Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I'm calling to order the August 17th, 2026 Bremerton Regular Planning Commission meeting. The first item on the agenda is a roll call to confirm we have a quorum.

Commissioner Peterson? Here. Commissioner Wofford?

Here.

Commissioner Kirksell?

Here.

Commissioner Browning? Here. Chair, we have a quorum. Commissioner Dorian is excused, as are Commissioners Miller and Powell, who have chosen to recuse themselves based off of potential conflict of interest.

Next up is approval of the agenda as presented.

Commissioner Sell moved to accept the agenda as presented.

Second.

Okay we have a motion by Commissioner Kirk Sell seconded by Commissioner Wofford to accept the agenda. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay motion passes.

All right, next up is approval of the July minutes. Do we have a motion to approve the minutes of the July 20th, 2026 meeting?

This commission will offer a vote to approve the meetings of July 26th.

I second to approve the minutes from July 26th.

Hey, we have a motion to approve the meeting minutes from July 20th, 2026 meeting. As presented, the motion was made by Commissioner Wofford and seconded by Commissioner Kirksell. All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes.

Okay, the public hearing tonight reviews a zoning code amendment application by the Bremerton Housing Authority. requesting to amend BMC twenty point four six point zero nine zero temporary encampment permits the Planning Commission will review the staff presentation and receive public testimony before providing a formal recommendation to the City Council on the pending zoning code amendment presenting is Garrett Jackson planning manager with the city of Bremerton

