Claire Hicks plays fetch in the
water with her dog French at Pritchard Park on Bainbridge Island.
(LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)
Pritchard Park will be open to off-leash dogs under
voice command all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as
Saturdays before noon. The ordinance was approved by a
City Council vote Tuesday night.
The off-leash ordinance will go into effect as soon
as the city can post signs. The city also plans to add mutt mitt
locations and additional trash cans to the park.
Pritchard Park is owned by the city, but is planned
to transfer to the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks District
later this year. The parks district does not allow off-leash dogs
except in designated off-leash areas, including the Strawberry Hill
Dog Park.
The off-leash amendment will end two weeks before the
park is transferred to the park district.
Governor Jay Inslee preparing
to sign the Ostling Act into law April 24. Bainbridge Island
Officer Trevor Ziemba, far left, and Kitsap County Sheriff Gary
Simpson, center, attended the signing. Ziemba testified in favor of
the bill. (Photo by Legislative Support Services)
The Douglas M. Ostling Act, a measure that will require all
Washington law enforcement to receive crisis intervention training,
became law when Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill April 24.
Ostling, a mentally ill Bainbridge Island man, was shot and
killed by Bainbridge Island police in 2010, and two years later a
federal jury determined the city had not provided proper training
for the officers, awarding the Ostling family $1.4 million.
The new law requires incoming police officers to receive eight
hours of initial crisis intervention training starting in 2017, and
two hours of additional training each year for all officers by
2021.
Since the shooting, Bainbridge Island’s newest police chief has
been working to improve training and repair community ties.
Matt Hamner, hired in 2013, sent Officer Trevor Ziemba to
Olympia to testify in favor of the Ostling bill. Ziemba is the
department’s crisis intervention officer.
“We wanted to show our support of this bill,” Hamner
said. “We want to do better, and we want to do the best we can for
the community.”
The first phase of Ferncliff
Village development. (Brad Camp/Special to the Kitsap
Sun)
City Council agreed Tuesday to provide $150,000 for phase II of
the Ferncliff Village, an affordable housing
development by Housing Resources Bainbridge on the island.
Phase II will include 16 two and three bedroom
townhomes, a playground and trails. Each townhome will cost about
$200,000, according to the development’s website.
Housing Resources Bainbridge started the first phase of the
development in 2011 and sold all of the homes by the fall of
2013.
The city will contribute $75,000 a year for two years after
Housing Resources Bainbridge has a construction loan
agreement.
Payments from the city will be reimbursements, and Housing
Resources Bainbridge must submit receipts.
Bainbridge Island author and journalist Bruce Barcott will be on
Bainbridge Island next Thursday signing and discussing his latest
book on the ramifications of legalizing marijuana.
“Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America”
talks about cultural, social and financial adjustments surrounding
legal weed.
Barcott discusses his last minute change of heart to vote for
legalizing marijuana in a CNN
opinion piece, where he notes that marijuana possession can
come with more prison time than some rape and other violent crime
convictions in states like Louisiana.
“Legal weed hasn’t
inspired an army of hooligans to tear up the state. It’s just kept
10,000 people with a little bud in their pockets from being branded
as criminals,” he wrote. “Instead of losing their jobs, they keep
them. Instead of draining tax dollars as prisoners, they contribute
tax dollars as workers and consumers.”
Claire Hicks plays fetch in the
water with her dog French at Pritchard Park on Bainbridge Island.
(LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)
Bainbridge Island City Council is moving forward with changes to
the city’s animal ordinance, which will affect where dogs need to
be leashed on the island.
The ordinance updates will require dogs to be leashed in two
major business areas on the island — Winslow and Lynwood Center —
and give teeth to the park district’s current leash rule.
Under the city’s current code, dogs can be off leash on city
property if under voice command.
The school and park districts already have their own regulations
that require dogs to be leashed on their property, except at
Strawberry Hill’s off-leash dog park. Those rules are not included
in the city’s current city ordinance.
Updates to the city’s animal ordinance will include that dogs
must be leashed on park district land, providing penalties for
violators.
