costs by giving contractors options to work around climate regulations to help make homes more affordable for people like Sanders.

In January 2026, the 69th Legislature of the State of Washington passed a bill of climate regulations to the House (House Bill 2486).

The bill should allow contractors to appeal to the state court for exceptions to certain climate regulations that prevent them from building homes in an economically feasible way.

Business experts say the five Ls, which are labor, land, laws, lending and lumber, are the primary supply-side factors that drive up housing costs; it is not a single person or group that is increasing the cost of housing.

To answer additional questions about the increased housing prices, Ellensburg Building Official Chuck Doan gave The Observer a February 2023 report for the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), titled “The Real Cost of Regulations.”

The report states these climate regulations make up 24% of costs for single-family homes and 41% for multi-family homes.

The document defines the median home sales price as the base costs to build a house plus the total cost of regulation. It also defines base costs of building a home as land costs and the prices of construction and labor materials.

The document uses statistical information to apply the definition of a median home sales price in Washington as of 2022. According to the document, the median home sales price was $595,732 as of 2022.

Then, it provides information about how median home sales prices in Kittitas County compare. The building costs are a bit cheaper in Kittitas County than in Washington, but are still substantial. The document lists the base cost as $392,430.

Councilmember Nancy Lillquist defined resilience as “how we are going to adapt to a warming climate and still maintain our quality of life as a community.”

“I would add looking into what additional measures we can take as individuals and as a community to better use our resources so they have a better longevity,” Rebecca Springer, the water resources manager for the city of Ellensburg, said.

The city stated they are trying to provide resources to solve the affordable housing crisis while still obeying state-mandated regulations.

When Sanders finally bought a trailer in Wilson Creek, it went way above his income level. “When I went and bought that place, my bills ended up just barely breaking even,” Sanders said. “I’m struggling for anything else. I’m struggling for electric because my housing that I did get accepted to takes way too much of my income. I shouldn’t even be in it because it should be three times my income.”

Sanders is not alone. Ellensburg city officials said other residents must choose between housing and other expenses. They, like Sanders, said they wonder how they can make ends meet in a housing market that leaves them feeling left behind.