PORT TOWNSEND — When design artist Joan Sandford moved to the Castle Hill neighborhood six months ago, the possibility of an adult entertainment business six blocks away never crossed her mind.
Her quiet neighborhood, atop a bluff in a southern corner of the city, provided the perfect atmosphere for a watercolor artist.
That is until Sandford learned about a city zoning proposal for an adult entertainment district earlier this week.
“I am naturally dismayed at the thought that we residents of the Castle Hill area, and particularly in this island of homes on the bluffs, south of Sims Way, will now be in a suburb of a new ‘Porno Zone,”‘ Sandford, a Vista Boulevard resident, states in a letter to city officials.
“Does the city of Port Townsend really want our visitors’ first impression of this beautiful city to be a red-light district directly as you enter the town? Our visitors will be amazed that this city has even zoned such a district.”
Heated comments
The Planning Commission took some heated public comments Thursday night while discussing the proposed adult entertainment district for the first time. About 15 residents attended the meeting.
“What is the city thinking? Let us reconsider this,” Jan Marquardt, representing John L. Scott Real Estate in Port Townsend, said in a letter to the city.
Port Townsend resident Roger Peck told the commission: “I’m also concerned about the area in terms of size. It seems that 20 acres is excessive.”
Saying the city turned down his requests for a dance studio or art gallery in the same area, Peck said, “Something seems backward in this process.”
The Planning Commission is scheduled to continue a public hearing on the proposed district in June and forward its recommendation to the City Council. The commission can recommend keeping the same 20-acre zone, make it smaller or take no action.