voice of bainbridge

Comment by Al and Colleen Ebken

From: Al Ebken  

Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2019 7:09 PM

To: PCD

Subject: Concerns Regarding the Proposed Winslow Hotel Project

Dear Bainbridge Planning Commission Members:    

My wife and I are currently renting on Bainbridge Island while looking to purchase a home near the downtown  area.  After learning about the proposed Winslow Hotel and attending the meeting on November 26, 2018 at the  Bainbridge Island City Hall, we are writing this letter to voice our concerns.  What has attracted us to Bainbridge Island is  the small town feel, the artisans and the BARN facility, and the overall friendliness and sense of community that this  town currently offers.      The proposed Winslow Hotel is being described as a “Boutique Destination Hotel,” but with its large footprint, 75 rooms,  restaurant, wedding and music venues and other amenities, this hotel is considerably more than a small hotel and will  without a doubt, have a large impact on the total community, the surrounding residents, Bainbridge Island  infrastructure, and services.  With the level of information provided to the public thus far, we don’t feel that all the  potential environmental impacts of a hotel of this magnitude have been fully addressed and resolved to allow the  project to proceed at this point.  We have not seen any comparable studies presented for this approach or scale of hotel  or any mitigation plans if the concept of “low environmental impact” is not achieved.    

We request delaying the proposed Winslow Hotel project until solid information, study results, and written guarantees  can be provided by the Developer that specifically address and remedy each of the Environmental Issues and Concerns  stated below.  Ample time should also be provided for the public to review this information, provide comments and  meet with the Planning Commission before any decisions are made to go forward with the project.    

Winslow Hotel Environmental Issues and Concerns 

Noise   Guests   Car/Shuttle Bus Pickup and Delivery   Car Parking Lot   Restaurant Deliveries   Music (Amplified)   Outdoor Amphitheater   Wedding Parties   Garbage Pickup   Traffic   During Construction     Traffic Congestion   In front of hotel   On Winslow Way and around town   Winslow Way/Madison Ave intersection   During Construction    

2 Parking   There are insufficient spaces on the hotel grounds, so alternate parking spaces need to be contracted (in  advance)    

Hotel project is trying to meet the “Living Building” Challenge.  What are the impacts if those expectations are not  met and the hotel needs to use: 

 City Water (Will the developer be allowed to drill a well?)   City Septic System   City Electric     Odors   On‐Site Septic System (as part of “Living Building” Challenge).  Located near the Amphitheater where  activities will be held.   Restaurant Cooking   Garbage Dumpsters   Smoking Areas     Light Pollution   Abatement Plan       

Sincerely,   

Al and Colleen Ebken  

Comment by Peter Denis

From: Peter Denis 

Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2019 6:24 PM

To: PCD

Subject: 3 Storey hotel - comment period slated to end February 22

Hello, My wife, Robin Denis sent you a note (attached) laying out her concerns for the project that seems likely to proceed. Please allow me to add my voice to hers in support and to further state:

1. During the Town Hall meeting earlier this year, the land owner stated publicly that the primary purpose of the intended facility was to provide a suitable event space for weddings. This view was later supported by the architect who informed those assembled that for the project to "pencil" would require the 75 rooms to be occupied at 80% annually. The latter seems like a distant hope and utterly unrealistic. It would seem then, that this project only works if it is an event venue, as 80% occupancy, particularly during the gray months is utterly utopic (I was the attorney for the Four Seasons and Marriott chains in Canada for many years and have learned a little about this business).
2.  As a primarily event venue, parking becomes critical - both the owner and the architect were clear that the plans as currently drafted do not come close to providing sufficient parking - how could the City of Bainbridge Island countenance such a project, secure in the knowledge that this essential element to what will be an event venue cannot support its parking needs - not just occasionally, but at every event? I was corporate counsel for a multinational enterprise that ran Convention Centers and Major Baseball Stadiums, you can be sure that parking assumptions always erred on more, rather than less. To suggest that every Saturday evening in Bainbridge will be an overflow situation as a result of this venue is the very image of willful disregard for the community.
3.  The architect explained that more than half of the water needs would be met by employing gray water captured from the roof and the installation of a "living machine" like the one at Island Wood. Both of these intentions are laudable. I happen to know the inventor of the living machine and can attest that the Island Wood facility has stretched the limits of that technology. I can only imagine the demands that would be made for an event venue when significant spikes in use would be inevitable. Allowing a project of the architect, the balance of the water needs would be met by drilling a well and thus challenging the limits of the Bainbridge aquifer. How could the City Council approve drilling within the core of the city when city infrastructure is available. The notion that a project of this size could "go it alone" while denying similar largesse to others and other projects seems at odds with the basic principals of municipal governance.
4.  As a private venue, how would the City of Bainbridge Island enforce noise standards? As it is likely that an event will be held there every weekend, the additional costs of policing and administration for such a site will increase the costs to the city and thus to the taxpayers. Will the new tax base this project provides be sufficient to offset the inevitable costs resulting from complaints for noise and the regular policing that sustained events will occasion?
5.  As our recent snow event has indicated, it is critical that appropriate egress to facilities be designed into the project from the start. The requirement for a three-point turn for all trucks is 2 utterly impossible were a similar event to occur. Ignoring the question of access and egress or merely glossing it over is an immense disservice to the project and to the adjoining neighborhoods. In summary then, this is a marvelous idea for a venue outside of a small downtown core. Snohomish County has successfully allowed for the creation of numerous such venues through repurposing farmland and creating attractive, accessible spaces that provide excellent venues for weddings and special events. This seems very much like the right project for the wrong place. The project does not work in the absence of a robust wedding/special event calendar. The implications of this are striking for the community and the likelihood that this venue would become a flashpoint for civic discontent is extremely high. I urge you to deny future permitting for this project as it is currently configured. Respectfully submitted,