Dogs owners can face up to a $300 fine for not keeping their
dogs under voice control or on leash.
Dog owners who do not prevent their dogs from injuring or
intimidating pedestrians or cyclists can face up to a $1,000 fine
for having a dangerous animal.
The city began discussions about changing its animal ordinance
months ago at the request of the park district, which has struggled
with enforcing its leash rule.
One resident who spoke out against changes to the ordinance
Tuesday night said the park district hasn’t enforced its own
leash rule.
Terry Lande, the park district’s executive director, previously
said that the park’s rule has little teeth without the backing of a
city ordinance and its penalties. Violators of the leash rule can
only be asked to leash their dogs or leave the park property, Lande
said.
The city had previously considered requiring dogs to be leashed
in city owned parks as well, but has since decided to only apply
the leash regulations to park district owned parks.
Other updates to the ordinance will require dogs be leashed in
the Winslow and Lynwood Center business areas. The Winslow business
area will extend from the waterfront to High School Road, and fall
between Madison Avenue and Ferncliff Avenue.
The city-owned Waterfront Park will be included in the Winslow
business area, and dogs will have to be leashed there.
The city also is considering a trial period to specifically
allow off-leash dogs at Pritchard Park, another city-owned park,
during certain hours, days or in certain parts of the park.
The off-leash experiment for Pritchard Park is expected to be
discussed at a later council meeting.
Eventually, the city plans to transfer nearly all of the
Pritchard Park over to the park district. About half of the park is
already co-owned by the city and park district, where the
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial is
located.
The park transfer is expected to take place some time after
September, said City Manageer Doug Schulze.
The city won’t make any conditional requirement in favor of
off-leash dog spaces or times at the park for the transfer to take
place, Tollefson said.
While leashes will be required in more areas on the island,
there are no plans to change the animal control budget for
enforcement or code penalties.
Updates to the city’s animal ordinance are expected to be
adopted next week.
Bainbridge Island architect
Michael Wangen talks to residents about the proposed Creative Space
development.
Developers and Bainbridge Island residents Dave Christianson and
Terry McGuire shared details and took questions about their
proposed community workspace for arts and artisan Monday night
during a public meeting.
Christianson is with Tseng Properties, LLC, which is leading the
development on a 4.5-acre property off of Day Road near the
Bainbridge Island Saddle Club’s facility.
Only 1.5 acres of the site is buildable land because of
wetlands, said Michael Wangen, the Bainbridge Island architect
working on the project.
Construction on the 10-building project, known as Creative
Space, could start as early as this summer and be finished in six
to 12 months, said Christianson.
All 10 of the Creative Space buildings are 40 feet by 48 feet,
and proposed uses include boat and vehicle restoration, woodwork,
painting or sculpture work. Space is not intended to be used for
office or retails space, although there could be display and sales
events open to the public, Christianson said.
Two of the buildings would be 1.5 stories with a
1,920-square-foot garage on the first floor and a 920-square-foot
loft above. One building would be a residence for the facility’s
manager. No other units would have residential space.
Eight of the buildings would be divided into two studio spaces,
each side about 960 square feet, with the possibility a
440-square-foot storage loft. Tenants could potentially rent the
whole building.
The developers want to rent space at about 75 cents a square
foot, they said Monday.
McGuire said the goal is to rent the 960-square-foot studios for
about $720. A unit with a loft would be about $1,050. The final
price would depend on construction costs, which are still unknown,
she said.
McGuire and Christianson also live next to and have their own
personal workspace by the proposed development. They have lived on
the island for about 25 years, Christianson said.
Access to Creative Space would be off of the same gravel road
used to drive to the Saddle Club facility and Manzanita Park.
There are no proposed changes to the road or its overhead tree
canopy, although about a dozen Saddle Club members at Monday’s
meeting voiced concerns about who would maintain the road with the
new development.
There is an easement for the road use and the county will be
looking into who is responsible for the road’s upkeep according to
that easement, said Heather Beckmann, a planner with the city.
