To view additional graphics of the plan, visit www.pa-waterfront.org.
PORT ANGELES — After more than five months of planning and meetings, City Hall is now ready to give Port Angeles’ downtown waterfront a complete makeover.
The City Council approved through consensus Tuesday the waterfront development plan created by Studio Cascade of Spokane and other consultants, with the help of public input.
As the major portion of the Waterfront & Transportation Improvement Plan, the water front development project — which incorporates the shoreline from Valley Creek to Hollywood Beach — is considered the largest downtown renovation effort the city has undertaken, said Nathan West, city community and economic development director.
City staff have said the project will help spur private investment in the area, benefit residents and be an attraction that will encourage visitors to spend more time in the city.
Deputy Mayor Don Perry commended the final design, saying it’s what the city has needed for a long time.
“I just hope I live long enough to see this completed,” said Perry, 65.
The improvements — including a new park, boardwalk and expansion of the beach, to name a few — come with a price tag of between $16.7 million to $17.3 million.
West, the lead staff member on the project, acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that the cost is greater than anticipated.
He attributed that to the addition of City Pier and the beach into the scope of the project.
“I would say for sure that the costs are a lot more significant based on the additional area,” he said.
West told the council members that they should not be deterred by the estimated cost, adding that the plan allows it to be done in phases.
“We’re making the project more manageable so that we can proceed with it in the proper manner that fits in with our budget priorities,” he said.
Before the meeting, West said it’s not necessarily the city’s goal to spend that amount or get every detail of the plan in place in the near future.
He said he is aiming to get as much done as can be funded in the next three to five years, which is why the plan is broken up into 14 phases.
Some aspects of the plan could be scaled back if funds aren’t available and later expanded when money can be allocated.
“With the way we dissect the project, we can move forward with as little or as big of an amount for the project as necessary,” West said.
The project could take between 10 and 20 years to be fully completed, said Mark Hinshaw of LMN Architects, one of the city’s consultants.
It’s anticipated that grants, state and federal, will make up to 80 percent of the funding.
The rest would likely come from the city’s economic development and lodging tax funds, West said.
The economic development fund, established with $7.5 million in Tse-whit-zen settlement money, has about $4.4 million left.
The lodging tax — which applies to hotels, motels and bed and breakfast establishments — is projected to generate $478,641 in revenue this year.
Also at the meeting, the council directed staff to start work on the west side of downtown first.
That includes the boardwalk and east half of a new waterfront park between Oak Street and the Valley Creek estuary.
Together, they cost $5.5 million.
West said his office will begin working on permits for the boardwalk immediately in anticipation that funding will be available for construction to begin in the fall or later.
Victoria Express, which is interested in relocating to the would-be park, could help fund and maintain its east half in order to get that off the ground sometime this year, he said.
Under the plan, the company would use an expanded dock west of Oak Street.
Since the project is dependent on grant funding and will be done in phases, West said, it’s possible the waterfront will look a bit disjointed, with some areas improved and others left as they were, at least temporarily.
Improvements along Railroad Avenue alone are divided up into six phases, though they could be done at once.
“It’s a concern,” he said, adding that completing all the work slated for Railroad Avenue is dependent on planned upgrades to the terminal for the Black Ball Ferry Line, which operates the MV Coho car ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria.
“Once we have a more solid time line for that project,” West said, referring to the ferry terminal upgrades, “we will be able to determine when we will be able to move forward with the actual street improvements that take place between Laurel and Lincoln [streets].”
The expanded scope of work is also expected to increase the total cost of creating the WTIP plan, which is broken up into two phases.
The second phase, yet to be awarded, includes “construction-ready documents” for the waterfront improvements, a new directional sign program, two entryway monument signs and a citywide transportation improvements plan, West has said.
Together, the two phases were anticipated to cost about $778,000.
West said he doesn’t know yet how much that figure will increase.
This year, the city has budgeted $500,000 in economic development funds for the project.
That money could apply to construction or to complete the second phase of the WTIP plan, West said.
An Art Framework Plan will be developed to incorporate the work of local artists in the project, he said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
