PORT TOWNSEND -- The Port Townsend City Council adopted a list of work priorities for changes being made to its comprehensive plan, but it did not rezone Camas Prairie Park for residential use.
Most of the public comment at Monday's meeting was in opposition to working on the rezoning of an approximately 9-acre parcel of the 58-acre park to be considered for affordable housing, an issue central to the city's comprehensive plan update.
"The estimated number of units needed in Jefferson County by 2044 is 3,985," council member Amy Howard said. "The bulk of those have to be in Port Townsend. We have to take the time in this plan to figure out how to do that and how to make it work well for this community. We can't stop people from coming. We need places for the people who already live here. We need to do this as a community."
Members of the public, many of whom expressed a need for affordable housing, cited indigenous cultural significance, rare prairie soils where native plants can thrive, the economic viability of the golf course and recreation value as reasons for opposing the rezoning.
Fred Sharpe, president of Olympic Peninsula Prairies, a conservation nonprofit, said much of the prairie land on the Olympic Peninsula is disappearing.
"In a preliminary finding by the (National) Forest Service lab, what they found looking at dozens of these prairies and prairie fragments around the Olympic Peninsula is everywhere they're shrinking and under siege," Sharpe said.
Liz Burden of Port Townsend said she's been volunteering at the Camas Prairie preserve with the local chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society for a few years.
"Last year, at the new Camas Prairie Golf Park, I began to remove weeds from the marginal areas around the golf course," Burden said. "New management had initiated a minimal mowing policy to encourage native plants to return. It was exciting and rewarding to see many native plants springing up in all the areas that we weeded."
Liz Maguire of Port Townsend said she had gathered more than 1,100 signatures from residents who oppose the rezoning.
"These signatures were gathered in just a few weeks and are continuing to be collected by the supporters of Camas Prairie Park and scores of Port Townsend residents," Maguire said. "The petition states that, 'By my signature below, I strongly oppose the rezoning of and development of the Camas Prairie Park for housing.'"
While the overwhelming majority of the more than two hours of public comment opposed the rezone, some spoke to the fundamental need for affordable housing.
"By focusing on affordable housing, the essence, the character of Port Townsend can carry on," said Eric Jones, communications strategist of Housing Solutions Network. "The next generation of artisans and creatives, maritime trades, farm workers and community builders will all have a place to live.
"By focusing on affordable housing, we can maintain a workforce to support our small businesses, our medical care, our body workers, our restaurants, our coffee shops, our salons, our bakeries, our movie theater, our contractors and our landscapers. These amenities allow us to live locally, have a downtown and uptown core, and not necessitate constant trips to Kitsap or Sequim."
Derek Firenze of Port Townsend addressed the issue from a perspective of personal need, responding to a public comment which said affordable housing already had received enough attention.
"To the comment I've heard about, 'We've done enough about affordable housing,' I am currently in the process of moving, at least two times, if not three times, because there is no affordable housing for me," Firenze said. "I live here, I work here, I'm having to couch surf currently while waiting for the only space I know of that's affordable to me to open up. There is nowhere for me to go. There is nowhere for so many people in my position to go. I've heard their stories; I constantly hear their stories."
Mayor David Faber, who has supported the idea of considering a rezone for the multi-purpose park, said the topic touched the core of his emotions.
"I can't tell you the amount of rage I feel when I hear people say, 'We've given affordable housing its due in this community,' 'cause that is absolute garbage," he said. "I grew up in this town and we've known for 20 years that we've had a burgeoning and worsening affordable housing crisis. I've watched as friends and family have been ground into poverty and have had to leave this community because we've not done anything about it, substantially, for a long, long time. That was on, unfortunately, a lot of the people who spoke tonight's watch."
Taking the rezone on in the short term was not advised by the planning commission or by city staff, but the rezoning may be considered in future years.
The city already has funding for a housing site layout study for the site, set aside for later this year. The study is unaffected by the rezone not being adopted for the comprehensive plan update.
The council approved changes to the comprehensive plan, budgeting with 240 hours staff hours to update housing goals and policies and 448 staff hours to update policies relating to density.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at [email protected].