Peter Denis - 9321 NE Helmsman Ct. Bainbridge Island, WA 

Comment by Jack & Karen Sjolseth

From: Jack Sjolseth 

Sent: Friday, February 15, 2019 4:00 PM

To: Olivia Sontag; Ann Hillier

Subject: PLN50880 Winslow Hotel

 Olivia,

We received a “heads-up” from The Property Management Group regarding the planned Winslow Hotel. We had attended one of the initial meetings last year and were concerned about the small amount of parking planned for employees, guests, visitors and customers at the intended restaurant and music venue.

It was stated that most of the employees would be parking off-site (e.g. St. Barnabas Church) and the hotel would provide transportation to and from the church’s parking lot. We’re having a hard time thinking that this is a satisfactory long-term solution. And even if it is, there will be a number of hotel staff where off-site parking isn’t going to be viable.

We got the sense from their presentation that they expect a significant percentage of their customers are going to arrive on-island without transportation and are using that to suggest that much less than a 1:1 ratio of cars to hotel rooms is acceptable. That seems doubtful. In addition, they seemed to imply that there will be available nearby parking that their customers can use – I read this to say that they think their customers can use the Madrone Village and Village Green parking spaces.

These spaces are for the use of the residents and commercial customers within these properties and not used for over-flow from the hotel’s property.

Jack & Karen Sjolseth

120 Hall Brothers Loop Unit 303

Bainbridge Island

Comment by James Morss

From: James Morss 

Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2018 5:08 PM

To: Olivia Sontag Subject:

RE: Winslow Hotel Public Participation Meeting

Thank you Olivia. I think this is a great project and will be a terrific addition to the neighborhood. Best,

Jim Morss

175 Wood Ave SW

Posting again after a long interruption

I started posting again in June 2019. This post is dated November 26 2018 so that it does not appear at the top but it was written on June 6). Why those new posts? Because I felt interested and concerned by the "debate" about the Winslow Hotel project and how it was reported (or not) about in the local media. I also felt the way the city was posting the public comments on its website did not make it easy for  the community/citizenry to access them. I thought using the VOB blog could maybe help a bit. 

Voilà.

Audio content/podcasts that appear lost but can be accessed by correcting the url

Along the years I had recorded and posted a bunch of interviews/podcasts. When clicking on listen they appear lost but if you read carefully the explanation provided you'll see you should be able to access them by inserting "files/" in front of "pub" within the url.

I tried it for the recording of Amory Lovins presentation at Islandwood and it worked :)

see the original link (now not working)

http://www.radio4all.net/pub/archive/04.01.05/[email protected]/1374-1-20050212-amorylovinsAB.mp3

Adding "files/" in the url before "pub"

http://www.radio4all.net/files/pub/archive/04.01.05/[email protected]/1374-1-20050212-amorylovinsAB.mp3

Bingo, it works :) 

Same for my old interview of Jay Inslee in 2007 (for instance)

If I have the courage I'll fix the urls myself, if not, add "files/" in front of pub and magic, it works.

Page or Function Not Found

If you are trying to download archive files from 2006-2008, we are aware of a problem, the file request sends you to this page rather than the program. All of these programs are available on www.radio4all.net/files/pub. If you insert 'files/' in front of 'pub/' in the URL for the program you want, you'll reach it, or you can browse the whole directory. We are working on a more permanent solution.

If you think this error message is incorrect, please contact [email protected].

 

 

Seen on Shepard Way: What does the Fletcher Bay Foundation intend to do with the Moritani brothers strawberry farm?

Walking on Shepard way you can see the sign below about the present work being done on behalf of the Fletcher Bay Foundation..
I googled and found a bit (very little) about the foundation (in care of Glenn Haber) and a bit more about the Moritani brothers and their strawberry farm.
Thank you for keeping as many trees as you can as the developer on the other side has cut most of them. Too bad you could not keep the black berry bushes at the bottom: they used to provide me with a good harvest. If you want to email them (it's too small to be read on the picture it's moritanifbf at hotmail.com).

