STOP 725 PERCENT DENSITY UPZONES ON BAINBRIDGE!

Bainbridge Islanders for Balanced Planning is committed to upholding the policies of our Comprehensive Plan, pursuing transparency and fairness in public processes, and ensuring that our island's conservation areas are managed responsibly for current and future residents.

On Tuesday, October 25, several members of our City Council pushed forward Ordinance 2022.02, and granted an unprecedented density bonus to a politically favored church, intent on cramming more than 22 single-family houses onto a developable area of only 1.25 acres. This extreme spot zone is targeted at our Island's lowest density conservation area, where the zoning calls for no more than 1 house on every 2.5 acres. As passed, the Ordinance will degrade the environment and permanently disrupt the Island's character in violation of our Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map.

What would this mean for our neighborhoods? Although the ordinance creates a five year moratorium for affordable housing projects by any other church, this Ordinance establishes a precedent of unmanaged spot zoning, and ignores the Island's need to address affordability in a thoughtful and island-wide manner. The public should not be deceived. This Ordinance does not represent a solution for affordability. To the contrary, after two years of intensive legislative work, this Ordinance establishes a five year moratorium on affordability projects, with the exception of the 22 unit spot zone. Ordinance 2022-02 is the culmination of an aggressive lobbying effort by Bethany Lutheran project developers. Public records show that the idea for this spot zone was hatched in a 2020 meeting, where the goal was to enlist City resources to push forward a "site specific" ordinance granting the maximum number of units possible, subject only to septic capacity. As a result of this gift of public resources and legislative process, Bethany Lutheran will now seek to build the maximum number of houses possible on the narrow natural area between Sportsman Club and Finch Roads, using two large community septic systems.

Public records from 2020 reveal how Bethany began aggressively lobbying select City officials to devote the City's legal, legislative and planning processes for the single purpose of upzoning about four acres of what is now beautiful open space and wildlife habitat. The targeted area for the 22 units is about 1.25 acres or natural area that was formerly a City Park. This is in our lowest density R-0.4 zone, which limits development to one home per 2.5 acres. If you consider the large structures Bethany already built on its wider parcel, they will be gifted 1000% on top of the Base Density zone currently allowed by our Municipal Code. No other city in Washington comes close to this massive preference for density on church property. This extreme and short-sighted approach reflects yet another example of City spot zoning, based on political favoritism and desperation caused by the City's ongoing failure to adopt a more rational affordable housing ordinance.

Our Comp Plan protects the Island's unique character by allowing the highest-density development in “Designated Centers” – such as Winslow – which have adequate infrastructure to support such density. Yet, ironically, this Ordinance proposes the smallest density bonuses for these areas -- focusing almost exclusively on the sensitive “Conservation Areas”! By setting a precedent for high-density development on religiously owned properties across the Island's conservation areas, the Ordinance will destroy the balanced vision of our Comprehensive Plan.

We thank Council Member Hytopoulos for speaking up about this irrational breach of public trust, which dramatically degrades our neighborhoods and fails to advance the affordable housing expectations our community actually called for. You can listen to her voice of reason on the August 19 Study Session video, at the following times: 34:00 - 37:00; 51:50 - 54:41; and 1:11:10 - 1:15:30 on the following link: https://bainbridgewa.granicus.com/player/clip/777?view_id=1&redirect=true&h=c078439ed321a7dc66745ae4813bcf8e . Council Members Hytopoulos and Pollock have continued to call attention to the problems with 2022-02, most recently at the last City Council meeting on October 11.

As enacted, the only option to remedy the City's arbitrary ordinance would be to address the legal issues in Kitsap Superior Court and, potentially, the Growth Management Hearings Board. These options are currently under review. If you are a dedicated donor to our cause, please let us know if you would like to serve on a steering committee for the BIBP advocacy effort.

BIBP supports affordable housing on the island and believes that we can expand options for affordable housing while preserving the Island's character and sustainability. In fact, three of six Planning Commissioners prepared a common sense alternative that would allow far more housing than would be achieved by the short-sighted Ordinance. This alternative logically emphasized larger density for the areas where our Comprehensive and Zoning Plans call for it, with incentives to avoid impacts to unbuilt natural areas. The City Council ignored this alternative.

The high-density "pilot project" at Bethany will:

• Set a precedent for explosive growth in Conservation Areas, justified by spot zoning church properties based on the pretext of “proximity” to the Winslow planning area and other designated centers – a textbook example of urban sprawl.

• Significantly increase traffic, estimated at 200 additional car trips per day along Finch and High School Road.

• Adversely impact wildlife, biodiversity, and aquifer recharge.

• Undercut efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Increase light and noise pollution and degrade the aesthetics of the Island.

• Invite litigation over the constitutionality of granting special density bonuses (i.e., greater land use rights) exclusively to religious organizations, and over violations of Washington land use law if the current draft Ordinance (No. 2022-2) is adopted.

Your Donations:

By donating to this GoFundMe, you are supporting strong advocacy for the balanced vision required in the Comprehensive Plan, and protecting Bainbridge Island from the damaging and divisive effects of an irrational Ordinance. If our threshold is met, your contributions will help finance legal advocacy and a legal challenge based on some or all of the legal issues laid out in the comment letters of land use attorney Rick Aramburu, detailed in the links below. Land use attorney Rick Aramburu has decades of experience taking a stand against unlawful zoning actions, and he has outlined a set of legal strategies to consider depending on how the final Ordinance is adopted. Options include: (1) an appeal to the Kitsap Superior Court to address the unprecedented Constitutional problems raised by awarding a massive density preference to select religious organizations; and (2) actions in the Superior Court and/or Growth Management Hearings Board, to address the arbitrary nature of the Bethany spot zone, the inconsistencies with our Comprehensive Plan and zoning map, and violations of Washington's appearance of fairness doctrine. Funds may also be used to help spread awareness of the dramatic precedent this Ordinance will set for the rest of our Island. While the total funding needs are difficult to estimate, by raising $50,000 BIBP will be in an excellent position to seek legal rulings on the critical issues raised by this misguided Ordinance. Thank you for supporting this important effort!

Legal Problems with Granting Extreme Density Bonuses to Religious Institutions:

• An April 28, 2022, letter from a national non-profit organization called Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This letter summarizes how the proposed Ordinance violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. To date, COBI has refused to respond to this letter. The letter is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rRP2jbDEQ6h4NOo7eZJ5aby_c79k77kQ/view?usp=sharing

• A June 6, 2022, letter from the Law Offices of J. Richard Aramburu PLLC, a firm representing BIBP to protect the neighborhood and the integrity of our Comprehensive Plan. This letter identifies additional legal flaws based on the Washington State Constitution, Washington statutes, and case law involving illegal spot zoning and other basic land use principles. To date, the City of Bainbridge Island has also refused to respond to this letter. The letter is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bjLdusyJ_qA33W1qf1VN5z93A6ZVOAR-/view?usp=sharing

Please also contact the BI City Council and City Manager (ideally before their October 25 City Council meeting) to urge them to reject the proposed Ordinance (No. 2022-02), and to pursue a balanced island-wide approach that does not emphasize high density spot zoning in our Conservation Areas:

https://www.bainbridgewa.gov/217/City-Council

Thank you for any assistance you can provide! The quality of life on Bainbridge Island in the future depends on each of us doing whatever we can today to uphold the values and unique character of this wonderful community!