The City Council may use the current economy/budget situation as an excuse to take funds intended long ago for a working boatyard and use them instead on a large marina at Waterfront Park.

The Waterfront Park dock with its small-boats is people-friendly. It has a wonderful human scale, which helps connect our citizens and guests to the water.

A large marina filled with white plastic yachts and turquoise tarps, on the other hand, is like an expensive waterfront neighborhood of high walls and hedges – the water is completely blocked from the average Joe.

The marina may bring a few diners to our restaurants, but what about the quality of life for the people who call Bainbridge home?

I hope the council will not be short-sighted or swayed by the commodores of other Puget Sound marinas who desire a place to park their yachts by selling off a piece of our heritage – a working boat yard by the terminal – and then use the money to ruin our Waterfront Park.

Deborah Cheadle

Bainbridge Island