The Bainbridge Island Planning Commission has endorsed 30 actions to improve housing on BI made by consultants and added suggestions to make it more impactful as quickly as possible.
The commission made the moves after listening to and reading public comments. The City Council is expected to adopt the draft Housing Action Plan June 30.
The commission passed three specific recommendations: Create a biannual scorecard to track progress; develop detailed plans from HAP to achieve results with the Winslow and Comprehensive plans; and ask city staff what actions in HAP the commission can initiate.
Regarding the scorecard, the commission focused on four areas: impact on housing; time sensitive; resources needed; and risks.
As for the Winslow and Comp plans, the goal is to have the steering committee identify HAP actions to be taken in the short- and long term. The commission wants to use the public process underway to guide local law changes that need to take place to reach goals. That would include incentives for diverse housing and to manage growth.
The third item is to make sure there is no duplication of effort. It gives the commission a list of actions it can take to create policy for the City Council to review, which is in the city’s bylaws as one of its main missions.
The commission’s other additions to ECONorthwest’s draft plan included urging innovative solutions to BI’s housing crisis. Those would include deed purchase programs, floor area ratios and height restrictions be considered with affordable housing projects. Also, parking, impact fees, workforce housing development and other issues keep being discussed.
Housing has been an issue on BI for years. High prices mean few young families can live here, which has meant declining enrollment in schools, leading to budget shortfalls. Many elderly can’t afford to stay in their homes. And people who work here can’t afford to live here. A BI chamber newsletter says 60% of city, police and fire-medic employees can’t afford to live on BI, which puts everyone at risk during an emergency. Fewer homes being built also has led to a lack of diversity.
“Permanently affordable housing is the only way to counter the market forces that left unregulated will certainly create an affordability crisis, even more than we have now, in the future,” said Phedra Elliott, executive director of Housing Resources Bainbridge, which advocates more diverse housing on BI.
The HAP provides: incentives in the form of tax breaks or policy changes, permitting and fees; technical assistance and education to developers and homeowners; financial support or city resources and/or funds; partnership building, research and monitoring; direct support for residents at risk of losing housing.
EcoNorthwest developed six guiding principles: Provide more diverse housing; increase affordable housing for those with low and moderate income; stabilize households and prevent residential displacement; provide supportive housing for seniors and special populations; increase housing for BI workers; encourage sustainable development.
Using those principles, 30 actions were created, ranging from those that could be done in the next two years (10 actions) to moderate goals (13 actions) to long-term goals into 2030 and beyond (seven actions). The bulk of the goals support housing to help new residents move onto BI and help those in jeopardy of being displaced.
