On January 9, 2018, the Bainbridge Island City Council enacted Ordinance No. 2018-02 and thereby established a temporary emergency moratorium on the acceptance and processing of certain Permit Applications, as defined in Section 2 of Ordinance No. 2018-02. Section 4 of that ordinance established several types of Permit Applications that were excluded from the moratorium.
The City Council and City staff received feedback and comment from individuals related to the moratorium and, based on that comment and feedback, the Council determined that certain exclusions to the moratorium needed to be amended to clarify the Council’s intent regarding such exclusions. On January 16, 2018, the Council adopted Ordinance No. 2018-03 to respond to that feedback and comment, and thereby amended the exclusions related to the moratorium.
The Council and City staff have received additional feedback and comment from individuals related to the moratorium and, based on that feedback, this ordinance is being proposed to further clarify which types of activities are subject to the moratorium, and which activities are excluded.
Thus far, the approach to the moratorium as set forth in Ordinance No. 2018-02 and Ordinance No. 2018-03 was to broadly apply the moratorium to all “Permit Applications” as defined in Section 2 of Ordinance No. 2018-02 and then to set forth several exclusions for activities that were explicitly excluded from the moratorium. This approach, however, has not been as clear and effective as intended because it has resulted in a lengthy list of exclusions that have caused some confusion in the community about how particular exclusions apply to specific situations. To address that confusion, it is proposed that a better approach would be to instead simplify the moratorium by clearly stating what the moratorium applies to and limiting the exclusions.
Under this new approach, as a general statement, the moratorium is intended to apply to new residential development that involves more than development of a single-family home, as well as to other types of development and land use activities that would result in significant loss of native vegetation.
The moratorium is not intended to apply to certain affordable housing projects and to permits and approvals for limited other uses, such as government facilities and certain educational facilities.
The proposed ordinance is intended to amend Ordinance No. 2018-02 and Ordinance No. 2018-03 by restating those ordinances in full with this new ordinance, except with regard to the declaration of emergency, effective date, and duration provisions of the moratorium, such that the moratorium continues to have an effective date of January 9, 2018.
In short, the goal of this new proposed ordinance is to simplify the moratorium by clearly stating what it applies to and what it doesn't apply to, so there is a shared understanding by the community, the City Council, and City staff about the reasons for the moratorium and how it applies.
Consistent with state law, the City Council is conducting a public hearing on the moratorium at this meeting (February 13, 2018).
In preparation for the public hearing, attached to this agenda bill are:
- Ordinance No. 2018-02.
- Ordinance No. 2018-03.
- A reference document summarizing the moratorium by combining what was enacted via Ordinance No. 2018-03 and No. 2018-03.
- Proposed Ordinance No. 2018-05.
- A staff memorandum offering clarifications to the revisions to proposed Ordinance No. 2018-05 that were adopted by the Council on February 6, 2018, as well as responding to questions that the Council had regarding how the moratorium applies to site plan and design reviews and to conditional use permits.
- A document providing suggested motions by Councilmember Peltier that have been suggested subsequent to the Council meeting on February 6, 2018.
- A land use summary table.