Bainbridge Island council debates planning commission recommendations for Winslow subarea plan, stresses affordability and infrastructure limits

Bainbridge Island's City Council spent its Feb. 3 study session sharply divided over the direction of the Winslow subarea plan and the city's overdue comprehensive plan update, with several members warning that proposed upzoning could produce market-rate housing without delivering the affordable units the state's housing law aims to secure.

Acting City Manager Ellen Schroer opened the session by framing the council's duty under the state's Growth Management Act and reminding members that Resolution 2025-18 set an ambitious timetable for completing the periodic update by June 2026. Schroer told the council staff had compiled the planning commission's motions and sought policy guidance on whether to revise or carry those recommendations forward.

The meeting quickly focused on whether the planning commission's motions stayed within the 'essential' work described in Resolution 2025-18. Councilmember Nelson said the resolution's preamble and section 4 limit the commission to policies "essential to achieving compliance with state law," and argued some motions have gone further. "That motion [on Ferncliff] upzoned the rest of the proposed Ferncliff zone to R-8'without any requirement to build affordable housing," Nelson said, adding that market-rate upzoning alone will not reach households earning 80% of area median income or below.

Councilmember Schneider countered that prior council discussion had not excluded market-rate development and that the council previously expressed support for encouraging mixed-income projects and for asking the planning commission to examine inclusionary zoning in specific districts. "Inclusionary zoning, whether mandatory or voluntary, assumes that you're going to get some market rate in that case," she said, noting the council had not explicitly forbidden market-rate units in earlier guidance.

Mayor Moriwaki and other members urged careful consideration of the commission's unanimous recommendations and said novel proposals deserve review rather than immediate rejection. Members also raised technical constraints: several councilmembers cited a groundwater peer review and warned that current groundwater models do not demonstrate that future withdrawals are sustainable. "Increasing groundwater withdrawals increases the risk of unsustainability," Deputy Mayor Hetopoulos said, urging application of the precautionary principle.

Discussion also turned to infrastructure: councilmembers highlighted possible sewer-capacity limits and asked staff to clarify whether upzoning would require timely, feasible upgrades to utilities. Councilmember Schneider said the city might be able to deny building permits or institute moratoria if infrastructure limits are reached; others urged legal review on what the city could or must do if zoning increases capacity that the utilities cannot serve.

The session did not resolve the policy debate. Instead, after extended discussion about process and timeline, Councilmember Nelson moved to add an item to the Feb. 10 business meeting agenda that would allow all seven council members to weigh in; Councilmember Schneider seconded the motion, and the council voted in favor. The Feb. 10 session will include time for members to submit proposed motions in advance and for public comment at the business meeting.

Background and next steps: Schroer reminded the council that the planning commission's recommended preferred alternative will return to the council after public hearings and that staff needs clear direction now to avoid rework later in the schedule. Councilmembers asked staff to prepare information about which planning commission recommendations are strictly "essential" for state compliance, the expected growth-target numbers the city must meet, and the utility and groundwater analyses needed to assess the practical impacts of any upzoning.

The council adjourned the study session after agreeing to carry the Winslow feedback item to the next business meeting for a full-council vote.