Bainbridge Island just became the only city in the Puget Sound region officially considering liveaboards, or boats that people live on full-time, as affordable housing units — though how many moorage buoys qualify, when and how they are leased is yet to be determined.

At the July 8 meeting, the Bainbridge Island City Council agreed to establish a new lower-income moorage rate at the city-owned Dave Ullin Open Water Marina for people making 60% or less of the Kitsap County area median income, or about $59,000 annually. In doing so, the city enshrined moorage buoys as permanently affordable housing stock, taking a step toward its state-mandated goal of adding housing within reach of residents making at or below the county AMI.

It’s a bit of a legal loophole, explained BI city attorney Jim Haney, because while the city’s Comprehensive Plan specifies liveaboards as housing stock, the boats do not technically qualify as “dwelling units” under the city’s zoning code. A unit of housing is considered a “dwelling” when it contains sleeping quarters, cooking facilities and sanitation facilities, which many boats do not have aboard.

“It doesn’t qualify as a dwelling unit, but under the Comprehensive Plan, it does indicate that preserving liveaboards is an important part of the city in terms of affordable housing,” said Haney. “I spoke to the Department of Commerce; they said Bainbridge is the only jurisdiction that they know of that is considering liveaboards as a potentially affordable housing unit … There is nothing in the state laws or in state regulations relating to the Growth Management Act that would prohibit you from considering liveaboards as affordable housing units, but we don’t know what the attitude of the DOC will be.”

The legal language may call liveaboards a gray area, but for those living in Eagle Harbor, the distinction is clear.

Ross Warner, a tenant of the marina, has sailed 25,000 nautical miles over seven years through the Great Lakes, the East Coast, the western rivers and the coast of Florida on his boat. In all his travels, he only found two liveaboard communities that felt like a place to call home — the BI marina, and Marathon, FL — so after waiting three years for a buoy to open up, he’s been in Eagle Harbor ever since.

But the Bainbridge marina came with some unique quirks.

“My one point of contention here, is that for people like me who can afford it, we’re looking at about a 200 percent increase over two years — and that’s fine, however, this is the only marina [I’ve stayed at] where we’re lacking the basic service of laundry,” Warner said. “As [council] may be aware, the city of Bainbridge does not have any coin-operated laundry. So that’s something that is a large barrier to entry, regardless of whether you can afford the higher rate or not.”

Warner added that he is a proponent of the split-rate moorage fee, because it would create an opportunity to bring some “anchor-outs” — or people who moor their boats outside of a formal marina to avoid housing costs — into the fold of the marina, providing them access to amenities.

The marina has 16 moorage buoys and a waitlist of interested tenants; 13 of the current tenants fall under the 60% AMI threshold for reduced rates. Docking a liveaboard at the marina is hardly expensive; even the standard monthly moorage rate on BI falls below the median for docks around Puget Sound without electricity hookups, including Lake Washington and Lake Union, and almost $1,000 below the federal rate assessment, explained Laura Shear, city management analyst.

However, the new moorage rates come as the city reviews its own lease on the aquatic lands in Eagle Harbor with the state Department of Natural Resources. Every four years, DNR assesses the value of the aquatic property it owns by comparing it to the value of the nearest upland property that is used for water-dependent purposes; in BI’s case, either Eagle Harbor or Bainbridge Island Marina.

DNR found that the land’s lease is valued at about $66,000 per year, up from $36,000 in 2021. That exceeds the maximum allowable rate increase the agency can implement over a single year, so the increases will occur in steps, starting at $54,000 in 2025-26.

That means rent hikes for the liveaboards as well, but given the new income brackets council passed, not all buoys will pay the same moorage rate. Starting in January 2026, income-qualified liveaboards will continue to pay $6.20 per foot of their vessel — usually around $200 per month — while those making above 60% AMI will pay $10.23 per foot, or just under $400 per month.

Councilmembers Kirsten Hytopolous and Clarence Moriwaki both expressed support for the split-rate initiative.

“I am strongly in support of using as many as possible of these buoys for affordable housing, and doing what that takes, including leaving them open, for affordable housing. The intention of this marina was to preserve a way of life that was very minimal in cost, to protect people who couldn’t afford to live anywhere upland,” Hytopolous said. “This is a way to provide housing that would be creative, very Bainbridge and very unique.”

Moriwaki agreed, recalling his friendship with the marina’s namesake, Dave Ullin, an environmentalist and lifelong liveaboard.

“When youre talking about BI, and living light on the land, he lived light on the land because he was living on the water. His carbon footprint must have been like a bunny,” said Moriwaki. “He lived in the most ‘Walden’ way possible; he’s a real inspiration to our community; he made his own tools, helped a lot of people in the marina, but lived so lightly … We are doing our part through policy to keep this thing alive.”

In a future session, council will discuss how to reserve the buoys for income-qualified tenants in perpetuity, and there are several options, said city manager Blair King. Council could prioritize low-income tenants on the waitlist when any buoy becomes available; it could reserve all of the buoys exclusively for income-qualified tenants; or it could set aside some of the buoys to reserve for income-qualified tenants.

During discussion, council acknowledged the lack of laundry services on the island, and several members expressed support for increasing amenities provided at the DUOWN. King noted that the city’s power is limited in this area, but that further discussion could occur at a future council session.