Back up tough talk in Olympia

Published 11:00 am Saturday, December 9, 2006

There’s a good reason island pioneers built the mill town of Port Blakely on the north shore of the harbor: that’s where the deep-water moorage is.

The notion of constructing docks from the south shore runs contrary to history because it runs contrary to common sense. The shallow underwater slope on the south side means docks would have to run hundreds of feet into the harbor to accommodate boats – and that blocks the harbor waters around them to other users.

The impact of a dock is greater than its physical footprint, a point made by planners as the City Council considers changes to Blakely Harbor shoreline regulations.

Under one alternative – buildout of dozens of new private docks from the south shore – an outrageous 65 acres of the public waterway would be made unnavigable, usurped by private interests. While that wasn’t the primary reason for the council’s sudden resolve against a wholesale dock boom – general environmental concerns trumped all Wednesday – the council is on the right course.

Behind them were legislators Phil Rockefeller and Sherry Appleton and Congressman Jay Inslee, all of whom serve on the blue-ribbon Puget Sound Partnership (see Rep. Appleton’s letter elsewhere on this page). All urged the council to decide the dock issue based on the state’s new commitment to preserving nearshore habitat and endangered marine species. Their comments pushed a localized debate over Blakely Harbor into a regional context.

Perhaps, along with their personal cachet, they can add political clout as well. A few years ago the state required cities like our own to develop aggressive new policies for protecting salmon.

A worthy goal – except the state didn’t back up its own mandates, and the effort foundered. We argued at that time, and still do, that if the state wants aggressive rules for shoreline preservation and restoration, the might of the Legislature should be brought to bear. Perhaps, finally, it will.

This coming Wednesday in downtown Seattle, Gov. Chris Gregoire will unveil new policy and budget priorities for Puget Sound. Early indications are that legislation could address oil-spill protection, septic and stormwater management and eelgrass restoration.

Legislators should follow Gregoire’s lead with money and laws. It’s worthless for the state to set environmental “goals” and then leave cities and counties to duke it out with property-rights attorneys at the local level.

Councils may have neither the will nor vision to challenge incremental impacts like a new dock here and a new dock there; the state should provide big-picture protection for Puget Sound.

Land-use policies hammered out by the Legislature and state-level players like builders and tribal interests will always be the most persuasive statement of our collective interest in saving Washington’s natural resources. If the Puget Sound Partnership and its allies are serious about our inland waterways – Blakely Harbor among them – the real fight must be in Olympia.

Not to say the Bainbridge council’s newfound resolve is unwelcome. To the contrary, it’s a bold statement in the face of lawsuits and potential damages.

But the pioneers had it right. If they hold firm, our council will too.