PORT TOWNSEND — An advisory board has unanimously recommended a design concept urged by a stakeholder committee that would remove all of the poplar trees on the south side of Sims Way and selectively remove the trees on the north side as part of the Sims Gateway and Boat Yard Expansion.
Now the concept goes to the Port Townsend City Council and the commissioners of the Port of Port Townsend and Jefferson County Public Utility District for final consideration.
Tuesday’s action by the Port Townsend Parks, Recreation, Trees and Trails Advisory Board was the last step before the design concept goes before the three boards, which are collaborating on the project, at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Point Hudson Pavilion, 355 Hudson St., Port Townsend.
The project had become identified with public debate surrounding the fate of the 150 or so poplar trees that line the Sims Way corridor leading into downtown Port Townsend rather than its intended purposes related to safety and expansion of Boat Haven boat yard.
Concerns about safety were initially raised by the PUD and Boat Haven in 2021 when a boat in a lift touched an overhead high-voltage power line. That, along with reports to the PUD of arcing between the poplars and the powerlines, an expressed need by Boat Haven to expand and the city’s desire to implement its Gateway Development Plan prompted the three agencies to develop a project and apply for Jefferson County Public Infrastructure Funding (PIF).
The $1 million grant approved in November is expressly tied to the boat yard expansion’s potential for job creation in the local maritime industry.
“The PUD won’t underground the lines if the port doesn’t expand because they’re tied together,” said Jefferson County PUD Commissioner Jeff Randall, who attended Tuesday’s meeting.
“If we don’t get that money, then we’ll just have to keep hacking at those trees.”
The PUD shut off the power lines last summer due to the risks associated with their proximity to the poplars and the boat yard.
Included in the plans is the construction of a pedestrian and/or bike path on the south (boat yard) side of Sims Way.
The nine-member Sims Gateway and Boat Yard Expansion citizen stakeholders committee that began meeting since April was tasked with considering a wide range of elements, site constraints and opportunities when formulating its recommendation for the Sims gateway corridor.
Among these were existing city policies, codes and plans (including the 1993 Gateway Development Plan, the city’s 2016 Comprehensive Plan and the 1986 Kah Tai Development Plan); existing tree health and replacement ideas; soils and stormwater challenges; and aesthetics.
City Public Works Director Steve King, who facilitated the stakeholder meetings, said the group took into account public comments and the input of arborists and mobility experts, among others, as well as a plan for a partial expansion of the boat yard proposed by the Gateway Poplar Alliance, a local group opposed to any removal of the poplars.
The appearance of Sims Way will be less columnar without the two rows of poplars lining each side, but more visually interesting with foliage of varying heights and textures, King said.
“The preferred alternative is a parkway setting,” he said. “It will look linear if you look straight ahead, but there will be gaps between the trees if you look to the side.”
Pam Adams, a member of the Parks Advisory Board, said she supported the stakeholders group’s preferred alternative, but still had some concerns.
“I’d like to know if maintenance can be shared with the port and PUD so it isn’t on the back of our (city) staff,” Adams said.
“I’m also concerned about pedestrian safety and ADA and whether, in order to cover both of those, it wouldn’t be better to have a sidewalk on the south side rather than a path and because they’re hard to maintain.”
Seven members of the public attended the meeting, among them Rhonda Hall of Port Townsend.
“I originally didn’t favor removing the poplars, but when I found out about the danger they posed, that decided it for me,” Hall said.
“I hate to see them go, but change can be a good thing.”
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@soundpublishing.com.