From Pick a property, make it a park

This former strawberry farm is one of the largest remaining largely undeveloped properties downtown. It borders the Shepard Way pedestrian corridor to the north and the Winslow Way road end to the south. Surrounded by trees, the largely open property has an old house in poor repair and several outbuildings.

Memory lane with an interview on Bainbridge Community Broadcasting

It was fun to reminisce. Thank you Barry. You can listen to the podcast by visiting BCB.

Best of Bainbridge on internet radio?

Looks like Voice of Bainbridge is finally having a successor with Bainbridge Community Broadcasting as a podcast radio program.

Let us move to amend!

Against Citizens United, a badly needed amendment.

Net Energy High School (in France)

This is the Vaclav Havel High School in Begles (near Bordeaux) but you could imagine such a solar roof for the Bainbridge High School... Here is an aerial picture.

Why not online energy audits for RePower Bainbridge?

From Seattle based Energysavvy. How it worked in Utah. The key is the "home audit to retrofit conversion rate" that is how many people who have had an audit do decide to retrofit their home. The present stats for Bainbridge are not great. Time is running out as the grant program obtained by the City is supposed to end by next July. I wonder if such online audits would not help a bit. Energysavvy offers an online survey but I could not test it as it does not apply (yet) to condos :(  At least one Old Goat, Bob Burkholder, is all for energy saving. Maybe he should be in a PSA and put to use his new star status to promote more conservation efforts? I am sure he would be great at it.

 

Go See Old Goats ASAP

Of course I went to see Old Goats because it was shot on Bainbridge by Taylor Guterson, the son of local Robin and David Guterson with a complete bunch of local amateur/first time/first class actors. I did recognize a few of them and many places but this has almost nothing to do for me to exhort you to go and see the film as soon as you can.

Solar panels on Grow Avenue

The new houses on Grow Avenue are getting their solar panels.

Clearcut at the corner of Ericksen and Knechtel

At least 10 trees gone and everywhere private property and no trespassing signs with a clearcut permit from the city :(

Does anybody have pictures of the magnificent trees that used to live there? The "permit" says BLD 13025 CLR. For information [email protected] Maybe they can tell us who is the owner of this parcel so we can congratulate him or her?

Who is Pam Dzama?

I discovered Pam Dzama, "Community opinion columnist" for the Kitsap Sun when I read her guest opinion piece in this week's Bainbridge Islander where she blasts the democrats for being in favor of alternative energies. She thinks funding "anything green is non sense" and apparently she also believes there is no such thing as climate change. By googling her I discovered several previous pieces she wrote for the Kitsap Sun. There is an interesting one in June, where she explains her family had invested in improving their home to save energy but their bill has kept rising anyway: she blames all the subsidies to "alternative energies", useless and costly windmills. She says her next monthly electrical bill is $226 compared to $90. $226 seems pretty high indeed. What does PSE have to say? What would a an energy audit say about Pam's house? That would be more relevant than the Adele Ferguson's like rant the Islander judged worthy of half a page. What about some real investigative work checking the facts and coming up with some more satisfying explanation, including a comment by PSE.

It was also instructive to look at her take on the ferry system crisis, here in 2009 and here in 2011. It looks like since she cannot blame the windmills or solar panels, she has to face the reality of reduced public funding after the tim Eyman's initiative that slashed the car tax. Of course she thinks the previous car tax was outrageous but at the end she is even willing to consider a new -small- one to fund the ferries. Common sense is part of her title for the 2011 article. 

As for her quoting a Nobel Prize in Physics disagreeing with climate change, here is an interesting post from dotearth about such Nobel Prizes controversies.

Why Labor backs Occupy Wall Street, by Mary Kay Henry

As I was frustrated not to have systematically access to this opinion published in the WSJ I have copied it here. Ms. Henry is president of the Service Employees International Union. In the original version there are a few "related Links" like one to Sarah Palin. I did not reproduce those.

What did Kimberly Harris (PSE, CEO) say during her presentation at IslandWood?

I had planned to attend Kimberly Harris presentation on sunday September 18 but unfortunately I was unable to make it. I have since tried to find reports about this largely advertised and sponsored event but 10 days after it took place, I cannot find any. How come?

 

Stuffing the red envelopes of One Call For All: Community at work

This morning (8 to 9.30) about 200 people met at the Flipino Hall to stuff 12.000 red envelopes that will be mailed for the One Call For All. Cookies were provided by T&C, Safeway, Bainbridge Bakers and Blackbird. Thanks to everybody: many hands made the work light and quick. Reading one of the pages I stuffed I see that "only 1 in 6 households on the island participates in One Call For All" so let us see how we can improve that ratio.

Flowers at the Farmers Market

It was a few weeks ago.