Smart Quiet Growth for Our Community and the Community of Our Children
Our History
Much of what is written below was published on Sept. 5, 2006. I have updated this page only slightly in the last years to give some historical perspective to the growth challenges in Poulsbo. This page will be updated with new perspectives and a clearer timeline by July 26, 2009
Becky Erickson
What is Smart Quiet Growth?
Smart Quiet Growth is growth that our community can tolerate. There is a way that we can even appreciate growth as new neighbors come to our community. Growth that will not lay the seeds of economic misfortune for our children. How can this be achieved? We must abide by the laws of the State of Washington that mandate density. And yet, we must retain the cultural distinctiveness of our community. The Noll Road Association is not anti-growth. The Noll Road Association is anti dumb growth. The rules must change in Poulsbo so that we are not caught in the exploitation of development without laying the foundation for long term economic viability for our children. We do not want to build new "projects". We do not want to build the slums of 2030.
1.) Concentrate on the economic viability of our community. If we cannot build an economic engine to support our community, then the new arrivals clog our roads as they head for ferries and a work source. Right now, the economic engine of Poulsbo is a Wal-Mart, which is not acceptable. Bring new clean business into our community. (July 2009: concentrate on greater flexibility for commercial development within our zoning codes, create an internal economic development initiative to identify key businesses we need in our community, establish a true visioning process and incorporate that vision into our economic outreach program.) 2.) These new clean business must have basic infrastructure to come to Poulsbo. This requires a Highway 305 corridor that actually moves people 24 X 7. Right now, 305 is a parking lot for 10 hours every day. People can't get to work. Some changes don't have to be expensive: sequence the lights so that people can move from the ferry terminal on Bainbridge Island all the way through to Highway 3. Pick the low hanging fruit. Make changes that will impact congestion now, and cost little money to the tax payers. (July2009: our new 305 is great but the light timing is still poor.)
3.) People do not live in Poulsbo with an expectation of no privacy. Houses so close to one another that every noise is heard. Density is the law. Dumb Density is not. The Building Code of the City of Poulsbo is inadequate and encourages dumb densitydevelopment. The "3" D's. Mandate changes in the building code. Allow builders to build using flex lot design: smaller and larger lots grouped together so that trees and natural vegetation can be retained. No complete grading without tree retention should be allowed. Require more open space (at least 40%) with mandated buffers and interconnectivity between developments. Require walking trails and pedestrian corridors. Bike lanes should be installed in all neighborhood collector roads.
4.) The Critical Area Ordinance passed through the City Council on June 20, 2007. It mandates 150 ft buffers on fish baring streams. Mandate code enforcement. The CAO is only as good as its ability to be enforced. (Updated September 2007)
5.) Encourage multi-story condominium development in the city core, where transit, water and sewer infrastructures are already developed. (July2009: we should build densely in our downtown core BUT not so it changes the character of our town. Enforce height and density regulations. Encourage zero lot line development. Encourage cottage development by allowing flexibility in our road standards. We must remember, if we build density in our downtown core, we must create open spaces for those that live in our most compact neighborhoods.)
6.) All impact fees paid by the developers should be reviewed. Are they adequate to address the infrastructure needs of the increase population? (July 2009: all impact fees have been reviewed extensively and are now reflective of the costs associated with development. Thank you to Andrzej Kasiniak, our city engineer, for working diligently for the last 2 years to accomplish this goal.) 7.) Only allow development on 5 acres at a time for each subdivision. If the land parcels are larger, complete the first 5 acres before starting to develop the additional acreage. With the impending housing bubble collapse a slower course of new housing introduction is in order. Stabilization and control of the supply of new housing will help alleviate price declines and foster a stable and increasing tax revenue base. In addition, all construction of 2 million or over in valuation should require bonding that would ensure the completion of the project. If the bubble does burst in the housing market, we do not want Poulsbo ripped up and lying in mud holes as developer after developer goes into bankruptcy. (July 2009: The housing bubble did burst and we are all suffering its consequences. I would suggest that all the Citizens of Poulsbo drive up Finn Hill and look at the Cook Subdivision.Finn HillTalk to Vern Helgeson, the neighbor to the Cook subdivision. How do we prevent this from happening in the future? Insist that all large subdivisions are phased during development. Legally we cannot prevent large tracks from being planned, but we certainly can change our policy to insist on phasing these developments during construction. We also must insist that our grading ordinance is enforced which calls for retaining top soil and vegetation during construction.) 8.) The City of Poulsbo is not within the current standards of the storm water management plans as required by the State of Washington Department of Ecology. While these current plans are somewhat controversial, the city should adopt these new standards to eliminate the development of the storm retention ponds which are an eyesore and dangerous. Plan comprehensive sewer and storm water systems as land is annexed into the city. Lower costs to our community by planning infrastructure design, and then, implement those plans. City Hall is littered with 3 rings binders of plans developed but never implemented. (July 2009: We still have not implemented the 2005 Storm water manual. The present schedule is to adopt these regulations in January of 2010. I am presently working with the development community to create a regional storm water facility on Noll Road.) 9.) Review the concurrency planning for our schools. As development occurs, are our schools capable of handling the influx of new residences? If they are not, the developers should be required to pay more in impact fees so that the school system can absorb our new residents. (July 2009: to my knowledge, this has not been done. I would encourage the North Kitsap School District and its Capital Facilities board to begin this work now.) The Noll Road Association believes in private property rights of all citizens.Peopleshould be free to develop their land. But such development should not come at the expense of their neighbors. Property development should not be a wealth transfer to those that develop their property from those that stay behind in the community. At the present, City Code encourages this wealth transfer. Eyesore developments become the norm to maximize revenues to the developer so that he can pay inflated prices to the land owner. This is a wealth transfer from the citizens of Poulsbo to the land owners that develop their land and leave our community. I don't want my neighbor's hand in my pocket, especially when he's leaving town. We bear the cost and they skip town.
(July 2009: Growth should pay for growth. This is a fundamental policy of the City of Poulsbo. Now that our impact fees are updated, this is becoming a reality. But to ensure that this situation never happens again, we need to review our annexation policies, include a CPI accelerator in all our fees for development, eliminate the hearing examiner process, and provide consistency in our policy application. The Citizens of Poulsbo and the development community should demand consistent application of all our codes and regulation. We all need to work together to grow Poulsbo while retaining its beauty, distinctiveness and heritage.)
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Becky Erickson Noll Road Association 17950 Noll Road Poulsbo, WA 98370
