Planning Commission Regular Meeting - August 13, 2026
Planning Commission Regular Meeting - August 13, 2026
The Bainbridge Island Planning Commission held a regular meeting on August 13, 2026, at 6:03 PM in Council Chambers and via Zoom. Commissioners present: Sarah Blossom (Vice Chair), Criss Garcia, Alex Preudhomme, Ben Deines, Alexandra Costin, and new member John Sandage. Peter Schaab was excused. Staff included Associate Planner Joanne Mendenhall, Interim City Manager Ellen Schroer, and Interim PCD Director Emily Terril (via Zoom). Council Liaisons Ashley Mathews and Lara Lant also attended.
Opening Business: Election of Chair and Vice Chair
- Commissioner Alex Preudhomme nominated Criss Garcia for Chair; seconded by Ben Deines. The motion carried unanimously (6-0).
- Commissioner Ben Deines nominated Sarah Blossom for Vice Chair; seconded by Criss Garcia. The motion carried unanimously (6-0).
- Commissioner Ben Deines disclosed a conflict of interest: his wife works for Winslow Architects, the applicant for the ACME Long Subdivision (item 7A). He recused himself from that portion of the meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Motion to approve the agenda as presented (Preudhomme/Deines & Blossom) carried unanimously (6-0).
- Motion to approve the July 23, 2026 minutes as presented (Blossom/Preudhomme) carried unanimously (6-0).
Public Comments
No members of the public offered comments in person or remotely.
Planning Director’s Report
Interim PCD Director Emily Terril reported on the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) audit. The city requested an extension of the 120-day correction period from August 21 to December 19, 2026, but the Department of Commerce rejected this on August 5. Commerce offered a compromise: the city could receive the 120-day correction period if it submitted development regulations and a land capacity analysis for a 60-day review. On August 12, City Council directed staff to pursue this extension by submitting draft development regulations (including mandatory inclusionary zoning as recommended by the Planning Commission on July23) by August 12, and to schedule interim adoption on August 25. Staff have extended LMN’s contract to run updated models and will work toward adopting the comprehensive plan and development regulations by early December. The need for a supplemental environmental impact statement is being evaluated.
Discussion Items: ACME Long Subdivision Public Participation Meeting
Chair Garcia opened the public participation meeting at 6:23 PM. Associate Planner Joanne Mendenhall introduced the project: a long subdivision of two lots on Erickson Avenue into six clustered lots, similar to the Erickson Cottages. The existing historic house on the site was recently placed on the local historic register, which exempts it from floor area ratio calculations. Project manager Charlie Wenzlau presented the site plan, noting that the home will be renovated and used as part of the subdivision. The development requires a deviation to narrow the access road width from 30 to 20 feet. Commissioners asked questions about a shed, the historic designation, and road width. Commissioner Preudhomme expressed strong support, stating the project provides “the type of housing that we just need more of around the island.” No public comments were offered. The meeting closed at 6:30 PM.
Good of the Order
Commissioner Blossom raised a concern about the City Council’s priority matrix, which initially omitted “parking lot items” important to the Planning Commission. Council Liaisons Lara Lant and Ashley Mathews clarified that the omission was because those items were considered already in progress, and the Council later expressed support for including them. Commissioner Preudhomme flagged a future discussion about the 2021 moratorium on bonus FAR programs and its effect on residential density baselines, requesting a detailed briefing from Director Sutton at the next meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Criss Garcia elected Chair, Sarah Blossom elected Vice Chair (unanimous).
- Agenda and July 23, 2026 minutes approved (unanimous).
- Ben Deines recused from the ACME Long Subdivision discussion due to conflict of interest.
- Staff directed to pursue HAA extension and prepare interim development regulations for Council adoption on August 25.
- Public participation meeting held for ACME Long Subdivision; written comments due by August 19.
- Future agenda item requested: staff briefing on the 2021 moratorium and its impact on baseline FAR.
Meeting Transcript
Yes. Calling to order the planning commission regular meeting for Thursday, August 13th, 2026. We would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is within the ancestral territory of the Sequamish people of clear saltwater. Expert fishermen, canoe builders, and basket weavers. The Sequamish live in harmony with the lands and waterways along Washington Central Salish Sea, as they have for thousands of years. Here the Sequamish live and protect the land and waters of their ancestors for future generations as promised promised by the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. Tonight we are only missing Commissioner Schab. And it is the first meeting of our new Commissioner John Sandage. Do you want to take a moment to introduce yourself? I learned something new already. Good evening. My name is John Sandage. It's on, I think. Yeah, just pull it closer. All right. No, we moved here in 2019. My husband and I, uh, I was previously with the United Nations. Uh we moved here from Geneva, Switzerland. And uh we are um very happy to be here uh and very active in the life of the community and now uh looking forward to taking this next step by contributing to the commission whose work I have observed from out there in the seats, but now get to see from the other side. So thank you. Welcome and thank you for joining. Um we are going to now uh appoint a new chair and vice chair. So I will open the floor for nominations for chair first. Well, uh if I don't mind, I would actually like to nominate uh Commissioner Garcia for chair if you are willing to step up to the plate. I accept your nomination. Thank you, Alex. Are there any other nominations? Not seeing any. Um we so rarely do this. It doesn't have to be seconded, right? We just vote. I was I was about to, but if we don't need to, I won't. I think a second is proper. Okay. I think we did last time. Okay. But you we'll call that a second. Okay. We'll call Alex's nomination a motion to appoint Commissioner Garcia chair and a second from Ben. All those in favor. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Are there any nominations for vice chair? Would you like to continue to be involved in the chairing? Sure. I nominate Sarah Blossom for vice chair. I'll second your nomination for Sarah Blossom for Vice Chair. Okay. Are there any other nominations, though?
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