Last month the City Council extended the shoreline moratorium on bulkheads and docks for an additional six months. The Council did this while the City is being sued and in face of overwhelming negative comments from the citizens speaking at the required public hearings.

Public input does not seem to matter and nor does the legality of the City’s actions otherwise the council would have spent a reasonable amount of time discussing the publics objections and discussing the legality of their actions. It should be noted that Bainbridge is the only entity in the State of Washington with a shoreline moratorium.
Subdivision Moratorium

Last year in the Camas decision the State Supreme Court ruled that requiring 30 percent “dedicated” open space for new developments unrelated to mitigating the direct effect of the development was an unconstitutional form of taxation.

COBI thereafter determined that its 40 percent, 60 percent and 80 percent open space requirements were illegal. Instead of deleting the illegal portions of the current ordinance and removing the open space restrictions already placed illegal on property, the City placed a moratorium on subdivision plats until they could figure a way to get around the Camas decision. COBI is currently being sued for placing the moratorium on subdivision of lots.

Prior to the expiration of the second six-month moratorium, the City Council held a public hearing as required by law for again extending the moratorium. State law requires for there to be an emergency for a moratorium. The City Council not getting its homework done after a year of trying does not appear to qualify as an emergency under state law.

Despite the fact that every single speaker at the public hearing objected to the extension of the moratorium, the City Council extended the moratorium for an additional four months.

(Editor’s Note: Reprinted from Bainbridge Island’s Islandwatch business newsletter.).