Okay, thank you Chair Peterson. I just wanted to start by saying we are here to work through a public hearing on a potential zoning code amendment proposed by the Bremerton Housing Authority. And I'd like to start by thanking the Planning Commission for being here today. Let members of the public know that the Planning Commission is composed of unpaid volunteers that are here to make recommendations to the City Council. Thank you to the Bremerton Housing Authority. I believe they are in attendance tonight. I see Executive Director Jill Stanton. And thank you to the members of the public for participating in this legislative process. There is a staff recommendation that the Planning Commission conduct a public hearing on the proposed zoning code amendment, consider public testimony, deliberate, and forward a recommendation to the City Council. Just a brief review to let the Planning Commission and those at home know the process that brought us here tonight. The initial planning commission workshop was scheduled for May 18th. This was canceled at the request of the Bremerton Housing Authority. The initial application requested that temporary encampments be allowed in any zone that allowed for hotels and that there be no cap on the number of temporary encampments allowed the city at one time. The Bremerton Housing Authority then revised their application and we had that submitted application on June 1st. And we held a public workshop on June 15th. That was primarily for taking in public comment on the new proposal. And that was followed by another public workshop on July 20th. After that workshop, Washington State Department of Commerce notice was initiated. And then that leads us here tonight to a public hearing on the BHA proposal. A city council study session is tentatively scheduled for August 26th, with a potential city council public hearing to be determined. So once again, just for the folks in the audience tonight, the planning commission provides a recommendation to the city council who then makes a final decision on the proposal. So the BHA proposed amendment is to temporary encampment permits, specifically the code section that calls out what zones are eligible for a three-year extended permit. So currently, the code language reads that the site must be located in the district center core, general commercial, freeway corridor, industrial zone, or Puget Sound Industrial Center. Now, the initial June BHA application asked that the parcel number for the 1231 Sheridan site be added to this list of eligible zones. Through the Planning Commission workshop process, that was refined to options one, two, and three. Option one being that the Sheridan site would be added, but only based off of a description of its frontage on Sheridan Road. Option two, that temporary three-year encampments would be permitted within the entirety of the multi-use zone of the Harrison Heights subarea plan. And option three, which is that there should be no code change, and this is the option that's recommended by staff. The temporary encampment permit code section that allows for three-year temporary encampment permits require that the shelters be made of temporary, excuse me, that temporary structures be made of rigid materials. So you can see here some examples from the city of Everett and the city of Olympia where there's these more what some might call wooden tents, that these are temporary structures that are made of rigid materials, and that there's an option for successive three-year terms. So after the initial three-year temporary encampment permit, it can be applied for for an additional three years successively. Structures do not meet the building code or local development standards. So the structures that you see here, they don't meet, as I said, the building code or other local development standards, whether that be the electrical code or other items. They are not considered tiny homes. So they may be referenced as tiny homes kind of loosely in language, but RCW 3521-686 defines what a tiny home is. Tiny homes meet the building code. These temporary structures do not. And these are not subject to state housing regulations such as HB 1220, HB 2266, and others. So at the July workshop, the planning commission directed staff to limit the scope of these presentations for the hearing to the criteria of approval for text amendments. We have a staff report that was published in advance of this hearing, and that includes attachments, including the Bremerton Housing Authority zoning code amendment submittal, existing temporary encampment permit code, public comments. So all of the public comments that we've received up to about 4 p.m., just before 4 p.m., are published, comments that were published provided after 4 p.m. have been printed out for the Planning Commission. They have hard copies in front of them now. And we also have letters from elected officials, the City Council and the Mayor clarifying remarks made by the Bremerton Housing Authority and draft findings and conclusions for the Planning Commission to consider. That being said, the criteria of approval Note that per BMC 2018 0 1 0 it may be necessary when changing circumstances or conditions require the updating to the zoning codes development regulations providing those changes remain consistent with the comprehensive plan and Now it is noteworthy that the comprehensive plan was adopted in June of 2025. So what circumstances may has changed since then are not clear. But the criteria of approval are two, one, Is it consistent with the goals and policies of comprehensive plan? And two, it does not conflict with other cities, state, federal codes, regulations, and ordinances. So if either of these criteria are not met, the amendment cannot be approved. This is an image that's shown in the published staff report. And for criteria one, staff reviewed the proposal for compliance with this criteria and found that it conflicts with numerous provisions of the comprehensive plan. Because the proposal is not consistent with the comprehensive plan, it does not meet this approval criteria. And for criteria two, staff has reviewed the proposal for compliance with this criteria and is not aware of any direct conflicts with applicable city, state, or federal codes, regulations, or ordinances, though it should be noted that the proposed placement of temporary structures within a countywide center may negatively affect the city's ability to achieve growth targets required under the Growth Management Act. So a little more information on is it consistent with the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan. For the Planning Commission and members of the public that were with us through the Comprehensive Plan update process, which was from 2022 through 2025, you may be familiar with this image here you see on the screen. And this is meant to be a visual cue to know what our local comprehensive plan needs to be in conformance with. And that includes other jurisdictional authorities like the Washington State with the Growth Management Act. The Department of Commerce publishes