PORT TOWNSEND — Despite public calls to pause the process, the Port Townsend City Council passed its periodic comprehensive plan update.
“There (were) several changes to state law, which would preempt the city’s codes if we do not adopt them by the end of this year,” said Emma Bolin, the city’s director of planning and community development at Monday night’s council meeting. “(That) would become very confusing for permit applicants and staff alike and the community.”
Public Works Director Steve King said should the city fall out of compliance with the state Growth Management Act by failing to pass the plan, the city would not be eligible for Department of Commerce grants.
Council member Ben Thomas, who ultimately voted against adoption, expressed interest in seeing the plan delayed. He said he wanted to see more community buy-in and to see the possibility of unintended consequences analyzed in greater depth.
Further, Thomas introduced a failed motion to retain the daylight-plane standard.
Though the document plans for a range of core services provided by the city, public interest in recent weeks has surged to focus on changes to R-II residential zones, which have increased allowable density and height. The moves would allow for increased housing stock in parts of town with existing infrastructure.
Numerous public outreach events and public meetings solicited input or daylighted the direction of the plan through the multi-year planning cycle.
Still, in an at-capacity council meeting Monday, many residents said they did not feel adequately informed about crucial details relating to zoning changes until several weeks ago.
“I have to tell you, public notices and ambiguous public hearing announcements are opaque,” Port Townsend resident John Capps said. “They are the opposite of transparent, and many of these issues were not brought to our attention until four to six weeks ago.”
Multiple commenters pointed to the potential outcomes inherent in allowing for increased density without requiring affordable housing units to be built into larger developments.
“Density does not equal affordability, and your current plan does not address 80 percent (area median income) or below,” Derek Firenze said. “I don’t see why any of this is going to affect the people who are most in need.”
Port Townsend resident Rachael Nutting spoke on behalf of friends and co-workers who were either priced out of Port Townsend or fearful of losing their housing.
“The reality is that these projects take time and they take funding,” Nutting said. “If we change nothing, that future is easy to predict because we’re already here.”
Affordable housing projects take so long to complete that those who fear the changes brought about by the adopted plan are not likely to be around by the time construction is underway, Nutting continued.
“This is why, as a community, we cannot delay change much longer,” she added.
City resident Cameron Jones noted that the town’s low vacancy rates reflect decades of constrained housing production and exclusionary land patterns.
“Density alone will not solve affordability, but it is a necessary precondition,” he said. “Tools like inclusionary zoning, development incentives and clear affordability requirements are how increased capacity translates into homes people can actually afford.”
Jones acknowledged the council’s concerns were reasonable around the feasibility of inclusionary zoning working in the small-scale city and with a short timeline.
“They are a reason to design the tool carefully and pair it with sufficient density and incentives, not reasons to sideline it indefinitely,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Amy Howard noted that the public outreach phases of the comp plan were the strongest outreach effort she has seen as a council member.
“I am in favor of continuing to work through all of the challenges and pieces in implementation,” Howard said. “I am interested in hearing from people how it impacts them on the ground when those changes happen. But the speculative concerns, I have a really hard time with those because I see directly and immediately on a very daily basis the challenges of people who are struggling to find housing that is affordable to them.”
Council members expressed interest in taking next steps to ensure that loosening development regulations will not only add to the housing stock but will eventually translate into increases in affordable housing options.
Bolin said the plan can be amended, per city code. Two ways to do it are through an annual amendment or through the city’s docketing process, she said.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
