City staff: Delay plan to rezone golf park for housing

Controversial proposal was part of process to update Comprehensive Plan

By Mallory Kruml
Posted 1/15/25

 

 

City staff are recommending that the council not change the zoning of the Camas Prairie Golf Park for at least one year.  

Planning staff recommendations regarding …

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City staff: Delay plan to rezone golf park for housing

Controversial proposal was part of process to update Comprehensive Plan

Posted

 

 

City staff are recommending that the council not change the zoning of the Camas Prairie Golf Park for at least one year.  

Planning staff recommendations regarding amendments to the Comprehensive Plan have become more defined, with timelines established for each proposed change in the amendment docket. 

The reason given for the recommendation is that city staff have limited information and capacity to effectively pursue the rezoning this year. 

Any ultimate action is up to the Port Townsend City Council.   

The proposal to rezone part of the Camas Prairie Golf Park for residential housing has sparked considerable debate within the community, generating lively public comments as well as columns and letters to the editor and sometimes spicy commentary in online discussions.

Proponents argue that additional housing is necessary, while critics believe the city should prioritize open spaces rather than building new homes.

City staff have stayed out of the fray, but its handiwork can be seen on the docket where the rezoning was referenced differently. 

“I think it’s fair to say we’re recommending that they postpone it,” said Emma Bolin, the city’s planning director. “What we are saying is that there are minimal resources to do it concurrent with the Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update and that we have a lot of work to do this year to inform that process.”

She added that it is “certainly the city council’s decision if they would like to put this on the periodic update.” 

At least during this “amendment cycle,” the planning staff recommends that the city focus on revisions mandated by the Growth Management Act and work on adopting an Active Transportation Plan, updating the Critical Areas Ordinance and the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan.

“I feel that we have a lot of work to do to build a solid framework. I feel like the golf course, we don’t have all the information that we need to make a decision,” said Planning Commissioner Viki Sonntag during the Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 0. “I think we need to look, and we need to have all the information we can, including a proposed plan, at least a conceptual plan for what the development will look like.” 

In the original docket, presented during a joint meeting of the city council and planning commission on Dec. 9, the rezoning was listed as the last of eight items under the banner “Phase II (2025-2026) proposed case files.”

However, in the updated docket, presented at the planning commissions meeting on Jan. 9, the rezoning still appeared last but was grouped under a new banner that reads “Future Dockets Suggested Ideas (2026-2027) proposed case files.”

Both versions of the docket allow the city to either move forward with the rezoning in 2025 or defer it to a future amendment cycle, with potential minor adjustments, such as swapping the land use map for a zoning map. 

Bolin said the reorganization was the result of a “forgotten omission” from the December docket. She emphasized it wasn’t a “concrete change” but rather a delineation between what staff have the capacity and resources for during the Comprehensive Plan update compared to a later amendment cycle.

“What we are saying is that there are minimal resources to do it with the Comprehensive Plan,” she explained. “We want to make sure that we have all the analysis so that we can make a recommendation for what the land use and the zoning would be.”

“Staff are simply trying to present non-exhaustive options in light of limited capacity and time for planning commission and city council consideration,” Bolin wrote in an email. 

The planning commission will host a public hearing on the docket during their Jan. 23 meeting at 6:30 p.m., later recommending which amendments the city council should pursue and postpone in this amendment cycle. 

The city council will meet to adopt the Comprehensive Plan and the final amendment docket in December.