guidance documents on how to conform with GMA. The Puget Sound Regional Council, which is composed of King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, and PSRC publishes the Vision 2050, which includes multi-county planning policies, or MPPs, which all jurisdictions are required to coordinate with. The Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, which publishes countywide planning policies. KRCC is composed of all jurisdictions within Kitsap County. And then that leads down to the City of Bremerton Comprehensive Plan, which includes goals and policies. Now it should be noted that LU1B requires the city to coordinate Bremerton's growth consistent with the Kitsap County planning policies, the Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2050, and state requirements. So housing goals are for permanent structures and not temporary structures. So there are a number of housing goals made by the state and our regional planning bodies that includes 1.1 million new homes that are needed in Washington State by 2044, 830,000 new homes that are needed in the Puget Sound region by 2050, Nearly 33,000 new homes are needed in Kitsap by 2044. The city of Bremerton estimates that about 9,600 new homes will be needed in our city by 2044. And the Harrison Heights subarea plan estimates that approximately 1,700 new homes will be needed in the city by 2044. Now, it should be noted that none of these housing units included by any of these regional planning bodies includes temporary structures. These are all permanent structures. As you can see in the upper right-hand corner, there's an image provided from the Department of Commerce. And this shows different housing types based off of income segments, noting that 0% to 30% AMI as included in that 1.1 million new homes that are needed in the next 20 years. Now this is for items like step housing, which we've discussed at previous workshops. An example that we have here of a permanent structure that step housing is Pendleton Place. And an example of a temporary structure would be the previous image shown of temporary structures in the city of Olympia. So housing goals that are noted in our local comprehensive plan that call for increased housing, housing of people that may have specialty needs, whether that's the elderly, people experiencing homelessness, or other subsets of our population, or low-income housing, those all refer to permanent structures, not temporary structures. We do have guidance from the state of Washington on temporary structures. There's some state guidance and then how we regulate that as a city. Temporary structures are noted by the Department of Commerce as not satisfying housing goals. However, they do say that jurisdictions may allow temporary structures for emergency housing and are encouraged to do so. The city of Bremerton responds to this guidance with allowing temporary structures within the city limits. There is a 183 day temporary encampment permit that's currently allowed in all zones. And there's a three-year temporary encampment permit that currently allows for three-year extended permits in the zones we discussed previously. You can see the zones that currently allow for three-year temporary encampments on the map at the bottom of the page and excluding city resource lands for watershed and utilities. This area is approximately 42% of all parcel area within the city that's currently allowed for three-year permits. Now the proposal is inconsistent based off of the centers-based regional and local planning guidelines. So the city and our regional partners have adopted a centers-based approach where population increases are to be located in centers within the city and the region. The PSRC multi-county planning policies notes that they encourage growth in designated countywide centers. The KRCC countywide planning policies notes that centers are focal points of growth within Kitsap County. In decisions relating to population and employment growth and resource allocation supporting growth, centers have a high priority. Now the Harrison Heights subarea plan is a designated countywide center in our CPPs. The Bremerton Comprehensive Plan itself calls out to provide sufficient land for the city's projected population and housing targets, especially in the city centers and areas accessible to transit. We should note that approximately 70% of all future housing units needed by 2044 are planned within centers and Harrison Heights accounting for 17% of all those total housing units planned. The Harrison Heights sub area plan itself calls for the support and transformation of underutilized lands such as surplus public property, parking lots or environmentally contaminated lands to higher density mixed use development or amenities aligned with the vision of the sub area. The proposal is inconsistent with Bremerton's fair share of countywide need. The Bremerton Comprehensive Plan calls for the encouragement of rental and subsidized housing near public transit, employment opportunities and throughout the city in a manner that accommodates Bremerton's fair share of countywide need. As discussed at the previous planning commission workshops, the KRCCCCPs also call for Bremerton to provide substantially more housing for those experiencing homelessness, excuse me, notes that Bremerton provides substantially more housing for those experiencing homelessness per capita than other Kitsap jurisdictions. both before and after the 2020 KRCC snapshot. So in previous presentations, we provided a table that provides a snapshot in time from 2020 of populations throughout Kitsap County, and that demonstrates that the city of Bremerton far exceeds other Kitsap jurisdictions in providing homelessness per capita. And then finally, the Kitsap County Homeless Housing Plan for 2025 to 2030 notes that homeless crisis response providers identify several critical gaps that hinder progress, including geographic disparities with services concentrated in Bremerton. Now these are a few of the projects that have been constructed in the city of Bremerton since that 2020 snapshot. We've discussed these at previous workshops. And in summary, Once again, noting the criteria of approval for BMC 20.18. Is it consistent with the goals and policies of the comprehensive plan? Staff have demonstrated in this presentation and our published staff report that it is not. Is it consistent with other city, state, and federal regulations and ordinances? And staff have no direct conflicts with city, state, or federal codes, but we do know that this may compromise our ability to meet those GMA required growth targets. Lastly, staff recommends that the Planning Commission conduct a public hearing on the proposed zoning code amendment, consider public testimony, deliberate, and forward a recommendation to the City Council. Staff has a recommended motion as printed in the staff report. The move to recommend that the City Council not adopt the proposed amendments to the Bremerton Municipal Code 2046 based off the staff report and findings and conclusions presented in attachment E.

