Tribute groups are really popular on the local music scene nowadays. In some ways, the Bainbridge Island City Council is like a tribute group.

“It’s the same song—different singers,” Councilmember Brenda Fantroy-Johnson said at the Oct. 1 meeting. She was referring to topics being discussed on the combined draft environmental impact statement on the Comprehensive and Winslow Subarea plans.

Just like previous councils, they are being asked by constituents: “Why are we doing this? We don’t want any growth.” Councilmembers have to explain growth demands are coming down from state mandates. Most counties in the state have to plan for growth. “It’s not new. We have to manage growth in the best interest of everyone,” Fantroy-Johnson said.

A PowerPoint presentation shown that night says BI needs to plan for 4,524 people and 1,977 housing units in the future. The draft EIS names three alternatives: no action, building up or building out. The slides show information on the Winslow Wastewater Treatment Plant. Planned upgrades will increase its capacity. To increase capacity even more, expansion at the current site would be required, unless a satellite facility could be located upstream in the sewer shed.

Public comments on the plans are being taken until Oct. 10.

Early on, Councilmember Kirsten Hytopoulos reminded everyone that the purpose of that meeting was how to direct the Planning Commission in discussions of the DEIS. Does the council direct them or give those experts the freedom to pave their own path? After two hours of discussion, that wasn’t accomplished. Talks will continue at the Nov. 5 meeting.

Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki said he believes the preferred alternative will be a mixture of Alternatives 2 and 3, which would combine growth by constructing buildings taller and building them in more areas of BI, not limiting them to Winslow and neighborhood centers.

Considering issues regarding water, he said the Coppertop Business Park is one of the largest consumers and should be part of the Winslow Subarea Plan. “There’s a winery, brewery and distillery all in one place,” he said. “That just shows how cool we are.”

Public Works director Chris Wierzbicki answered some questions about wastewater. He said the wild card in the discussion is the commercial zone as it could have low impact like offices or high impact like restaurants and breweries. He said city staff could come up with examples of buildouts that could be helpful, but could not really predict what will happen.

He said if Alternative 3 is chosen there is enough wastewater capacity to handle residential. Alternative 2 could handle 3/4ths of the residential needs.

Councilmember Leslie Schneider said she doesn’t like how the DEIS discusses upzoning to the point BI could grow more than what’s required, even though it wouldn’t be built out anytime soon to that level. “We don’t have to zone for the capacity the island is going to react to.”

She wondered if that path could be reduced over time—“if we’re hitting our target?” She wondered if they could offer incentives for growth until “we get what we want…then take it away?”

Mayor Joe Deets said BI has the moral, legal and economic responsibility to provide affordable housing. He wanted to come up with questions they want the Planning Commission to research and answer. He said BI has huge potential for accessory dwelling units in providing affordable housing. But he wondered how BI could set a housing goal in numbers if it doesn’t know what the repercussions will be in regard to infrastructure.

Deputy Mayor Ashley Mathews said along with ADUs they need to look at redevelopment, transfer of development rights and the “missing middle.” She also thinks the Planning Commission should look at equity because this process starting “long before that was a goal of ours.”

Councilmember Jon Quitslund said lots of work has been done on previous comp plans so the council needs to have buy-in on certain principles. He said he knows constituents would prefer to leave things alone, but development is a necessary evil. Quitslund said regarding land use they need to balance development and conservation. One does not have to be a threat to the other.

He said one thing that needs to still be addressed in the DEIS is conservation areas. He said over 70% of residents live on lands with that designation. Most of those homes are single-family, and he said the city needs to figure out what types of housing are most appropriate for those lands to help with growth.

Schneider agreed conservation areas already have big homes, so there’s an equity component there. “Most of our capacity is there—whether we like it or not,” she said. To achieve affordability, she would like to see things like co-housing allowed in those areas. She said she could see “a beautiful vision laid out in these alternatives,” including high density along High School Road.

Moriwaki said there are nine other elements to the DEIS and plan updates that need to be discussed.

