BI Comp Plan: Reactions from ‘offensive’ to ‘opportunity’

It’s “offensive,” it’s “concerning,” it’s a “vision,” it’s an “opportunity” — it’s a routine government document.

The Bainbridge Island city planning department held an islandwide town hall meeting at Bainbridge High School Sept. 18 to invite public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, capping off a series of open houses in neighborhoods all over BI. The city is accepting comments online and in person until Oct. 10.

A Comp Plan guides policy and civic goals over a long period of time, usually around 20 years. During periodic updates like this one, residents decide what facets of their community they want to keep and what they want to change, like increasing public transportation or amending environmental standards. However, this is the first year state government has mandated that cities take all income levels into account when calculating growth — which means BI must decide where more affordable and mid-level housing should go, in addition to other infrastructure changes residents may want.

“In the past, it was just people — it came naturally to us. But now, it also means we need to consider where people will live,” said Patty Charnas, city planning director. “What we’re ‘rooting for’ is public comment, including the comments that have been offered here verbally tonight, going into the record so that we can collect all of those comments, synthesize what is being talked about, present that to the City Council.”

About 200 residents attended the forum.

Loanna Day came to “get educated” and submit a written comment asking for safe bike lanes and adequate parking in Winslow. She was concerned about parking access for new residents, considering the lack of downtown parking already, which may hurt businesses. “People come to town to eat at our restaurants. So where do they park?” Day asked. “I’m not against density — I’m against advancing without considering all the aspects of a situation.”

Edie Hartmann, on the other hand, is strongly against density. Hartmann lives in a historic area called Hawley, the preservation of which merits exemption from density levels, she explained. “I find it offensive that they think they can change the zoning,” Hartmann said.

Small businesses were also on Dan and Andrea Barrio’s minds, but they were interested in seeing more growth in their area. The couple had recently moved to Winslow from the United Kingdom, and visited the town hall to learn more about the city’s future. They’re still exploring Bainbridge, and enjoy Lynwood and Rolling Bay — they just wished they could see similar development trends in Winslow.

“Since they tore the police station down, and nothing’s gone in to replace it, that side of Winslow Way is just empty,” Barrio said. Andrea Barrio agreed, adding she’d like to see businesses proliferate with more of an “up-and-out mentality,” like rooftop bars and lounge areas, for example. “I echo [Dan], I want to see more places like Lynwood,” she said. “There’s a great opportunity to transform places into mini-city centers.”

Tad Schwager, who lives near Lynwood, agreed that a diversity of small businesses would make BI a good place for families, especially if they provided necessities, such as a pharmacy. But, he added, he wants to make sure leadership keeps its obligation to preserve open spaces and environmental resources.

“We have a commitment to accommodate new growth and provide affordable housing, but I hope that the natural environment remains a priority […] It might take more than zoning,” he said. “Lynwood Center has become a bright spot, and it’s always great to not have to go into Winslow or Silverdale.”

Schwager added that he would not favor a “huge expanded footprint” in his neighborhood, but would appreciate better nonmotorized transportation infrastructure.

Open space serves a number of purposes — including the island’s historic economic driver, agriculture. Crystal Rich owns a farm, and she observed that the Comp Plan did not include details about protections for agriculture.

“I’m really concerned with how they have considered agricultural land as being ‘underutilized’ — there are several areas where they’re saying it’s underdeveloped land, and that those grounds are essentially slated for development,” she said during a Q&A session. “I have been asking the city for nine years—if farming is culturally, historically and economically important to the island, and it’s one of the reasons why a lot of us love being here, why is that not protected?”

BI has undergone three updates since the Comp Plan was adopted in 1990, and the population has grown about 10,000 people since 1990. However, the speed of BI’s growth has slowed dramatically in recent years: pre-millennium, BI’s growth rate over a decade was almost 29%, but it fell by 17 points between 2000-2010, followed by another 5 1/2 points between 2010-2020. Since 2020, BI has begun to shrink, with a growth rate of -3.13%. Meanwhile, its housing stock has seen a similar trend: between 2010-20 it grew about 6.3%, or just 667 units.

The city anticipates BI must account for 1,977 new housing units in the next 10 years for 4,524 new people, just over double the number of people BI added between 2010-20 — around 1,690. That’s where the DEIS comes in: the city’s designated “centers” — Winslow, Lynwood, Rolling Bay, Day Road and Island Center — must be assessed for their capacity to handle a growing population and economy.

The city Planning Department has composed three options: Alternative 1, “No Action,”; Alternative 2, “Dense Centers” or “Go Up,” which would increase density in Winslow and other neighborhood centers, by allowing taller buildings; and Alternative 3, “Distributed Density” or “Go Out,” which would expand the boundaries of Winslow and other neighborhood centers to spread development over a larger area. Currently, about 91% of BI is designated a “conservation area,” which means it is permanently exempt from rezoning.

“We are looking at our designated centers because we have to, and in keeping with the Long Term Growth Strategy, we’re not looking at the vast area of low-density, single-family, residentially-zoned property outside of those centers,” Charnas said. “We need to hear about what parts and pieces of the alternatives make sense to you, that you want further analysis on, and what we would call a ‘preferred alternative’ — parts of all three into one.”

HB Harper, a city planning manager, added, “It doesn’t mean that growth and development are necessarily needed in every single center.”

City pamphlets emphasize that Alternative 1 cannot be selected, because it misses state housing targets; technically, if an option is not chosen by the state December deadline, the city may default to Alterntative 1, but not without serious consequences. Should Bainbridge fail to certify a new plan, it risks losing eligibility for state funding. Additionally, should the city pass a plan and not follow through within five years, the state may impose an as-yet-determined penalty, Harper said.

The current Comp Plan describes a vision for 2036 that reflects the values of residents: an economically diverse, creative and environmentally conscious community with “thriving centers of civic life” linked by walkways, bike trails and transit.

“The goodwill, imagination and pragmatism of our citizens foster an environment in which we engage with, listen to, and learn from one another. Bainbridge Island functions as a caring community that provides human services where needed to maintain the well-being of all its members, where every person feels connected to the community and where each individual has opportunities,” city officials wrote in that plan.