Bainbridge Island Planning Commission Special Meeting – March 18, 2026: Comprehensive Plan Element Updates
Bainbridge Island Planning Commission Special Meeting – March 18, 2026
The Bainbridge Island Planning Commission held a special meeting on March 18, 2026, from 6:03 PM to 8:36 PM to discuss and recommend updates to the Cultural, Human Services, Economic, and Housing Elements of the Comprehensive Plan. All votes were unanimous (4-0) unless noted.
Public Comments & Testimony
- John Quitslin (Sullivan Road) provided comments on all four elements. He corrected the name of the museum in Policy CUL 3.9 to "Bainbridge History Museum." He expressed concern over the deletion of references to the periodic community needs assessment in the Human Services Element, noting that the 2016 assessment was commissioned by the city. He also noted that references to an economic development strategy were marked for deletion and asked whether the Chamber of Commerce had been consulted. He reported the jobs-housing balance ratio improved from 0.59 in 2016 to 0.61, calling it an "insignificant improvement."
Discussion Items
Cultural Element – Director Patty Charnas presented minor updates, noting the element is not required by the Growth Management Act (GMA) but is community-important. The commission approved two amendments: one to correct the museum name and another to lowercase "civic and cultural" in Policy CUL 1.9. The element was recommended as amended.
Human Services Element – Staff proposed deleting community needs assessment references because the city no longer conducts one, relying instead on the U.S. Census, American Community Survey, and the Bainbridge Community Foundation report. Commissioner Blossom moved to restore all struck language on the community needs assessment, stating that the assessment helps direct funding to community partners. The motion passed unanimously. The commission also struck the added language "advertise services available to the public" from Policy HS 5.1. An attempt to direct staff to develop more policies supporting HS Action #5 (healthcare providers) failed for lack of a second. A subsequent motion to add "healthcare" before "services" in HS Action #5 passed. A motion to strike two sentences from the introduction was withdrawn and replaced with a successful amendment clarifying that the community needs assessment was last completed in 2016 and will be updated periodically. The element was recommended as amended.
Economic Element – Staff noted this is a required GMA element. Updates included striking references to an economic development strategy because the Chamber of Commerce is currently undertaking one (contract through January 2027). The commission amended Policy EC 11.6 to include monitoring impacts on long-term housing supply and surrounding neighborhoods. They split the last two sentences of Policy EC 1.3 into separate policies. Policy EC 8.1 was corrected to read "Winslow Subarea Plan." A motion directed staff to draft a policy supporting future regulation requiring short-term rentals to comply with health and safety standards, including those from the Kitsap Public Health District. Policy EC 6.3 was amended to read "procedures and regulations" to address climate change impacts. The element was recommended as amended.
Housing Element – Senior Planner Jennifer Sutton presented remaining goals (HO 10 and HO 11). Policy HO 10.3 was amended to reference "workforce and affordable" housing instead of just "workforce." Policy HO 11.3 was simplified to address higher density residential development and reliable infrastructure, removing the awkward reference to locations near centers and schools. The commission also directed staff to draft a form-based code policy for consideration at the next available meeting. The element was recommended as amended.
Key Outcomes
- All motions passed unanimously (4-0) except where noted.
- Cultural Element: Amended CUL 3.9 (name change) and CUL 1.9 (lowercase). Recommended as amended.
- Human Services Element: Restored all community needs assessment references; struck "advertise services" from HS 5.1; added "healthcare" to HS Action #5; amended introduction paragraph. Recommended as amended.
- Economic Element: Amended EC 11.6 (monitoring short-term rentals), split EC 1.3, corrected EC 8.1, directed staff on short-term rental health/safety policy, amended EC 6.3 (procedures and regulations). Recommended as amended.
- Housing Element: Amended HO 10.3 (workforce and affordable), amended HO 11.3 (higher density infrastructure). Directed staff to draft form-based code policy for next meeting. Recommended as amended.
- The next meeting (March 25) will include review of the island-wide mobility plan, capital facilities element, and land capacity results; the Winslow Subarea Plan update is rescheduled for April.
Meeting Transcript
I'm gonna call to order the March 18th special meeting of the Bainbridge Island Planning Commission at 6.03 p.m. Present. Commissioners Ariel Bertley virtually, Peter Schaub, Sarah Blossom, and myself, Chris Garcia, uh in person. Uh Chris Garcia chairing. So absent. We would uh say Dynas, Commissioner Dinus was feeling poorly. Uh Commissioner Sullivan is uh unaccounted for Commissioner Prudholm. Uh unannounced, unaware. So okay. So with that, I'm looking for uh approval of the agenda for this evening. I move to approve the agenda as presented. We have a motion to approve the agenda. We have a second. Second. All right. Motion and a second to approve tonight's agenda. Uh any discussion. Hearing none, uh call for vote. All in favor of approving agenda say aye. Aye. Uh none opposed. Motion passed unanimously. All right. Uh, any conflicts of interest to disclose. Seeing none and having none myself, I'll move forward. All right. To public comment. We have members of the public who are wishing to speak in the sign-in sheet. Uh if you have not already, at this time you can move to the back of the room. Uh we have no feed tonight. So uh you might want to make an announcement that if people want to watch tonight's proceedings, they're gonna have to log into Zoom. All right, I have just been informed that we have no live feed tonight. Um, if you wish to participate in tonight's session, you're going to need to log into Zoom at the address located at the top of the Planning Commission regular agenda. Uh, there's a number there. Uh I don't know how they'd get that if they weren't if there was no live feed, but hopefully uh for the record uh that will stand. So all right, we're ready to move on to public comment. Uh first person signed up is John Quitslin, uh Sullivan Road. Please approach the microphone, which is adjustable. I have to do my disclosure first. Uh good evening, planning commissioners. Um I have comments on the comprehensive plan elements that are up for discussion and action tonight. Primarily the cultural, human services, and economic elements. In the 2016 comprehensive plan, the cultural element is sketchy and short. Some steps have been taken now to bring the cultural element up to date. More remains to be done. The city council recently accepted but did not adopt the community arts plan that was commissioned several years ago and has now been discussed by representatives of the principal arts organizations. I would like to see a more comprehensive cultural element developed in the future by a team of citizens. It will be up to the city council to endorse such a project if it has a place among the city's priorities next year, perhaps. For the time being, we just need a placeholder. I have one correction to the draft that is for uh before you tonight.
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