Business is about more than ‘stuff’

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Get any cool stuff for Christmas?

The comedian George Carlin used to do a deft critique of “stuff” – his metaphor for American materialism – in his nightclub routines.

“I don’t know how you are, but I need to find a place for my stuff,” Carlin would say. “That’s the whole meaning of life, isn’t it? Trying to find a place to put your stuff? That’s all your house is: a place for your stuff. It’s a pile of stuff with a cover on it. It’s a place for you to keep your stuff while you go out and get…more stuff.”

It’s uncomfortably true, and like all good Americans, we islanders are positively awash in material goods. So surely a few of us salivated – or, depending on our capacity for self-examination, rolled our eyes – a while back, as land was cleared for a new “business park” on Sportsman Club Road. While the phrase suggested some sort of commercial activity – ideally, the operative word being “activity” – experience and perhaps a twinge of cynicism suggested the imminent appearance of something else entirely: more mini-storage units. Or, as George Carlin once described it, “a whole industry based on watching your stuff.”

Developer and real estate broker Doug Nelson admits that he considered mini-storage as his 7.5-acre site across from Sakai Intermediate School was taking shape. Instead, the market suggested a more pressing need for “incubator” space for up-and-coming enterprises, with simple, customizable buildings that tenants could kit out to their needs.

As chronicled on today’s front page, the new Sportsman Park Business Complex will be home to medical offices, a gourmet coffee roasterie, burgeoning tech companies, and perhaps even a local church’s youth center. It’s an intriguing mix of outfits that actually do something, instead of providing personal warehouse space for those whose garages are full.

The city zoning code suggests the range of desirable businesses for the island’s light manufacturing areas: production, assembly and repair of computer and electronic equipment; wood products, furniture and fixtures; food products; automotive, marine or builders’ equipment and supplies; printing and publishing; laboratories for scientific research; vocational schools; even wineries and breweries (to which, we would submit, the new coffee roasterie is the next best thing). For the most part, such operations create useful products and services, tax revenue and – most importantly – on-island jobs. We can’t think of a better use for the precious land than that.

That Bainbridge Island is predominantly a bedroom community whose workforce commutes to employment elsewhere is no secret.

Of our 28 square miles, only about 115 acres are zoned for light industry; there’s about 48 acres of raw industrial land left to be developed without rezoning. As those parcels are improved (a New Brooklyn Road site near the fire hall seems the next to be converted), we trust that a partnership of business leaders and city officials, developers and entrepreneurs will be forward-thinking enough to bring in productive, innovative and active tenants.

With all deference to the mini-storage industry: we have enough stuff already.