City of Port Townsend, Port, PUD to host Sims Gateway and Boat Yard Expansion project open house Saturday

Posted

The city of Port Townsend, Port of Port Townsend, and Jefferson County Public Utility District No. 1 will hold an open house for the Sims Gateway and Boat Yard Expansion project at the Port Townsend Community Center on Tyler Street on Saturday.

The Sims Gateway and Boat Yard Expansion project is a multi-municipality project that includes expanding the Port’s Boat Haven Marina to add space for more vessels, but also involves a controversial decision that may see  the removal of the Lombardy Poplar trees that line both sides of Sims Way.

At the open house, officials with the port, PUD, and city will discuss the ongoing efforts with the project.

Members of the public are encouraged to drop in between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6 to view results from work performed over the last four months and speak with members of the project’s Citizen Stakeholder Committee, design consultants, and representatives from the three sponsoring agencies. The open house will be held alongside the Port Townsend Farmers Market.

The information presented will include a range of alternatives considered and the preferred design concepts developed during the stakeholder committee process.

The design concept will illustrate tree removal locations and replanting concepts, pedestrian walkway development, edge and buffer development and maintenance, fencing, and setbacks.

Information at the open house will depict the project from multiple angles and will be printed in large format for ease of viewing.

Design concepts for alternatives not preferred by the Citizen Stakeholder Committee — including not expanding the boatyard, not under-grounding of the power lines, or partial expansion with under-grounding — will also be on display.

To facilitate the maximum participation, there will not be a formal presentation of the project or process, but representatives will be on-hand throughout the open house to answer questions and engage in discussion. Comment boards will also be available for members of the public to provide feedback on the project.

The nine-member Citizen Stakeholder Committee was created to provide a formal review of the project and give in-depth feedback on project design and development. The committee has met with agency representatives and project consultants bi-monthly since April.

The committee and project team will incorporate feedback from the open house into their final recommendation to the city Parks Board on Aug. 23. The Port Townsend City Council, the Port of Port Townsend Commission, and the PUD Board of Commissioners will review the recommendations at a joint special meeting in September to make a final decision on the design concept.

For more information about the process or the open house, visit the the city’s project webpage at cityofpt.us/engagept/page/sims-gateway-and-boatyard-expansion-project.