Bainbridge Comp Plan Update
as 2026 Begins New Deadline for Completion is 6/30/26

City Council recently set a new completion date for updating Bainbridge Island’s comprehensive
plan (Comp Plan) -- June 30, 2026. The Comp Plan revision was supposed to be completed by the
end of December 2024. So why is it taking so long?: because the massive growth proposed by the
City’s Planning Department is highly controversial and divisive. Rather than recognize that and
change course, COBI has instead changed the marketing for the process several times, the most
recent being the Planning Commission's proposed "plan."

Before Discussing the Latest Plan, Here's the History

After the 2024 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) the high-growth alternatives being
promoted by city staff were soundly rejected by many Bainbridge Islanders and some on the City
Council. The Planning Commission (Commission), made up of seven volunteer commissioners, was
then presented with a preferred plan (an expanded and densified map of Winslow) in January of
2025 to work with. This Plan combined two planning alternatives for imposing massive upzoning
on Winslow taken straight out of the City’s biased and defective DEIS: alternatives 2 &3. Here are
the housing unit and population numbers for Alts. 2 & 3 compared to Winslow’s existing zoning:

Alternative 1: existing Winslow zoning
Remaining capacity for 1,334 new residents in Winslow
Capacity for an additional 592 housing units

Alternative 2, “Growing Up” Winslow:
Increased zoning capacity for 6,397 new residents (5,063 more than Alt. 1)
Increase capacity for 2,868 new housing units (2,276 more than Alt. 1)

Alternative 3, “Growing Out” (expanded Winslow boundaries)
Increased zoning capacity for 5,412 new residents (4,078 more than Alt. 1)
Increase capacity for 2,386 new housing units (1,794 more than Alt. 1)

The DEIS claims that Alternatives 2 and 3 would satisfy the state’s housing requirements by more
than tripling the current remaining zoning capacity of Winslow and requiring 10% affordable
units. The housing planning requirement is about 1,300 units; these alternatives would produce a
mere 238-286 units. So, that claim was false.

Anxious for a quick recommendation of approval for their preferred plan, City staff and
consultants appeared to attempt to mislead, manipulate, and bully the Commission for a short
turnaround. A year later—after much disagreement and public comment on both sides of the
upzoning issue—the Planning Commission considered 24 motions, approving 20 related to zoning
during their 12/11/25 meeting, but no actual plan that can be easily deciphered.

Here are a couple of examples of those motions:

MOTION: I move to recommend the Central Core Zone boundary as originally
recommended by the Planning Commission on June 5, 2025, except for the “Winslow Way
Overlay District” corridor area, and parcel ID 4-095, and step-backs recommended by the
Planning Commission on October 30, 2025.
Schaab/Blossom - The motion carried unanimously, 5-0.

MOTION: I move to extend the Winslow Way Overlay district along Winslow Way, east of
Hwy 305, to Ferncliff.
Blossom/Birtley - The motion carried unanimously, 5-0.

The Planning Commission’s Dec 11th meeting yielded a bunch of approved motions but no updated
Winslow Zoning map. The big picture is only slightly discernable. Creating that new zoning map,
including application of voluntary affordable housing incentives, is apparently going to be left up
to City Staff and the City’s pro-development consultant, LMN Architects.

For those shuddering at the thought of Winslow being transformed into a mini-Bellevue, turning
City Staff and LMN architects loose on the Winslow Subarea zoning map should not be a
comforting thought. To underscore this concern, here is a conceptual drawing of Winslow by LMN
Architects prepared in 2023, when they were helping the City attempt to sell Bainbridge Islander’s
on the virtues of massive upzoning during public workshops:

Here’s what LMN Architects say about the City’s public process in 2023:

The Winslow Subarea Plan is a bold new vision for an economically inclusive, sustainable,
and walkable downtown for the City of Bainbridge Island. Throughout this project LMN has
co-created this vision with the community and elected officials through an interactive and
inclusive process. This action-oriented and implementable planning framework is based on
careful urban systems and environmental analysis and is the basis for the Island’s
comprehensive planning work.

In reality, the public workshops referred to by LMN were dog and pony shows full of
disinformation and attempts to stack participation with pro-growth advocates and supporters.
Existing zoning was described as being inconsistent with new state laws—mainly HB 1220—while
the two alternatives for expanding and massively upzoning Winslow described above were
promoted as necessary for meeting supposed mandates under the Growth Management Act. As
shown, those claims were false. LMN also helped work on the City’s draft combined environmental
impact study for the Winslow Subarea and Bainbridge Island Comprehensive Plans. The latter is a
615-page tome full of obfuscation and disinformation that understates environmental impacts,
overstates vague mitigation measures, and misrepresents the Island’s yet-to-be-completed
groundwater management plan.

The Planning Commission's Outline of a Plan
Upzones for Winslow:

Connection Zone (Madison) 1.5 Max FAR
Ferncliff (some transferred to Connection Zone) R8
Rest of Zones 3.0 - 4.0 Max FAR
Extra stories/FAR (up to the maxes) for 20% - 25% affordable units (or underground
parking)

Absent from the "Plan" is a land capacity analysis that would compare the increased population
allowed by the proposed upzoning to Alt. 1. What the new base FAR (market rate upzoning) is
without any affordable units (or underground parking) is unclear. If (and this is a Big If) the
Planning Commission attempted to promote the 1300 affordable units, the upzoning has to be at
least 6,500 units (at 20% affordable). That's an extra 14,000 people just in Winslow. And this is at
a high inclusionary participation rate by developers of 20%. The participation rate could be much
lower based upon a regional average.

Even if 14,000 more people in Winslow was acceptable/possible, the Planning Commission
dictated that the affordable units would be for those earning "up to 80% AMI." Since the state law
planning requirement is for many units far below 80% AMI, this massive upzone will not satisfy
the state law (HB 1220). Here is Appendix F from Kitsap County’s county-wise planning policies,
which is linked to HB 1220 housing requirements found in the Growth Management Act—RCW
36.70A.070(2):

Also absent is any analysis of the infrastructure costs required for massive upzoning - we know
from Planning Commission Chair Sarah Blossom that a mere 1k new units in Winslow will max out
the City’s Winslow sewer plant, requiring a new one. Public Works told Council last year that
14,000 more people would require another $25M water tank (and lines, pumps, likely new wells,
etc.). The Commission promised it would not "upzone" without this concurrent analysis. That
promise has been ignored.

Some commissioners also promised they would not vote to "upzone" before the Groundwater
Management Plan was completed, so we would know that the additional population is sustainable.
Those assurances have apparently been forgotten.

What You Can Do

If the pro-growth majority on the Planning Commission, City Staff, and the City’s hand-picked progrowth
consultants get their way, Winslow is in danger of massive and unsustainable growth. The
wildcard in this trajectory is the election of two new City Council members who aren’t bullish on
this. Combined with the departure of two Council members who were supportive of massive
upzoning, there’s reason for hope. But it will depend on Bainbridge Islanders stepping up to say
“no” to massive upzoning and unsustainable growth. Your support will be essential for what is
likely to be a minority on City Council to prevent massive upzoning in Winslow. The City Council
needs to stop passing the buck, and get back to representing the community.

Write to Council - council@bainbridgewa.gov

Speak to the City Council at meetings

Write letters to the editor

Our work is not over – we can win this battle but need to stay the course!