Council Sets November 24 and December 8 Hearings on Growth and Winslow Zoning

Bainbridge Islanders will have two opportunities to testify on how the island makes room for nearly 2,000 more homes through 2044. On November 10, the City Council voted to open hearings November 24 and continue them December 8 on the islandwide Comprehensive Plan, Winslow zoning, and related changes to the municipal code.

Ordinance 2026-04 pairs the Comprehensive Plan and Winslow Subarea Plan. Ordinance 2026-05 sets out development rules, including provisions for larger buildings and affordable homes near the ferry terminal and High School Road. A third ordinance, 2026-15, addresses changes related to state law, including conversions of existing buildings to housing. Planning staff said the conversion language closely tracks the state requirement and that expensive retrofits make a large increase in housing capacity from that provision unlikely.

Who the new housing is for

Bainbridge Island must plan for 1,977 additional permanent homes between 2020 and 2044. That represents 6% of the 32,950 additional homes needed across Kitsap County, matching the island’s share of planned population growth. Of the island’s 1,977 homes, 1,139, or about 58%, are for households earning no more than 80% of area median income. That includes 543 homes for households at or below 30% of the median. The City must show where those homes could fit. Zoning alone does not finance their construction. The island must also plan for 83 emergency housing beds.

In the Ferry Terminal and High School Road districts, the zoning proposal the City submitted to the state applies to projects of 10 homes or more. In a 20-home building, two homes would have to be affordable to households earning up to 80% of area median income, and two more to households earning up to 110%. Developers could add floor space and building height. Even if the project met both requirements, none of its homes would have to be affordable to a household earning 30% of the median.

Where the rain goes

Adding homes near the ferry or the High School Road shopping district puts more residents within walking distance of transit or stores. It also raises a site-level question: how much ground will be left to absorb rain? On High School Road, the zoning proposal submitted to the state allows qualifying projects to cover up to 85% of a lot with buildings.

Rain that soaks into the ground replenishes the aquifers that supply island wells and feed streams and wetlands. The City’s draft water resources chapter calls for keeping stormwater on site where practicable and assessing areas of high groundwater recharge when land-use applications come in. For a redevelopment site, the existing pavement matters: replacing a parking lot and developing open ground can have very different effects, even if the finished buildings are the same size.

What will be ready for the hearings

Council voted 6–0 to have staff update the sewer-capacity memo and attach it to the capital facilities element. Councilmember Mike Nelson also asked that the land-capacity analysis be included. Together those documents address two practical questions: where new homes could fit and what infrastructure can serve them.

Planning staff expected the final environmental impact statement the week of November 16. Staff said the preferred growth alternative had arrived less than a month before the meeting and that the finished Winslow document, including updated maps and tables, might come closer to December 8. Neither the plans nor the zoning changes have been adopted.

How to weigh in

The Council is working against a December deadline. After it adopted interim housing rules in August, the Washington Department of Commerce gave Bainbridge until December 19 to complete corrective actions under the state Housing Accountability Act.

Residents can testify November 24 and December 8 on the Comprehensive Plan’s capital facilities element, including how the City plans to provide infrastructure for future growth. Council closed the separate final public hearing on the 2027–32 Capital Improvement Plan and adopted that spending plan on November 10. Residents can send comments to council@bainbridgewa.gov and check the Council agendas for hearing times and participation instructions for each date.