Hytopoulos reiterated the council should provide broad policy to the Planning Commission. She said they should consolidate a list of questions they want the commission to find the answers to. But her overarching goal is to “comply with the law with the least capacity possible.” She thinks BI should tell the state, “Here is what is available. I’m not going to zone based on speculation.”

In trying to wrap things up, Deets said the council was all over the place at the beginning of the night, but had made progress for next time. His top goal is to reach housing targets, but “not take on something we’re going to regret.”

Mathews said there is no road map for the process, but she hopes at the next meeting they can make a list for the Planning Commission.

In wrapping up, city manager Blair King said city staff will come up with a list of questions to help the council.

Land use

The land use part of the DEIS includes:

• The Environment and Water Resources Elements that address the protection and conservation of natural systems including BI’s sole source aquifer, the quality and quantity of water, habitat, vegetation and air.

• The Housing Element that identifies strategies to increase the diversity of housing types and the supply of affordable housing on BI.

• The Economic Element that encourages policies to support economic vitality and opportunity for BI residents.

• The Transportation Element to provide mobility and safety for all while respecting neighborhood character and climate resilience.

• The Capital Facilities and Utilities Elements to address the infrastructure needed to serve the land uses.

Taken together, those elements balance BI’s values of environmental stewardship with the needs of its people for housing, health, safety, economic opportunity and access to goods, services, recreation and cultural amenities. The goal is to shape future growth and redevelopment in a way that retains BI’s character and quality of life.

The Comp Plan goes beyond the Growth Management Act’s minimum requirements. For example, it exceeds the GMA’s water resources component by devoting an entire additional Element to Water Resources. The GMA requires plans to be based on a 20-year horizon, but this plan uses a 50-year/100-year horizon to better account for the implications of climate change and the much longer-term cycles of natural systems and public infrastructure investments.

The Kitsap County 2014 Buildable Lands Report shows that BI has sufficiently zoned land in 2016 to accommodate the anticipated population and employment growth through 2036. So, any increase should further one or more of these public purposes: 1. Shift density from critical areas or farmland to Winslow or other designated centers. 2. Increase the range and supply of housing types and affordable housing. 3. Contribute to public infrastructure or public amenities in excess of what is needed to mitigate the impacts of an individual project’s development. 4. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 5. Plan for the effects of climate change to avoid or ameliorate the impacts.

Housing

The housing part of the DEIS includes:

BI’s 2015 population of 23,390 was predominantly white (91%), well-educated and relatively affluent. The median household income ($92,558) is 1.5 times the Kitsap County average. Almost 60% of residents have occupations with relatively high incomes between $100,457 and $122,618. Another third work in the service sector with median wages between $27,703 and $30,972. Between 2000-10 BI’s senior population (60+ years) increased from 17% to 26%. The “young adult” cohort (between 18 and 34) has declined from 15% to 10%.

In 2016 BI’s housing stock is predominantly detached single-family homes (80% of all units) in a very low-density land-use pattern that occupies about 90% of BI’s land area. The average single-family home price is just under $700,000. Multi-family units that constitute 16% of the housing stock are concentrated in Winslow and Lynwood Center. While the designated centers total about 10% of BI’s land area, rental apartments make up less than 7% of housing. Very few rental units have been built on BI in the last decade, which partly accounts for a vacancy rate of 1.5%, well below the 5% rate typical of well-functioning rental markets.

Almost 34% of people at all income levels who live in owner-occupied housing are cost-burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on housing. Almost 40% of people at all income levels who live in renter-occupied housing units are cost-burdened. The majority (around 28%) have an annual income below $34,999. That means that as of 2012, 569 renters are cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households are more likely to have to choose between housing costs and other necessities. Many of the workers have to commute from less-expensive off-island housing, which increases their transportation costs, congestion on Highway 305 and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Puget Sound Regional Council suggests that housing-rich neighborhoods add employment to increase economic opportunities for residents. Market forces alone will not address the urgent housing needs facing BI.