“Citizens are generally satisfied with the island’s comprehensive planning policies, but not with what they actually see happening.And while part of the problem may be real, a big part is public perception, Bainbridge Planning Commission Evelyn Klinckmann believes.I think people don’t always understand the consequences of policies, said Klinckmann, on the threshold of the first review of the comprehensive plan. As a matter of public education, we need to present them with really clear scenarios.As an example, Klinckmann cites downtown Winslow. The comprehensive plan calls for high-density development and a pedestrian-friendly environment, with cars playing a more subordinate role. The plan envisions significant traffic congestion, which it says is preferable to building more roads.But newer people who expect things to be convenient for their cars don’t understand what was involved in the discussions (that resulted in the current plan), Klinckmann said. She added that growth policies and action may need to be more closely connected.There are perceptions about retention of open space, and about transportation and roads, she said. We may need a list of action items. And we need data bases to track what is happening.The comp-plan review process, a five-year update mandated by state law, will begin in earnest at Thursday’s planning commission meeting, 7 p.m. at city hall. At issue will be the island’s strategies for accommodating future growth, including economic development, zoning, traffic and resource use.The processKlinckmann said commissioners will begin by considering the visions, goals and principals section of the current plan, then will move on to the economic element. Overall, she said, the public is satisfied with the broad goals of the plan.The values survey done this year doesn’t show much change from the survey done before the plan was adopted, she said. The big picture seems to be accepted.The scientific survey, conducted earlier this year, showed continued support for clustered development, preservation of the natural landscape, and a winding, rural-looking road system.Because residents’ values have not changed materially since the plan was drafted in the early 1990s, Klinckmann thinks any significant changes to the goals and values section would be inappropriate.I don’t see that happening now, she said. When we start talking about the specifics, we may find out that some of the general values need to be addressed, but I think it will happen at that point.Density, etc.While the order in which the review will occur has not been established, Klinckmann said the water-resource element should be addressed early. And that could prove to be a controversial issue.Lois Andrus of the East Central Bainbridge Island Community Association says that the most critical issue in the plan update is whether or not to extend sewer lines beyond close-in Winslow, something that ECBICA vehemently opposes.You have to have a certain density to make sewer economically feasible, she said. So if you extend sewer, you will inevitably increase density.But city council chair Merrill Robison thinks sewer extension is a good thing.I saw how the septic-tank installers lobbied against sewer in the comp plan, he said. I am convinced that sewers do a better job treating wastewater, and I think we need to use them instead of septic systems where we can.Then there is the whole issue of water availability. One school of thought says that water is the island’s limiting resource, and that growth must not be permitted to outpace the water supply. Again, Robison takes a different view.As an old sailor, I know that you can use a desalination machine and make fresh water for about a penny a gallon, he said. When people buy water at the store for 70 cents a gallon, I’m not convinced that water is going to limit the island’s growth.Klinckmann says that the transportation element will likely be the last portion to be considered, because that revision will incorporate results of an island-wide traffic study set to begin after the first of the year.Somewhere in between, she says, the land-use element will be considered.The planning commission will have to work overtime this year to fulfill its responsibility to revise the comp-plan, in addition to its responsibility for initial site-plan reviews of development projects.Klinckmann will suggest that the commission schedule two additional meetings per month devoted exclusively to the review. The plan review sessions will be held in the small conference room adjacent to the council chambers, she said, in order to facilitate a round-table kind of discussion.We really want as much public input into this process as possible, she said. We want people to understand the connections between the elements. “