PORT TOWNSEND — Despite some admitted missteps in 2023, Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro and Mayor David Faber gave a fairly favorable review to the city’s performance in 2023, saying the city made significant progress on several key issues such as housing and infrastructure.
“We also are embracing resolving challenges that have really vexed us for a while,” Mauro said during a State of the City address on Monday. “I would say housing is very much at the top of that list.”
The Port Townsend City Council approved a series of zoning changes last spring in order to promote what the city calls “tactical infill” housing, allowing more density in traditionally single-family neighborhoods. Codes were changed to allow more accessory dwelling units in residential and commercial zones, including the addition of so-called tiny homes on wheels.
Those changes have allowed at least one tiny home to be installed within city limits, Mauro said, and city officials hope more will follow.
The city is also hoping to develop the entirely new and denser Evans Vista neighborhood near Sims Way and Rainier Street with up to 321 units of apartments and townhomes. The city has already received state and federal grants to acquire the land and build sewer infrastructure, but the new homes will ultimately be built by a private developer.
When that’s going to happen is something of an unknown, Mauro said.
In October, the city contracted with a design firm and a financial consultant to draft a potential layout for the neighborhood, but given current rates of inflation and material costs, Mauro said Monday the city is holding off on putting the project out to bid.
Doing so now, Mauro said, “would probably be folly, because no one’s going to bid on that project when it’s almost impossible to fund a project.”
Mauro said the city will continue to refine its plan for the site so it can be ready to put out bids when conditions are better.
While lauding the city’s successes, Mauro and Faber also acknowledged there have been some contentious issues in the community, but they said those were learning experiences for city staff.
“Let’s be honest, not everything was puppies and rainbows in 2023,” Mauro said. “We wanted to have an honest conversation about where are some of the misses that we had.”
In December, the city finally began the demolition of the Carmel Building on Cherry Street. Once hoped to become an affordable housing project, the Cherry Street project never materialized and cost the city millions of dollars.
Referring to a picture of the demolition, Mauro said the Cherry Street project was “a great symbol of unforeseen challenges” but noted the building is now gone and plans are in place to make the property available.
“I’m not saying that mess is cleaned up, but we learned a lot,” Mauro said.
But 2023 also saw division in the community over what to do with two major assets, the Mountain View pool and the Port Townsend Golf Course. The city and community members came to an agreement over the future of the golf course — a new nonprofit was formed to take over management — but the process was at times contentious and community meetings tense.
A similar situation has arisen over plans to reconstruct the city’s pool, currently housed at the Mountain View Commons. The pool is aging and in need of replacement, but community members have been divided over what kind of facility should replace it and how much should be spent.
In November, the city council approved a plan to build a new $37 million facility at the same site with two pools and potentially additional amenities based on how much money could be raised for the project. But several community members have questioned the cost of the project, and some Jefferson County residents have been hesitant to help pay for a facility located within the city.
City officials had hoped to place an initiative for a new county-wide taxing district to help pay for the pool on the special election ballot in February, but Jefferson County Commissioners voted against that plan. A new stakeholder committee was formed to examine other potential locations for the facility outside the city.
“One of the things we realized, any little kernel of lack of clarity is an opportunity for a wedge to be driven through,” Mauro said. “We learned some lessons this year about how we can provide more clarity in open sessions.”
The city will be updating its comprehensive plan throughout 2024, and Mauro said the update is an excellent time for community members to give feedback to public officials about what they’d like to see in the city over the next 20 years.
Cities under the state’s Growth Management Act are required to update their comprehensive plans every 8-10 years, and future capital budget decisions must conform to the comprehensive plan. Mauro said comprehensive plans can often go largely unused, but they can also be used to help the city make difficult decisions.
“What I want out of a comp plan — and what I think this community deserves out of a comp plan — is something that is referenced, it’s something that’s not, look, it’s sitting on a shelf, but that actually guides everyday decision making.”
“It focuses the community vision for what we want to be,” he added.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
