Shall or should BI remain in control of growth?

There’s a lot of difference between “shall” and “should.”

As an attorney, Bainbridge Island Councilmember Kirsten Hytopolous knows that well. It could mean the difference between local or regional control.

She tried to explain that to the rest of the council at Tuesday’s meeting. They were discussing changes made in Kitsap County’s directions regarding growth.

The council ended up approving the directions on a 4-3 vote, with Hytopolous, mayor Rasham Nassar and deputy mayor Michael Pollock dissenting.

Mark Hoffman, interim planning director, said the county planning policies are the framework, but still it’s local control. Poulsbo and Port Orchard have already ratified it.

Jennifer Sutton, senior planner, in a slide show told how the policies are to provide consistency within the cities in the county. It’s the framework for city Comprehensive Plans, which include topics like affordable housing, transportation, capital facilities, coordination of growth in Urban Growth Areas, economic development and environment. Added to the plan is a better commitment to social and racial equity.

Population figures show BI should grow from 23,025 in 2010 to 28,660 by 2036, while Poulsbo should grow from 9,700 to 14,808.

Hytopolous said the Kitsap County Coordinating Council talked to the BI council last spring and did not mention any changes.

She found some that concern her.

Growth allocation: The coordinating council used to be more free-flowing to reflect local desires. Now it says the county and cities shall work together on growth. “It used to be up to us.”

Development centers: Each city shall have at least one. “That will be where growth will be sent,” she said, rather than allowing local control to decide.

Employment: Does that mean business growth is tied to it?

“I don’t want to endorse this thing. I want to cooperate and get along and don’t make a stink, but we should stand for our values,” Hytopolous said.

Following up on that, Sutton said the change that looks the most worrisome is in regard to centers. She said Winslow does not meet the definition of a growth center. That is because its boundary takes in too much residential area. She said when the Winslow Master Plan is done they may want to think about shrinking the boundary to make it dense enough to qualify.

Sutton said she sees the county plan as a guiding document that supports BI goals, with growth in designated centers rather than conservation areas. “It supports our existing growth strategy,” she said.

The majority of the council seemed to agree.

Councilmember Leslie Schneider said, “I’m not under the assumption we’re losing control.” But she did say BI is not the only city in Kitsap worried about it. Poulsbo is worried it won’t be able to make its target population goals.

Councilmember Joe Deets said it’s a guiding document that supports our master plan with growth in the Winslow area and not out on the island.

Councilmember Jon Quitslund said the county goals are consistent with BI’s Comprehensive Plan.

“I don’t see something to be afraid of,” he said. With BI being part of Kitsap it needs to face up to the need for development to accommodate growth. “We are so far behind our goals in the housing element of our Comp Plan.”

He added that there are more jobs on Bainbridge than there are people to fill those jobs. “People have to travel long distances” to get to work, he said, adding there needs to be a balance.

Hytopolous said changes in the language make it more top-down. “This has always been a horse-trading compromise,” she said of the past. But there “are a bunch of ‘shall’s’ in this.” She added it’s not just that BI doesn’t want growth. With only a sole-source aquifer to provide water, it may not be able to handle all the growth the county wants.

“We’re not in the same positions as the other cities that are willing to subject themselves to be dictated to,” she said. Hytopolous said she doesn’t want regional bodies telling BI “how and when we grow. We need as much local control as possible. We need to do it on our terms.”

Pollock said Hytopolous obviously had done her homework and raised some good points. He said the county directions should be more advisory in nature, but it’s not ours to modify, so he thought they should “take a pause on this.”

Meanwhile, also at the meeting, the council extended the Housing Design Demonstration Project for another year. A public hearing was set for Feb. 22, 2022.

Nassar and Hytopolous split with the others on the vote. Nassar said density is one of BI’s most-valuable assets. “It should be tread on lightly,” she said, adding in 2017 the council agreed that the program falls short of what’s acceptable to islanders.

Hytopolous also said the density is too high, even if just for a few months before the council works out a more-all-encompassing housing action plan. For housing to be that dense, she said it needs to be more affordable than the HDDP allows.

Deets said extending it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable, but to “let it lapse sends the wrong message.”

Quitslund said “not a lot is at stake” and that it’s a “harmless action that eliminates a gap” in coverage. He said he would vote for it with a “heavy heart. It’s been an embarrassment,” he said of how long it’s taken for BI to draft a housing action plan. He added the city’s Planning Commission has come up with a better plan that belongs in a larger-scale effort. “The sooner we get them done the better. We’ve just been limping along.”

Pollock said while the extension is for a year he certainly doesn’t want to take that long. He hopes passing the extension “will keep the fire lit. It does allow a lot of density. It keeps the pressure on us to pass” something bigger. “We don’t want this.”

•King gave an end-of-the-year report on some of the major things the council accomplished, including:

The on-demand BI Ride program; saving the city over $230,000 by refinancing wastewater bonds; protecting the community from COVID-19 with vaccinations; 40 businesses supported through COVID recovery program; mulitifamly tax exemption; landmark tree ordinance; protect property from wildfires; reduce use of plastics; use federal stimulus funds for mostly affordable housing; waterwater reuse project; improve local roads; nonmotorized path along Eagle Harbor; new public art; new funding source for affordable housing; bike safety along Miller Road; improve Eagle Harbor wastewater treatment plant; race equity welcome signs; climate action officer and Sound to Olympics Trail.

King said public work is not easy because it’s easily criticized. Looking at the long list, “I hope you feel a sense of acccomplishement.”

•The council voted to continue to contract with Kitsap County for jail services at a cost of $100,000 for each of two years, plus a per-person nightly charge. Police chief Joe Clark said the agreements were needed to “fill a void as we have no detention facility for adults or juveniles.”

Clark said this year 57 adults and one juvenile were arrested and jailed. He said they only book those with a felony, domestic violence, DUI and certain misdemeanors, like a custody case or one where public safety is an issue. Of those jailed, 75% were men and 84% white. Clark said juvenile offenders are usually returned to a parent. “That’s the preferred approach,” he said.

Deets used the opportunity to say the city’s Public Safety Committee was disbanded two years ago, and the council was supposed to talk about the issue at council meetings, but that has not happened.

•The council voted to talk about a crisis of primary care coverage on BI at an upcoming meeting. Hytopolous said thousands of people have lost primary care coverage and are going to Seattle or not at all. She said while the council can’t provide funds officially calling it a crisis might send a message to providers to come here. Deets said 8,000 patients lost coverage when Swedish closed.

•King shared “good news” about a settlement with county sewer. It was in regard to the county treating effluent in Lynwood and to the south. It concerned costs each charge. They settled on a lump sum of $86,346, “which is more than I think we should pay,” King said, adding they plan to negotiate so the discrepancy doesn’t happen again. The total amount to the county is $484,000, but most is money we already owe, King said.

•During public comments, Steve Matthews encouraged the city to widen the sidewalk on the west side of Madison Avenue, and Jonathan Davis asked the council to pass the extention of the affordable housing measure, which it did.