Christianson said he was “willing to pony up” and help maintain
the road.
“If I am causing wear and tear on the road, I have to cover the
expense,” he said.
Saddle Club members also were concerned whether the road could
handle more traffic and how how safe it would be because it has
mainly been used as a trail.
Juliet LeDorze suggested creating a trail alongside the road for
equestrians and pedestrians.
Beckmann said the city would talk to the park district about
that possibility.
The project is in the pre-application phase and there will be
another public comment period after an application has been
submitted to the city.
The Federal Communications Commission recently granted the city
of Bainbridge Island a 10-year license to operate an AM information
radio station.
The city expects to have the station — which will be transmitted
on 600k Hz and 1700 kHz — broadcasting in late summer or fall,
according to the city manager’s report.
The radio station will provide information about Amber Alerts,
school incidents, bridge closures, earthquakes and other types of
emergencies.
“During nonemergency times, the station could be used to inform
motorists of street repairs, traffic hazards, community events,
travel advisories, city history and even visitor information,” the
report says.
The city has been working to start a radio station alongside
Sustainable Bainbridge, an island nonprofit that created Bainbridge
Community Broadcasting.
Bainbridge Community Broadcasting provides podcasts and radio
shows online via its website.
There will be a public meeting Monday about a newly proposed
development for artists.
Tseng Properties, LLC, is proposing ten buildings on 4.5 acres
of undeveloped land located west on NE Day Road W, and accessed off
of Saddle Club and Manzanita Park access roads. The buildings could
be used for “light manufacturing” such as workshops, storage and
display spaces for lease.
The public meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the council
chambers at City Hall.
Although the Bainbridge Island City Council did not discuss
updating the animal ordinance during Tuesday’s meeting, it is
expected to be on the council’s next study session agenda.
The proposed changes would require dog owners to leash their
dogs in the Winslow and Lynwood Center business areas, as well as
city parks. A story in last week’s Islander incorrectly stated the
changes would not apply to city-owned parks.
The story has been updated online.
The potential ordinance change also would include that the
school and park district require dogs to be leashed on their
property.
In recent years, the park district has had incidents of
off-leash dogs intimidating or injuring people as well as
horses.
Under the current city code, dog owners can face up to $1,000
fine for not preventing their dogs from intimidating or injuring
pedestrians or cyclists.
Owners failing to keep their dog under voice control or leashed
face a citation and up to a $300 fine.
There are no proposed changes to the ordinance’s penalties.
The Bainbridge Island Police
Station on Winslow Way.
The city is considering third site option for a police
station.
The newest property being considered is nearly 9 acres of
undeveloped land “outside the Winslow core.”
City officials did not provide an address, general location or
cost estimation for the property.
The two other locations still being considered are a .75 acre
property on Madison Avenue, north of City Hall, and 1.89 acres
along New Brooklyn Road by the Bainbridge Island Fire Department
headquarters.
All three sites are large enough to accommodate police,
municipal court and the Emergency Operations Center.
The newest site option would leave room for expansion or
building other city facilities. The city also could sell part of
the property to reduce the overall project cost.
A “significant amount” of the land is buildable, although a
portion is unbuildable, said City Manager Doug Schulze.
The site near the fire station headquarters could require a
two-story building, resulting in a “loss of operational
efficiency.” The land also has a slight slope, requiring a
retaining wall.
The Madison Avenue property near City Hall does not have room
for expansion, and would require a two-story building. The property
is “marginally large enough for the police facility and required
parking.”
While the Madison Avenue property is the smallest, it is closest
to City Hall and would allow for a government campus.
Having a campus was one of the reasons city officials declined
to build a joint station with the fire department. Council members
also voiced concerns with being a tenant of the fire
department.
Keeping the police station close to City Hall also allows for
accountability, Schulze said.
“The citizens of the community have concerns about unnecessary
use of force and expect police officers to be skilled in tactful
communication, de-escalation, and crisis intervention,” according
to Schulze’s memorandum to the council.
The city plans to make a final site selection by the end of
June.
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