Bainbridge council OKs marina rezone

Nearly a year after it was first brought before the Bainbridge Island City Council, two pieces of land owned by Bainbridge Island Marina were rezoned this week.

Nearly a year after it was first brought before the Bainbridge Island City Council, two pieces of land owned by Bainbridge Island Marina were rezoned this week.

The council voted to change the property from “Residential” to “Water-Dependent Industrial” at its Tuesday meeting, allowing the marina to expand its boatyard along the south shore of Eagle Harbor where it operates next door to the Bainbridge Island Yacht Club.

Darrell and Vannie McNabb, owners of the marina, submitted a rezone request to the city in February 2013.

The land dispute has been ongoing since 2005, however, and stems as far back as the city’s incorporation.

After purchasing the four parcels in 1977, the McNabbs went through two years of public process to obtain county permits to develop the land.

By 2005, those permits were no longer applicable.

With the city’s incorporation, the two remaining parcels yet to be developed were residentially zoned. Each required a comprehensive plan amendment and rezone to again be considered for an expanded marina.

That wasn’t the only thing standing in the way.

Residents in the area argued expanding the marina would disrupt the view of Eagle Harbor and devalue shoreline properties.

And the construction of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial brought up questions about property lines. The McNabbs contended the memorial wall encroached on their land and prevented further development.

The boundary dispute went as far as a lawsuit that involved the city of Bainbridge Island and the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District.

In the end, a new westerly boundary was drawn up and the McNabbs agreed to allow crews to maintain a vegetative buffer between the memorial wall and the marina property.

But the debate came to a head in 2013, when the city and McNabbs entered a legal agreement to get the rezone request off the shelf.

According to city documents, the city agreed to process the rezone request in good faith once the comp plan was amended to include the land-use change.

The amendment was made last fall.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the council heard from one resident who opposed rezoning the properties to water-dependent industrial zoning because of the land’s proximity to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial and Pritchard Park.

“To have an industrial park next to the memorial, which really talks about contemplation and quietness, and having an industrial site right next to it doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Charles Schmid.

Schmid also disagreed with the city and the Department of Ecology to re-label the area as urban.

“This should not be waterfront industrial zoning,” Schmid said.

“The city should have asked that this actually be island conservancy designation.”

Despite Schmid’s comments, in a 4-2 vote, the council approved rezoning the Bainbridge Island Marina properties and brought the dispute to an end.

Councilmen Val Tollefson and Wayne Roth voted no.