Tag Archives: affordable housing

Bainbridge Community Broadcasting offers first six podcasts

MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN FILE PHOTO Bainbridge Community Broadcasting project manager Barry Peters, left, and voice-over artist Kayla Black test the new equipment in the studio in March.
MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN FILE
Bainbridge Community Broadcasting project manager Barry Peters, left, and voice-over artist Kayla Black test the new equipment in the studio in March.

Bainbridge’s long awaited radio station has arrived – at least in the form of podcasts.

Bainbridge Community Broadcasting is now offering six podcast radio shows titled “What’s Up Bainbridge.” The 5-minute podcast previews of an upcoming local event “described in person by the organizer, artist or presenter closest to the event,” according to an email from BCB announcing the podcasts.

The radio shows are available at www.BestofBCB.org.

The six episodes are:

In March, Bainbridge Community Broadcasting switched from the planning phase to training when it received its new three-microphone studio.

Bainbridge Community Broadcasting is awaiting a decision from the Federal Communications Commission this summer on its application for a low-powered FM radio license.

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Woodworkers craft ‘fancy’ bus shelter for affordable housing project

A group of volunteer woodworkers built a custom bus stop for the Ferncliff Village affordable housing project. Tad Sooter has the story….

Island woodworkers donate new Ferncliff Village bus stop
By Tad Sooter

It’s not often a school bus shelter can elicit awe. The new wooden shelter at the Ferncliff Village affordable housing development isn’t an average bus stop.

“It’s pretty spectacular,” Bill Luria of the Bainbridge Housing Resources Board said of the stout but elegant fir shelter. “It’s a pretty massive structure.”

Luria is just as impressed with the shelter’s builders.

Members of the non-profit Bainbridge Community Woodshop and employees of Salisbury Woodworking contributed about 200 hours to the project on Ferncliff Avenue, which wrapped up in late November.
 The Ferncliff shelter was the latest community service effort completed by Community Woodshop volunteers, who regularly donate their time and expertise to assist fellow non-profits. Kilbane said the service projects meet a need on the island. They also help the Community Woodshop raise its profile while it pursues its overarching goal of creating a shared workshop on Bainbridge.

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Green-built prototype prefabs finally find a home


Looks that that pair of ultra-modern prefab homes have finally found a home.

After getting the cold shoulder from farmers on Day Road and the neighborhood around the Johnson Farm, affordable housing advocates decided to tuck the stackable units behind some duplexes on a quiet Winslow street.

Read HERE for the latest.

And read HERE and HERE for the earlier chapters in the saga.

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Bad week for affordable housing

Efforts to create and preserve lower cost housing options on the island suffered two recent setbacks.

First, the City Council decided to de-fund the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which supports local affordable housing projects.

Then came news that the Housing Resources Board was delaying the start of the Ferncliff community land trust project by one year. Later phases will likely be delayed a three or more years.

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“Ikea meets iPod,” and then meets Bainbridge farmers

prefabbanner

In case you missed it, click here for my story on the donation of cutting-edge prefabs to house Bainbridge Island farmers.

Called “Ikea meets iPod” by Building Design + Construction magazine shortly after they were unveiled in 2007, the small factory-built units were aimed at creating inexpensive workforce housing in Seattle while challenging the common perceptions about manufactured homes. With vegetated roofs, computer controlled lighting and heating and a sleek, ultra-modern design, the units were created with Seattle’s young urban professionals in mind.

Instead, the project’s two prototype units are headed to an old Bainbridge farm to house the island’s young rural farmers.

The Housing Resources Board has until mid-October to move the units. Until then, you can still see them at their current location atop Rainier Square in downtown Seattle (right below the Rainier Tower).

I’ll try and cover the move, which will involve cranes, flatbeds and a ferry trip across the sound.

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Council finally passes ordinance for green + affordable housing

Rendering of the Ferncliff housing project
Rendering of the Ferncliff housing project
The two most politicized words on Bainbridge Island are “density” and “water.” *

Having those two words attached to a proposed ordinance aimed at encouraging sustainable design and affordable housing ensured it would go through the wringer of staff revisions, several City Council-ordered rewrites and intense public scrutiny.

After about a year of work, the version that arrived before the council on Wednesday was trimmed and polished enough for unanimous approval.

Some supporters still worry that the ordinance, which establishes density bonuses and flexible design standards to encourage the construction of earth-friendly housing affordable for to middle-income people, may now have limited appeal to developers.

And critics say the ordinance may alter the island’s small town feel with high-density developments that draw down limited groundwater supplies.

The ordinance is likely to achieve one of it’s key goals: allow the Housing Resources Board to move forward with its planned 48-unit project on Ferncliff Avenue.

For more, read my story here.


*There’s also “Winslow Way,” but that’s a combination of two words.

