The Bainbridge Island City Council received a presentation from the Low Income Housing Institute at its Aug. 19 meeting regarding a preliminary master development plan for a low-income housing project at the former police station on 625 Winslow Way.

Council approved a motion to provide guidance to reduce the number of units from 92 to closer to 72 units, and directed the city manager to direct staff to come back with the tightest code change that makes sense to allow additional FAR (Floor Area Ratio) for 100% affordable housing to facilitate this project, city communications coordinator Shannon Hays said.

Jon Grant, chief strategy officer at LIHI, clarified the low-income housing project is not intended as transitional housing for homeless individuals or permanent supportive housing. The housing is aimed at people working within certain area median income thresholds. To qualify for housing, a prospective renter would need to earn two and a half times the rent, he said.

In 2024, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment on BI was $2,800, which would require a tenant to earn roughly $40 an hour to be able to afford an apartment, Grant said.

Council hasn’t formally adopted a finalized design. The massing study is a preliminary overview to provide details such as general shape, size and relationship to surrounding areas, including focus on architectural elements, Hays said.

Council discussed some of the implications and concerns around not having enough affordable housing on the island. A 2022 National Community Survey reported BI scored in the bottom 3% of the national benchmark for availability of affordable housing, with only 3% of over 11,000 housing units islandwide considered affordable or income-restricted.

BI Mayor Ashley Mathews said she wanted the council to be able to balance the need for affordable housing, fiscal responsibility and balancing community wishes. She said the walls depicted in the presentation for a roughly 90 unit90-unitstructure are a ‘non-starter’ and her preference is for a 70-unit proposal, which she described as a good compromise.

Councilmember Kirsten Hytopoulos said she understands community concerns and frustrations around the location of the new development.

“We’re not talking about a parcel that’s tucked back away somewhere where we could do a huge amount of massing and it wouldn’t affect the look and feel of the island right when you come on, or a place where all these other things are happening, the site matters,” she said. “ I hope the council will stop sending the message that if those members of the community who are really upset by the fact have chosen the most prominent corner, arguably, in the community for this, we can understand why they’re upset,” she said.

Hytopoulos said the council is tasked with creating a project that both looks good and serves the housing needs of the island.

“We can talk next time about our next project being somewhere else, where we can put focus a whole lot more on the number of units. We cannot escape the fact that we are necessarily in a balancing situation here,” she said.

Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki shared his concerns about an aging population on the island.

“We have to have younger families to keep this place vital. Our school district has lost hundreds and hundreds of students over the last year,” he said. “That’s not good for a growing community either. So we have to find some way to bring in younger folks, and this is one way to hopefully do that. ”

Councilmember Brenda Fantroy-Johnson spoke about the high cost of living on the island.

“We have people who are professionals, who can afford to live here every morning, getting up and going to Seattle. We have people who can’t afford to live here, coming from all over Kitsap County, to work here, and these are the people that we’re trusting to take care of our children,” she said. “I get worried that we forget that we have to make the hard decisions up here. We are mandated to have affordable housing. We didn’t just come up with that as part of a council. This is something we have to do. The census says that people will be coming. Do we want them walking around on the street? Do we want them in affordable housing units?

Moriwaki said he’s supportive of exploring electric vehicle charging stations and car-sharing programs as part of parking discussions.

LIHI will develop an alternative 72-unit design to present to council for consideration at a later date.