The city enters into a new partnership with downtown

property owners.

Either flatten much of Winslow for parking or stack cars underground and overhead.

That’s the choice Sandy Fischer offered the City Council on Wednesday. Already suffering a parking shortage, the downtown core must accommodate 725 to 937 parking spaces by 2025, under parking requirements poised for ratification later this year.

Under the surface parking option, that amount would consume 6 to 8 acres of downtown, said Fischer, the Winslow Tomorrow project manager.

“Do we really want 60 to 75 percent of our downtown to be surface parking?” she asked the council.

That’s the $127,500 question councilors hope to answer. Shortly after Fischer’s presentation, the council agreed to pay for a study assessing the feasibility of a parking garage near City Hall.

In addition to the study, the council approved $38,500 to hire urban planner Chuck Depew to head the project. Depew, a volunteer in the Winslow Tomorrow planning process, will work in partnership with a handful of downtown land owners led by Tom Haggar, who owns the Virginia Mason Winslow Clinic property.

“None of these dollars are going into the pockets of property owners,” Depew said. “All the money is for third-party expenses.”

The study includes $20,000 to establish a work plan, $43,000 to identify and evaluate design options and $22,500 to craft implementation strategies. The 27-week work schedule should produce a finished study by late September, according to Depew.

Mayor Darlene Kordonowy appointed a task force to assist Depew and the city with garage planning. The eight-member group includes Haggar, Town & Country market owner Larry Nakata, former Winslow mayor Alice Tawresey and city councilors Jim Llewellyn and Nezam Tooloee.

For the garage’s possible location, Depew is zeroing in on the terraced section of city-owned property south of the the farmers market.

Previous discussions about the garage have placed it partially underground, and would likely require the demolition of an adjacent commercial building now housing the Bagatelle antique store.

Haggar, his business partner Rob Scribner and Sandstrom Properties formed a limited liability corporation to assist the city with the study. The group’s members own properties adjacent to the proposed garage and may wish to coordinate redevelopment along with the garage project.

But at least one neighboring business owner isn’t keen on the garage.

Els Heyne, co-owner of Classic Cycle bicycle shop, expressed concern about a proposal that could tear down the Winslow Way building she shares with the Isla Bonita restaurant to make way for a parking garage access lane.

Heyne urged the council to consider other options that would encourage other forms of transportation, reduce auto traffic and save money.

“We need to get people out of their cars and walking around town,” she said. “We’ll have more traffic on Winslow Way from the garage. You’ll have to put a traffic light in. It’s already chaotic.”

She said the study’s funding could be spent on other projects, such as Waterfront Park amenities.

“By not building that road and that garage, who knows, maybe you could build that bathroom,” Heyne said.

Fischer said the city is working on numerous transportation-related initiatives besides the parking garage.

“I always hear about improving transit and other modes of transportation, but that doesn’t move us past the problem of needing more parking,” Fischer said. “Downtown is (the center) of culture, commerce and community. Parking is a part of that.”

Numerous non-motorized transportation projects – such as bike lanes and pedestrian walkways – are in the works, she said. However, Fischer added that plans to improve downtown bus service hit a setback when Kitsap Transit’s recent levy failed.

Tooloee said planning for parking alternatives was failing on a key issue.

“I don’t understand why there’s nothing serious in our discussion about taking care of employee parking,” the councilman said.

Tooloee advocates establishing “satellite” parking areas for downtown workers. Located at church parking lots or other areas outside Winslow, employees would park and then shuttle in to downtown via buses or vans.

“I don’t buy that it’s not doable,” he said.

Fischer said planning for satellite employee parking was not a part of her assigned duties. Kordonowy stressed that such planning was under way, largely through the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce.

According to Fischer, land shortages and prices will likely complicate all transportation planning in downtown, whether it’s establishing parking lots, bike lanes, new roadways or parking garages.

“It’s like fitting 25 pounds in a 10 pound bucket,” she said.

But extending the depth of the bucket through underground or multi-story parking garages could alleviate much of this problem, she said.

Besides the proposed City Hall garage, Fischer believes three or four downtown garages may be necessary to meet demand. She identified possible locations in the ferry terminal area, marina district and along Madison Avenue near the Pavilion.

Beyond her warnings of a largely paved downtown, Fischer stressed that surface parking comes at high financial and social costs. At current land values, each surface stall could cost as much as $35,000, she said.

Stacking stalls in parking garages is the more cost-effective option and and would allow more room for ground-floor retail and a stronger tax base for the city.