‘Gateway’ on the table

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, July 26, 2006

City officials, consultants begin planning around the ferry terminal.

When two neighbors want to build a fence, a common first step is to weigh ideas through an informal dialogue.

Though visions may differ, the overarching needs – to keep Fluffy out of traffic and Junior out of the begonias – generally outweigh the petty differences.

As local agencies undertake a grander effort to integrate a new ferry terminal with the city’s “gateway district,” there is concern that too many heads are huddled at the fence post.

“This is potentially setting us up to fail,” said Councilman Nezam Tooloee, criticizing the lack of a formal joint partnership between city and ferry leadership. “It’s like two different people writing two different books and expecting them to have the same ending. Given the history of the entities involved, it’s highly unlikely we’ll end up with the same ending.”

Tooloee’s comments came as the city began its own dialogue with Van Meter Williams Pollack, the architectural firm hired by the city to design the new gateway district.

The goal is to ensure congruency between Washington State Ferries’ plans for the new ferry terminal – work on which is expected to begin in 2009 – and the community’s vision for the surrounding neighborhood.

The city and VMWP hope to present their final design to the City Council next February, though regular meetings will provide frequent touchstones of their progress along the way.

Through the meetings, the design team is trying to identify past planning problems, especially those encountered during Winslow Tomorrow, and offer suggestions about how they can avoid the same pitfalls.

Some, like Tooloee, worry that meetings won’t matter without a formal joint design process in place between the city and WSF. He also criticized the exclusion of the ferry maintenance yard – over which the city and WSF are currently embroiled in a dispute – from the overall design study.

Others are more optimistic, including fellow council member Bill Knobloch.

“There’s going to be a lot of community involvement and the pieces are in place for this to be successful,” Knobloch said. “We have enough steering committees.”

A community advisory group, made up of various interests and similar to the one formed by WSF for the terminal project, was created by the mayor earlier this month.

The design team has thus far focused on identifying current needs, while stressing the importance of creative thinking as planning moves ahead.

“My job is to sit here and break the rules,” said architect Tim Van Meter. “I’m here to ask what you would do if you didn’t have any rules. Then we can craft the codes to enable those things to happen.”

Like most other projects, parking is at the forefront of concerns.

Officials must plan for growth while respecting efforts toward non-motorized transportation.

Preserving island character, a popular theme at past terminal design meetings, has been echoed recently by city officials.

That means scrutinizing terminal plans – preliminary versions of which include overpasses and tunnels – that some feel would drastically alter the neighborhood’s aesthetics.

Rob Berman, project manager for the terminal project, said WSF was committed to working collaboratively with the city, so much so that it halted its terminal design in May following the city’s decision to bring in a design team for the gateway district.

Once VMWP “catches up” with WSF in the design process, he said, the two sides will discuss what they’re working on.

The state’s still-undetermined plans for State Route 305 will also weigh heavily on the project.

Winslow Tomorrow consultant Jim Charlier said residents must ask what role they want 305 to play in the future and move ahead from there, lest they become “slaves to traffic.”

Many are excited about the possibility of transforming the island’s entryway.

“This is a powerful project,” Knobloch said. “This will be the welcome sign to Bainbridge Island.”

Van Meter was more direct:

“Right now you have this stunning island and a butt-ugly front door.”