The land behind Tamara Sell’s Eagle Cliff home affords different uses.

The growing of grass. The scurrying of squirrels and woodpeckers. The playing of neighborhood kids on an old swing-set. The sleeping of mossy trees and creeping of ivy up the sheer slopes of the ravine nearby.

What it doesn’t accommodate – for now – is the passing of cars.

“I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense,” Sell said, of a possible highway overpass in her neighborhood. “Building a road over this would be pretty expensive.”

More important to Sell than cost is what such a road would do to the neighborhood. With that in mind, she and several neighbors traded the quiet of their homes for the din of a ferry planning meeting Wednesday at City Hall.

City officials, taking the next step in plans to revamp the ferry and gateway districts, heard from plenty of residents anxious about how the overhaul will affect them.

“It wouldn’t just selectively handcuff a few neighbors,” said Klickitat Place resident Martin Smith, who like Sell is concerned about a proposed east-west connector that would cut through the trees to bridge portions of Winslow that are now separated by State Route 305. “It would completely destroy entire neighborhoods.”

The city will take public comment through March 12 as planners begin crafting the environmental impact document for a project that in the coming years will transform the area around the ferry terminal.

The state requires agencies to consider the likely environmental impacts of a proposal – and present those findings in writing – before approving or denying construction.

Washington State Ferries is conducting a separate environmental review for its terminal project. Now it’s the city’s turn to scrutinize plans, which aim to improve circulation to and from the terminal and define the parameters of development in the area.

A draft will surface this summer, followed by another period of public comment. The final document will be finished in the fall, at which time the city will move deeper into the design phase.

Consultant Richard Weinman is helping the city begin the review. Winslow Tomorrow project manager Sandy Fischer said Weinman would likely assist the main consultant, to be hired by the city in the next month.

Topics at Wednesday’s meeting included parking, shoreline impacts, transportation, land use, open space and views.

But the most contentious discussions were about how to improve connectivity without altering the character of existing neighborhoods.

Planners have continually said there should be more east-west connections across 305 between Winslow Way and High School Road.

Charlier believes a new road from Wyatt Way to Ferncliff Avenue that would likely cut through the Cave Avenue neighborhood is the best option, but the city is exploring similar connections at Wallace and Knechtel ways.

Plans are still in their infancy and could range from a non-motorized trail to a two-lane road, or nothing at all.

Residents of Cave Avenue recently formed a neighborhood association to track planning. They hope that by cooperating with other nearby neighborhood groups and formalizing communications with planners they will be able to thwart the connector altogether.

But the biggest contingent on Wednesday came from Sell’s neck of the woods, as residents of Klickitat Place and Eagle Cliff Road argued against anything that would drastically alter their neighborhood.

Their fear, Sell said, is that opposition on Cave could push their street into the crosshairs. She said residents of Eagle Cliff and Klickitat will work alongside the Cave group to preserve both neighborhoods.

The backyards of Klickitat resident Patty Perez and Eagle Cliff resident Karen Kimzey are separated by a narrow, treed easement, through which runs a line on a planning map indicating a possible connector.

“There are a lot of children and wildlife around here,” Perez said. “This is a quiet cul -de-sac. That’s why we moved here. Something like this would ruin the neighborhood.”

Winslow Tomorrow Director Sandy Fischer stressed that none of the plans are firm and said public comment will help guide design.

“I realize envisioning changes like these makes some people uncomfortable,” she said. “But these are long-term plans. Now is the time to look at these things so you don’t look back later and say ‘there was an opportunity we missed.’”

Closer to the terminal, discussion centered around parking and access. New drawings show the addition of a pedestrian underpass beneath Olympic Drive, near the top of the hill, that would work in tandem with a pedestrian bridge further down the street to separate vehicle traffic from pedestrians.

That addition, Charlier said, could help move forward design on the intersection of 305 and Winslow Way – where some have lobbied for a grade change to improve circulation – because it would take pedestrians out of the equation.

Charlier estimated the cost of the underpass at around $1 million, as opposed to “tens of millions” for a grade change at the intersection.

Public Works Director Randy Witt, who took comments about parking, said most people wanted to at least maintain the existing number of spaces near the terminal. Plans now call for underground parking that would accommodate about 75 percent of what’s currently available.

As for transit options, planners said nothing has been eliminated. Kitsap Transit is still studying several options – including bus rapid transit and a developing train technology – as possibilities.

Designs for the terminal itself still include “stacked” features that would be built into the hillside to accommodate different modes of transportation at different levels.

The neighboring ferry yard isn’t being addressed by planners because the city and Washington State Ferries are embroiled in litigation over its future.

Architect Rick Williams said the city hopes to further explore non-motorized options in the ravine, as well as a new road connecting the ferry yard and the condominiums west of the terminal to Bjune Drive. That connection would allow for the elimination of Harborview Drive, which now complicates already snarled traffic at the terminal.

Williams said the main focus continues to be on separating all modes of transportation for safety and efficiency.

Some, like Smith, remain skeptical.

“Planning is too often about moving traffic,” Smith said. “But more roads means more traffic. You can never get ahead of it. I just don’t want to see this turn into another Mercer Island.”