Resolution No. 2025-18 Related to Comp Plan and WSP update Schedule1
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-18
A RESOLUTION of the City of Bainbridge Island, Washington, adopting a
schedule to complete the state mandated Periodic Update of the City’s
Comprehensive Plan and development regulations by June 30, 2026; directing
the planning staff and planning commission to achieve certain deliverables by
specific target dates, limit the scope of staff proposed or planning commission
recommended amendments to only those essential to achieving compliance
with state law; deferring non-essential tasks, and clarifying the roles of the
planning staff, the planning commission, and the City council liaisons to
perform this work.
WHEREAS, the Growth Management Act (GMA) at RCW 36.70A.130 required that the City
adopt a Periodic Update of its Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations by December
of 2024; and
WHEREAS, Bainbridge Island’s Periodic Update is now eleven months overdue, which
exposes the community to legal and financial risks, including appeals to the State Growth
Management Hearings Board, a compliance audit by the Washington State Department of
Commerce, the loss of state grant eligibility for infrastructure and environmental improvements,
and the imposition by the state of financial sanctions; and
WHEREAS, among the state grants currently at risk is a $720,500 Department of Ecology
grant to fund improvements to aquifer recharge functions in the Manzanita Watershed that will
be forfeited if the City remains in noncompliance with the Periodic Update mandate beyond mid-
2026; and
WHEREAS, at the Council’s request the City Attorney in August 2025 wrote a Legal
Opinion which advises the City to consider the guidance provided by the State Growth
Management Hearings Board in the cases Futurewise v. Mercer Island and Kitsap Association of
Property Owners v. Kitsap County; and
WHEREAS, since January 2025, the Planning Commission has been engaged in the
development of the Winslow Subarea Plan, where the majority of the City’s future growth is
anticipated to occur; and
WHEREAS, while the Planning Commission’s work on the Winslow Subarea Plan over the
past eleven months has made progress, achieving the City Council’s objective of adopting the
Periodic Update by mid-2026 will require that the Commission conclude its Winslow Subarea
Plan work by the end of the current calendar year, and significantly accelerate the pace of work
as it turns to updating the Elements of the comprehensive plan in 2026 that directly relate to new
state mandates; and
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WHEREAS, accelerating this pace requires adapting and clarifying the scope of the Planning
Commission’s review and relying on the expertise of the Planning Department and its
consultants to format, flesh out and subsequently present for Commission consideration the
limited number of essential amendments needed to achieve a GMA compliant periodic update;
and
WHEREAS, the City Council concludes that this accelerated pace of work and clarification
of the respective roles of the Planning Commission, Planning Staff and consultants is necessary
to meet the urgent need to adopt the required periodic update amendments by no later than June
30, 2026.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAINBRIDGE ISLAND,
WASHINGTON, DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council adopts the Periodic Update work program in Attachment A and
directs the Planning Department and Planning Commission to implement the target dates, task
sequences, roles and deliverables detailed in this Resolution.
Section 2. The Planning Commission is directed to finish its draft of the Winslow Subarea
Plan and related regulations by December 18, 2025 with the understanding that the Planning
Department and its consultants will then format and continue to flesh out that draft Subarea Plan
and regulations for subsequent review as a part of the City’s periodic update Preferred
Alternative.
Section 3. The Planning Department is directed to prepare proposed amendments to the
Comprehensive Plan Introduction and the below listed Comprehensive Plan Elements and to
submit a recommended draft of each to the Planning Commission for review during meetings in
the following months:
January 2026: Review of the Introduction, Housing, Land Use, and Transportation Elements
February 2026: Review of the Water Resources, Environment, and Utilities Elements
March 2026: Review of the Capital Facilities Element and the Winslow Subarea Plan and
development regulations.
Section 4. The Planning Commission is directed to limit the scope of its review exclusively
to the above listed Introduction and Elements and include in the Preferred Alternative only those
policies and development regulations identified by the Planning Department and City Attorney as
essential to achieving compliance with State Law and internal consistency among the Elements.
Section 5. The City’s appointed advisory committees, boards, and councils are invited to
submit written comments on Comprehensive Plan Elements to the Planning Department and
Planning Commission by the end of 2025.
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Section 6. The Planning Department is directed to revise the Comprehensive Plan to adopt
by reference the City’s Housing Action Plan, Groundwater Management Plan, Climate Action
Plan, and Island-wide Mobility Plan.
Section 7. During review of the Comprehensive Plan Elements listed in Section 3, the
Planning Department and Planning Commission are to identify policies addressing:
(1)Near term City actions to remove or reduce regulatory barriers to the creation of housing; and
(2)Strategies for immediate and long-term actions to conserve water and improve aquifer
recharge.
The Steering Committee will discuss structure, process, direction, and resources for a Housing
Implementation Strategy to plan for and subsidize the lowest AMI income brackets. A Housing
Implementation Strategy would draw upon the Housing Action Plan, identify City and partner
organization actions, and identify public funding tools. The Steering Committee may provide
recommendations for subsequent consideration and action by the Planning Commission or City
Council, and if adopted, could be included by reference in the Comprehensive Plan.
Section 8. The Planning Department is directed to work with consultants to prepare the
Housing capacity analysis and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Comprehensive
Plan and Winslow Subarea Plan.
Section 9.
(a)Regarding the scope, approach, and schedule set forth in this Resolution for City
completion of the Periodic Update, the Planning Department is directed to give
appropriate notice to the general public, to the City’s appointed advisory committees, and
to the City Council, of all public meetings and public hearings. Written comments and
questions pertaining to agenda items will be welcomed by Planning staff, the Planning
Commission, and the Council.
(b)Regarding the scope, approach, and schedule set forth in this Resolution for City
completion of the Periodic Update, the Planning Department is directed to give
appropriate notice to the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Kitsap Regional
Coordinating Council, Kitsap County, the Washington State Departments of Commerce
and Ecology, the Suquamish Tribe, and the Office of the Governor.
Section 10. The City Council shall appoint two Council members to serve as “Periodic
Update Liaisons” to attend the 2026 meetings of the Planning Commission. It is the purpose of
these Council liaisons not only to provide updates to the full Council on the progress being
made, but also to provide support and clarification as needed to the Planning Commission
regarding the direction provided by this Resolution.
Section 11. The City Council shall refrain from assigning non-Periodic Update
responsibilities to the Planning Commission for the first six months of 2026.
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Section 12. This resolution shall take effect and be in full force immediately upon passage.
PASSED by the City Council this 12th day of November 2025.
APPROVED by the Mayor this 12th day of November 2025.
______________________________
Ashley Mathews, Mayor
ATTEST/AUTHENTICATE:
By: _________________________
Christine Brown, MMC, City Clerk
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
2025 2026
DRAFT Winslow
Subarea Plan &
Regulations
•Introduction
•Housing
•Land Use
•Transportation
•Water
Resources
•Environment
•Utilities
•Capital
Facilities
•Winslow
Subarea FINAL
Preferred
Alternative
PUBLIC HEARINGS
FINAL
EIS
WINSLOW
CAPACITY
ANALYSIS
CITY COUNCIL
DELIBERATION
COUNCIL adopts Resolution
2025-18
COUNCIL adopts Periodic Update
Comprehensive Plan and Regulations
ATTACHMENT A - CITY OF BAINBRIDGE ISLAND PERIODIC UPDATE WORK PROGRAM
CITYWIDE
CAPACITY
ANALYSIS
PLANNING COMMISSION