PORT ANGELES — The people of Port Angeles have spoken, and the city is poised to listen.
City staff and consultants wrapped up the storefront studio event, the next big phase of the comprehensive planning process, on Wednesday night by discussing preliminary studio results and engaging with participants on the potential future of the city.
The three-day storefront studio event allowed individuals to engage with presentations or join a focused discussion period. Feedback was collected by city staff and consultants, and it will be used to provide direction for the comprehensive plan update.
Initial summaries showed that housing is a top concern, as well as employment opportunities, small-town feel, community resilience and transportation.
Workshops at the storefront studio on Monday and Tuesday night also found that people want the city to develop better walking and biking networks, encourage the use of vacant and empty lots, find a plan for the Rayonier mill site, develop more economic growth and high-wage jobs and improve utility capacity.
Participants also indicated they were not overall in support of institutionalized neighborhoods, although they enjoyed each neighborhood’s unique individual identity.
Public feedback also indicated that individuals believe Port Angeles is a good place to live, but it hasn’t yet reached its potential as an economic center for the Peninsula.
On Wednesday night, individuals asked for a comprehensive plan that is unique to the city, not just a cookie-cutter design.
A comprehensive plan is a document that outlines a city’s vision for the next 20 years and helps guide city council’s legislative actions, budgets and programs, city planning supervisor Ben Braudrick said.
“It is a blueprint for the future,” he added.
Washington state mandates that cities update their comprehensive plans every 10 years; Port Angeles’ plan was last updated in 2016.
“Obviously, a lot of things have changed in Port Angeles in the last eight years, so it’s important that we do that [update it],” Braudrick said.
There are nine facets of the comprehensive plan: land use and growth management; housing; economic development; transportation; utilities and public services; capital facilities; parks and recreation; conservation; and climate change and resiliency.
To aid in developing the plan, the city hired Leland Consulting Group, MAKERS, SCJ Alliance and Fehr and Peers.
Visitors to the storefront studio, which was located at the 4PA campus at 230 E. First Street, were invited to engage with the exhibits sprinkled throughout the room which displayed facts, history and potential future directions of the comprehensive plan.
Individuals could vote, color, tack or write on most of the exhibits, leaving an imprint of what they thought Port Angeles should look like.
One of the most popular events was a penny poll, in which individuals could invest eight pennies into buckets labeled with potential future priorities from the city.
There also was a graffiti wall where individuals could pick up a marker and leave a colorful drawing or comment regarding their thoughts about the comprehensive plan.
Public feedback will be distilled by city staff and consultants and then given to the six-person planning commission, which will make recommendations to the city council for how the comprehensive plan should be updated.
Individuals also can engage with the planning commission during the public comment period at their meetings, which are conducted at 6 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month.
The city also solicited public feedback through a community engagement survey, which garnered about 1,400 responses, representing around 14 percent of Port Angeles’ population.
Results of the survey found that people were concerned about the cost of living, lack of affordable housing and other amenities, public health concerns and inaccessible childcare.
Some future directions people wanted to see the comprehensive plan focus on included economic growth, more housing options, climate change adaptation and improved access to healthcare.
The city is planning another major workshop series sometime in February, and visioning and engagement for the comprehensive plan will likely wrap up by May.
Preparation and refinement of the plan will continue until the required adoption date of Dec. 31, 2025.
More information about the comprehensive plan and ways to share feedback can be found on the city’s website.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
