PORT TOWNSEND — One thing the top representatives from Jefferson County and Port Townsend have is consensus.
At their joint meeting on Thursday night, the Jefferson County Commissioners and Port Townsend City Council showed that they agree on at least three issues in the county and want to work together to solve a few problems.
Discussed by the 10 elected officials were plans for affordable housing in the county, the plans for the Customs House currently housing the Post Office and a unified marketing strategy.
While no decisions were made, the two governments did direct staff to continue working together to bring them the information they needed to make decisions down the road.
Housing options
City and county staff presented the two governing bodies with a long list of options for property that could potentially be developed into affordable housing in the areas around Port Townsend.
“The costs on any of these sites will be high concerning infrastructure costs,” said Port Townsend City Planner Rick Sepler.
“They could potentially be developed, however.”
Among the sites that were highly recommended from city staff were a section of land along Umatilla street and another section on Cherry street next to the Port Townsend Municipal Golf Course.
As far as land owned by the county inside city limits, the county sees lots along Castle Hill and a portion of land at the end of Jackson street to be most appropriate for development.
Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval said that while all of these locations would possibly work, she wanted to take into account the possibility of integrating new housing into existing neighborhoods.
“The criteria for me include the integration into existing communities,” Sandoval said.
“It might be wise to put five [buildings] and five and five around town rather than just one large block of affordable housing.”
Commissioner Phil Johnson, D-Port Townsend, said he viewed a few properties as more readily available than others.
“It seems the most ready is land on Castle Hill (near Sheridan street),” Johnson said.
“The infrastructure is already there.”
Both groups agreed that infrastructure would play a large part in any decisions to provide affordable housing.
“I think a good first step is to have a good idea of the zoning and available infrastructure of all the properties,” said City Councilwoman Catharine Robinson.
“Also taking off the table anything that already has use to it.”
Both the city and county officials instructed staff to continue working on the lists and to present an updated version at the next joint meeting, scheduled for May 7.
Customs House update
Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons gave a quick update on the status of the Customs House, located at 1322 Washington St.
Timmons said the possibility of some type of transfer from the U.S. Postal Service to one of the governing bodies could be possible.
“We’re at the point where we need to decide if we want to explore that option,” Timmons said.
The building has become a bane for the Postal Service as it attempts to get out of owning properties across the country.
Timmons said some type of deal may be arranged in which USPS trades the building for a location to lease in the city.
“We have found that the building is in excellent condition,” Timmons said of the results from an architects survey.
Timmons also said a full courtroom still exists in the building and could be restored to be a fully functioning historic courtroom with a mezzanine.
“There’s a lot of potential there,” he said.
The city and county agreed that it was something they wanted to look into and directed staff to follow up.
Marketing plans
Timmons also updated the group on the marketing plans being hammered out between the city, county and other marketing groups in Jefferson County.
“I think we have a real opportunity in the making to find a unified approach,” Timmons said.
“As this evolves, we need both the council and commissioners to say we are on the right path but to have one message we all get out there.
“To have a common theme that we can all share.”
Timmons said. by working together. the larger group could target larger markets for tourism advertising such as Olympia and Portland.
Timmons said a presentation would be ready for the group at its May 7 meeting.
Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
