COBI still committed to increasing variety of housing types

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 24, 2026

Contributing to the Opinion page of the Bainbridge Review for July 10, Nora Masters observed that the city “has an accountability issue.” She holds a four-person majority of the council responsible for decisions on June 30 that “prioritized upzoning and developer interests over the affordable housing outcomes they say they support.”

I differ with Masters, and with others I see posting on Nextdoor: I don’t single out the “pro-Growth 4” for criticism. I have seen mistakes and errors of judgment on both sides of the 4/3 divide on the council. Citizens also are mistaken when they exaggerate the significance of minor policy differences, as Masters does.

My aim in writing now, after the July 14 council meeting, is to assure the public that the City Council, along with planning staff and the Planning Commission, are still committed to achieving increases in a variety of housing types that will meet the needs of households below the area median income.

At the end of her first paragraph, Masters says of those councilmembers that “at the final vote, they abandoned both” support for affordable housing and environmental protections. There has been no final vote on a policy – not on June 30 and not on July 14.

We should all recognize that the city has limited time and resources for completing the essential work on a revised Subarea Plan for the Winslow area and an updated Comprehensive Plan. At this point, some basic questions remain undecided, and the assembly of goals, policies, and implementing regulations is incomplete.

The need to plan for development at a higher density in Winslow did not come into focus until it was absolutely necessary. That planning process, an essential component of the revised Comprehensive Plan, has met fierce opposition, often involving mistaken assumptions about what is being proposed and what is likely to happen.

The city is not planning for more affordable housing only because the state requires it. A Housing Needs Assessment documented longstanding needs in 2022, and an ambitious Housing Action Plan was approved by the City Council in June 2023. Regrettably, nothing was done to publicize and discuss the recommendations of this action plan.

At that point, the public engagement process in support of the Winslow Subarea Plan and the Comprehensive Plan update had already begun, and citizens were asked to consider both vague and specific questions about our community’s future. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was published at the end of July 2024. It was the work of consultants: monumental, difficult to understand, and easy to misinterpret. As a tool in the planning process for both Winslow and the rest of the island, it made hard work more difficult.

The DEIS was a gift to all of those who wanted to discredit the planning process, because it seemed to support a belief that changing zoning designations in Winslow, and perhaps elsewhere, would result in far more population growth than we were obligated to plan for, with adverse impacts on water resources, infrastructure, and quality of life for the current population.

The rules established for explanation and comment upon the DEIS delayed the Planning Commission’s participation in development of the Winslow Subarea Plan. They resisted pressure to make decisions consistent with the DEIS and a mandated housing allocation. The boundaries and zoning districts that constitute a Preferred Alternative for the Winslow subarea took shape gradually, and the Goals and Policies portion of the Subarea Plan was completed somewhat hastily. Policies pertaining to the future of housing and other development are not yet implemented in the Municipal Code.

Where are we now? Here’s what I know. A unanimous City Council sent the proposed mandatory inclusionary zoning provisions back to the Planning Commission. They will deal with that business in their meeting on July 23, and perhaps with other details pertaining to Ordinance 2026-05. The council has scheduled a joint public hearing with the Department of Commerce on July 28. August meetings of the Planning Commission will include a public hearing on a third draft of Ordinance 2026-05, which is expected to be adopted by the council in September.

I am not going to be entirely satisfied with the updated Comprehensive Plan and the Winslow Subarea Plan, but I expect they will be certified by the Puget Sound Regional Council. There may be litigation. More work may be needed to achieve effective regulations in the Municipal Code. But good work has been done in difficult circumstances.

Jon Quitslund is a longtime Bainbridge Island resident who has previously served on the City Council and Planning Commission.