Joint civic meeting tonight will consider Port Townsend’s future, fortune under master plan revision ideas

Published 12:01 am Monday, August 10, 2015

PORT TOWNSEND — City council members and planning commissioners will meet for a joint workshop tonight to mull citizen suggestions to revise the Growth Management Act and Comprehensive Plan.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Port Townsend City Council chambers, 540 Water St. No final decisions are expected to be made.

In a June 24 town meeting attended by 102 people, “community resilience/climate change” got the highest ranking among public issues, followed by affordable housing.

Regarding the first concern, city officials could consider encouraging rain gardens, “green roofs” and rain barrels.

As for the second subject, the city could promote construction of “tiny houses,” domiciles that have become trendy for their miniscule footprint and relative cost.

Other ideas that were brought up:

■   Promoting electric vehicle tourism.

■   Offering one-way bicycle sharing, including three-wheeled, electric-assisted vehicles.

■   Installing parking meters whose income would fund public transportation.

■   Using “gray water” to irrigate lawns.

■   Opening more public restrooms.

■   Desalinizing sea water.

■   Providing community gardens on public land.

Those are just what the city possibly could consider.

Its governmental partners like the Jefferson County Public Utility District and Jefferson Transit could investigate such innovations as tidal power, shared motor vehicles, a power-generating trash incinerator and switching from buses to trolleys and trains.

One person wrote about the pesky deer that bedevil gardeners.

“Some people feed them,” one concerned citizen wrote. “Some people want to eat them.

“If something is not done eventually people will start taking action on their own. This would be a worst-case scenario and potentially dangerous to everyone.”

The writer suggested a sterilization program or perhaps annual humane hunts.