REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
INSIDE: Fall football preview, A13
Friday, September 4, 2015 | Vol. 90, No. 36 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
City wants builders to help pay to fix future traffic snarls
We’re back! The wheels on the bus have stopped going ’round
DECISION NEARS ON IMPACT FEES BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review
“Awww, Mom...” Ordway Elementary student William Dodge is greeted by his mother, Janette Dodge, the school counselor, as he gets off the bus on the first day of school. To the right is fellow student Rohen Alexander.
Back to class Bainbridge Island students return to class this week — some sooner than others. Students at Captain Johnston Blakely Elementary School (at right) returned to class Wednesday, Sept. 2 — except the incoming kindergardeners who started Friday. Students made for the doors, some walking, some trudging and others running, from their parents’ cars and the school buses.
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Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
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Hurry up and wait. That was the mixed message to the Bainbridge Island City Council Tuesday as council members considered adopting new fees that would make developers pay, in part, for transportation improvements needed to handle growth. The idea of hitting developers in the wallet to help avoid future traffic clogs caused by their new projects — via “transportation impact fees” that can accordion with the size of the development — is a legacy of the state’s Growth Management Act, the sweeping law passed more than two decades ago to prevent sprawling growth. Impact fees can be levied to pay for everything from new roads to parks to schools, and Bainbridge endorsed the idea of traffic impact fees back in 2004 with the adoption of its transportation plan. At this week’s council meeting, city officials heard from both ends of the spectrum; from residents who want the new fees put in place as soon as possible, to those who worry that launching the new fees in October as planned will hit developers who already have approved site plans but are awaiting building permits from the city. Councilwoman Sarah
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Blossom was concerned about the size of some of the fees. The fees range from $1,012 for the development of a new single apartment unit to $5,036 for a 1,000-square-foot daycare building. The fees are assessed on projects ranging from new homes and stores, to new public and private schools, clinics and parks. Blossom noted the high fee for someone wanting to develop a new convenience market ($33,367 per 1,000 square feet of space) or a new coffee shop ($37,252 per 1,000 square feet of space).
Too expensive to build? The costs were surprising, she said. “I’m looking at this and I’m saying to myself, ‘I’m never going to open a coffee shop. I’m never going to open a convenience market,’” Blossom said. “That’s a lot of money.” Blossom also said those costs could impede another goal of the city: to attract local merchants rather than national retailers or chain stores. “On this island, we talk about how we want the Momand-Pops, we don’t want the chains. “Well, who has the money to come in and start up and pay $37,000 ... to start a coffee shop? TURN TO TRAFFIC | A5