Downtown business officials are trying to rally Winslow merchants to support the city of Bainbridge Island’s controversial proposal to redevelop Town Square next to city hall so an underground parking garage can be built just south of Bainbridge Performing Arts.
The Bainbridge Island City Council is expected to get an update on the Town Square project at its meeting Tuesday.
City Manager Doug Schulze will ask the council for permission to begin seeking a consultant to analyze the supply of available parking in the downtown core.
According to Schulze, the most recent parking studies are now a decade old and those reviews do not accurately reflect the current supply of parking and the need to accommodate future growth and development.
Although creating more parking downtown has been a perennial topic on Bainbridge for nearly 30 years, the issue sprouted anew in a big way in early December when Schulze briefed the council on ongoing discussions between the city and downtown interests over the possibility of remaking Town Square to create more parking.
City officials, and some downtown business owners, have said more parking is needed in Winslow to accommodate tourists and local shoppers and remaking Town Square would be the best way to create it.
The recently unveiled plan to redevelop Town Square included the construction of a multi-level parking garage on city-owned land that’s now home to two gravel parking lots.
City officials said redeveloping the city-owned properties next to city hall would give Bainbridge Performing Arts room to grow, and the project could also include relocating the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum into a new facility just east of city hall.
Bainbridge Performing Arts would then be expanded to the west, east or south.
According to city officials, moving the museum would increase the number of visitors to the facility, and remaking Town Square would create more space for the farmers market and also allow it to be open year round, with dedicated space inside the parking garage.
The parking garage itself could be wrapped with new retail shops and stores, and Winslow Alley, which lies south of the existing city parking lots next to Town Square, could be transformed into a continuation of Madrone Lane, a city street that was earlier converted to a pedestrian walkway that links to Winslow Way.
Public reaction to the Town Square redevelopment proposal has been mixed, with some islanders supporting the makeover, and some against the idea. The city council was also divided on the idea.
Advocates for the Town Square project began mobilizing a show of support earlier this week.
Jerri Lane, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association, sent out an email blast on Sunday, asking people to send letters of support to the city council and to appear at Tuesday’s council meeting to speak in favor of the proposal.
The email included the names and email addresses of council members, as well as a sample letter in support of the project.
“This is an issue of vital importance to the entire island, but is especially critical for downtown Bainbridge. Thank you so much for your attention and participation,” Lane wrote in the email.
If the council agrees to hire a consultant to study the parking issue, the expected scope of work will include:
• Assessing the ability of the existing supply to meet existing peak demand;
• Analyzing current parking conditions and determine if they are sufficient to support future growth and development;
• Examining parking supply and anticipate future shortages;
• Projecting future demand;
• Identifying future surplus or deficit; and
• Developing parking demand ratios to calculate current and future parking demand.
The Bainbridge council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17. The discussion of the Town Square project has been tentatively scheduled for 7:50 p.m.
