Council leaning to dock settlement

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, December 6, 2006

But a city planner says allowing more docks could hurt Blakely Harbor’s ecosystem.

The City Council is leaning toward a settlement that would allow more private docks on Blakely Harbor, to resolve lawsuits by shoreline property owners, some council members say.

In recent deliberations, the council has narrowed its discussion to two alternatives: retaining the current limitations that would allow only three new docks on the harbor, or rolling back the rules to match a settlement reached between the city and a handful of harbor dwellers.

While both options are on the table, many on the council are inclined toward rules specified in the recent settlement.

“We know we need to get to the settlement, otherwise there’ll be chaos,” Councilman Jim Llewellyn said.

With a series of lawsuits outstanding – all either stayed pending the council’s deliberations, or awaiting consideration by higher courts – other regulatory options for the harbor were dead from the start, according to Llewellyn.

“It was more of a show for the public to consider all these other things,” he said. “We have to get close to the settlement, otherwise we go back to court.”

The settlement plan, commonly referred to as “Option B,” would allow new private docks for landowners with 400 feet of shoreline, or new neighborhood docks shared by four or more harbor residents.

But this option, which could allow dozens of new docks, would put the harbor’s environmental health “at risk,” according to a recent city study.

“Blakely Harbor is the least impacted harbor on the island,” said city shoreline planner Peter Namtvedt Best, who conducted the assessment on marine life.

The settlement proposal would “tip the ecosystem” downward with added impacts from pilings, shoreline shading, increased boat traffic and other factors, Best said.

Environmental groups, including People for Puget Sound, Island Keepers and the Bainbridge Conservation Voters, have weighed in, urging the council to maintain existing restrictions.

“According to scientific studies, (Blakely Harbor) is the least degraded nearshore habitat of Bainbridge Island, and provides healthy habitat for surf smelt spawning, juvenile salmon rearing and eelgrass meadows that serve as nurseries for numerous marine species,” stated a release issued from People for Puget Sound.

A recent study commissioned by eight Blakely Harbor families party to the lawsuit countered assertions that a limited number of docks, possibly eight to 10, would adversely impact the marine environment.

The study, conducted by Pentec Environmental in Edmonds, asserted that any environmental problems “would be fully mitigated by restoration actions.”

While acknowledging the environmental concerns, Councilman Chris Snow favors allowing more docks “for practical reasons.”

“I don’t think the current arrangement works very well,” he said. “Community docks and public docks seem to be non-starters.”

The current ordinance, crafted in 2003, allows two community and one pulic dock but has failed to provide the limited access the council intended, according to Councilwoman Debbie Vancil.

“No one wants the liability, responsibility or cost to build a community dock on private property,” she said. “Our intention to provide for community docks has not been fulfilled.”

Snow disagrees with the notion that the council is locked into Option B.

“That’s absolutely not true,” he said, adding that option for an alternative doesn’t necessarily mean the city will be forced back into litigation with harbor dwellers.

Snow said he is hopeful that a variation of the settlement option could fit the requirements agreed upon by the council and the litigants.

Still, Snow is aware that straying too far from the settlement could be costly.

“There is the potential that if we don’t settle it will cost us a lot of money,” he said.

Attempts to regulate docks on Blakely Harbor resulted in a spate of lawsuits against the city by neighboring property owners.

A moratorium on dock applications imposed while the City Council considered new regulations was struck down in Kitsap County Superior Court, a decision upheld by the State Court of Appeals. Also outstanding is a claim for damages by property owners.

But the city has prevailed in its defense of the current ordinance. The Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board last year found that the prohibition of new single-use private docks in Blakely Harbor complied with state law and was consistent with city codes. Thurston County Superior Court also upheld the ordinance.

With the issue now before the State Court of Appeals, Vancil believes a retooled ordinance may still meet community desires for the harbor.

“After hearing from the public, it is clear to me that public opinion has not changed in three years,” she said. “The greater community and the majority of Port Blakely residents still support restricted community docks as a way of helping to protect the environmental fragility of the harbor against a proliferation of private docks, that also allow a mix of recreational uses.

“The challenge is coming up with a plan to do that.”

The council will discuss Blakely Harbor dock rules tonight at City Hall, starting at 6 p.m. A final decision is expected on Dec. 13.