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Housing that’s green, affordable and may “forever change Bainbridge”

Poised to move forward with an innovative housing pilot project combining affordability and green design, the City Council on Wednesday opted instead to allow further deliberation, citing concerns that the project may burden Winslow with too much population density.

“Density is a huge issue on the island,” Councilwoman Debbie Vancil said. “None of us wants to take density we can’t handle.”

The proposed Housing Design Demonstration Project is aimed at encouraging earth-friendly affordable housing projects through density bonuses and flexible design standards. The 22-page proposal uses a tiered system to determine a project’s level sustainable design, affordability and the corresponding level of density or design flexibility the city would allow. Recent changes to the project limits it to three years, confines it to the Winslow area and gives the city Design Review Board an expanded role in assessing the project’s developments.

Affordable housing advocates say the project is crucial for moving forward with a 48-unit, green-built housing development planned on a 6.4-acre Ferncliff Avenue property. Architects specializing in sustainable design say the project is on the cutting edge, incorporating new ideas in that could achieve a “net zero” impact on the environment.

But some island residents say the project may crowd too many people downtown, change Winslow’s character, boost crime and draw down the island’s water supply.

“It will forever change Bainbridge,” said Robert Dashiell, a critic of affordable housing efforts.

Housing Resources Board Director Carl Florea said fears of dramatic change are not in- line with the project’s scope.

“Quite frankly, low density in an urban area is not as scary as it sounds,” he said.

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City agrees to pay $495,000 to homebuilders group

The city on Wednesday night agreed to pay a $495,000 settlement to a homebuilders group contesting a fee that supported the city’s affordable housing efforts.

The City Council unanimously approved the settlement, capping an eight-year legal battle with the Homebuilders Association of Kitsap County and three Bainbridge development companies.

“I’m very pleased we can settle this matter,” Councilman Barry Peters said. “But the key issue is: it’s a lot money.”

The settlement will take a sizable chunk of a $1.8 million reserve the cash-strapped city is trying to build by the end of the year.

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City of Bainbridge’s staff cuts impact the Port Townsend City Council

Brent Butler
Brent Butler
Well, here’s an odd twist of fate.

As I reported here, city planner and affordable housing specialist Brent Butler was trimmed from the city’s roster during the last round of layoffs. Wouldn’t you know it, but Butler was also a member of the Port Townsend City Council. As one of those rare city councilors who requires a day job to pay the rent, Butler went looking for a new gig. Elmore County, Idaho came calling and gave Butler his new job: director of growth and development.

“I won’t be able to do both at the same time,” Butler told the Peninsula Daily News this week, shortly after resigning from the Port Townsend council. “I’m going to have to leave the community to take the job.”

The council is now looking for Butler’s replacement.

Butler was a staunch advocate for affordable housing in Port Townsend. He voted against the city’s budget because it lacked funding for affordable housing.

Port Townsend has shifted from a working class community of boat builders and paper mill workers to one increasingly populated by retirees.

“I hope I am replaced with someone who is also in support of the housing issue,” Butler told the Peninsula Daily. “It’s the most concerning issue the city is facing, and I hope to see the city support it in the future.”

On Bainbridge’s two rounds of layoffs, Butler had this to say:

“[The city of] Bainbridge Island laid off most of the people they hired in the last two years,” he said. “I’ve heard they will now be looking at laying off people who have been with the city as far back as 10 years.”

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After five years in limbo, city’s affordable housing ordinance hits a wall

A combination of layoffs and budget cuts have stalled the city’s nearly five-year effort to redraft its affordable housing ordinance.

The city Planning Department is recommending that the ordinance, which had recently cleared the Planning Commission and was headed to the City Council, be put on ice until money and staff are available.

Affordable housing advocates expressed disappointment but little surprise.

Read the full story by clicking here.

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More images of the Ferncliff affordable housing project

The Housing Resources Board unveiled its plans for an affordable housing project on Ferncliff Avenue that incorporates several sustainable design elements. The plans received mixed reviews. Potential residents loved it. People already in the neighborhood panned the project’s potential impact on the area and its architectural style.

To read my coverage of last Friday’s unveiling and public meeting, click here.

Below you’ll find more design renderings and other basic information on the project.

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Affordable housing design meeting set for Friday

Affordable housing advocates will give the first glimpse on Friday of designs for a 24-home development planned for Winslow’s east edge.

“We’re building a neighborhood that we hope will be seen as an asset to the entire community,” said Carl Florea, director of the Housing Resources Board, the island group leading the Ferncliff Avenue project’s development.

The resident-owned homes would incorporate earth-friendly features, common-use green spaces and an overall neighborhood design that puts out a welcome mat to walkers and cyclists rather than cars. The project would also add to the island’s nearly non-existent stock of homes affordable to middle-income earners.

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