Thank you, Mr. Jackson. It's my understanding from the materials presented that the applicant does not wish to provide a statement at this time. I will now open this portion of the hearing to public testimony. We ask that you state your name for the record and please limit your comments to three minutes or less. A timer will be used. Please come up to the podium and wait to be recognized if you're on zoom Please raise your hand and wait to be recognized Please direct your comments to the Planning Commission. This is not a question and answer period Audience members, please be respectful of the person speaking People will disagree with each other tonight, but I'm gonna stop I had to stop the meeting last time when people were Talking over the person up at the podium, so I'll do that again if we're doing that Please everybody silence your phones we had some issue with that last time and All right, I'll open it up

My name is Bree Medley. I'm a resident of Bremerton. Good evening, commissioners. Thank you for your time in reviewing this request. Thank you to staff for all of your time in this request so far. I'm here to ask you to support the zoning code amendment before you. The staff report contends that allowing extended stay encampments in the multi-use portion of Harrison Heights subarea plan conflicts with the comprehensive plan because Harrison Heights is designated for a large portion of high density residential uses. I believe that takes a little closer look. Approximately 98% of Harrison Heights, 80 plus acres is zoned multi-use. That zoning is based on the district center core uses, which accommodates a broad range of commercial, office, residential, retail, light industrial, and manufacturing uses. While the comprehensive plan envisions dense housing for Harrison Heights, multi-use zones do not require housing on every parcel. Coincidentally, the DCC is a zone that currently allows the extended stay encampments and is just on the other side of Sheridan from Harrison Heights. Consider a five acre parcel. It could potentially accommodate a storage facility, car lot, data center, or other use providing no housing. and those uses are not inherently incompatible with a comprehensive plan, it is difficult to conclude that an extended stay encampment is fundamentally incompatible simply because it does not provide conventional housing. There's an important distinction I think we need to talk about regarding housing. While an encampment may not qualify as a housing for a particular regulatory or housing target calculation, however, the Washington State Department of Commerce recognizes tiny shelter encampments as non-standard step housing and encourages jurisdictions to allow these forms of shelter. Not counting towards a particular housing target is different than being inconsistent with the state's housing objectives when it comes to homelessness. The real question is, would allowing an extended stay encampment as one potential use on one parcel within Harrison Heights multi-use zones fundamentally conflict with the comprehensive plan? I don't believe it would. Encampments are temporary by definition. The permit is for three years, and with an extension, it is subject to applicable noticing and appeal requirements. The comprehensive plan is a 20-year planning horizon. Allowing a temporary use on one parcel does not prevent Harrison Heights from achieving its long-term development goals. Finally, the city has already made a policy decision on this issue. In 2024, both the city council and this planning commission voted to amend the zoning code to allow this type of shelter for a three-year period, recognizing extended stay encampments as an important tool for addressing the homelessness issue that we are dealing with. Given the range of permitted uses that this does provide much needed shelter and the limited impact of a single potential site, the overall development does not seem to be at risk. Thank you so much for your time.

Hi, I'm Jocelyn. I am a resident of Bremerton. I also do a weekly Bremerton prayer walk where a lot of individuals that would be recipients of this we serve. And so come here and let you guys know what exactly is happening. Because I think it's unfortunate sometimes that people in leadership positions are not being accurate when they're saying what is available for individuals who are trying to survive on the streets. There are no temporary encampments allowed in the city of Bremerton. We have this incredibly broad, overbearing anti-camping ordinance that was passed, which requires nobody to be able to have any kind of tents available, no type of camping equipment. They can't even have chairs on the street. In fact, it's being enforced at such a level that literally people are dying. We just buried somebody a couple weeks ago because they've been moved along and they can't rest. What happens if we don't do anything is people are dying. And I understand that there are issues. But we see hope. We see, even despite all of these incredible circumstances, that there is hope still for some people. And the city of Bremerton has something not only incredible and opportunity to do something pretty special here, but it's also what's required of us as a community. It's not to have a mob rule where people who have houses can determine what is done to people who don't have houses. A society and a community is only as good as how it protects its most vulnerable. And I'm telling you, Bremerton is not doing a great job about that. We have a lot of opportunity. The Star of Hope, all of the individuals, BHA, they're doing an incredible job. But what we need is we need a city council and we need a planning commission that doesn't step in the way of progress, that doesn't step in the way of compassion, that doesn't step in the way and stop what we're supposed to do as a community. We're supposed to lean into those. Hope means nothing if we don't have any of the resources to sustain it. And unfortunately, we don't have... anywhere near the resources to sustain it. And so we cannot pick and choose what we're able to do. We need to lean in and start providing resources because the end result is people are dying. The other thing that I just wanted to point out is this parcel of property is right by another organization that was supposed to be doing this type of work. The Rejuvenation Day Center is right across the street, so when that application was already processed, these types of events and these types of people that they were helping was already taken into consideration. There's absolutely no reason to prevent this. The criteria number one is not even present. And as criteria two was presented, there's nothing preventing that either. So thank you.

Jose Camacho, Friends of Smith's Cove, Rock the Block. I'm a ex-paralegal. We became Friends of Smith's Cove because we realized the city used calculated omission to deform the law and to rig public processes and projects, including for Wesley Larson. And what we hear from Garrett Jackson is deception because he's omitted, the actual law called Housing Cooperation Law. With a simple resolution, it could happen Wednesday, the council could simply make an exception. Every single point made in the Planning Commission can be addressed by resolution. This is the law. This destroys any possibility of a spot zoning argument, of a location or site-based argument. I looked through all the documents. This has never been mentioned by any of the planners for the city. This is how they rigged the Evergreen Point. This is calculation. Law is always taken in context. So if you look at the law, it will tell you that zoning, rezoning, replanning, exceptions to building regulations are all okay. This law acts as a supplement to any existing law. So why haven't we heard this? That's because someone doesn't want you to hear this. You guys are up here, at least half of you, I recognize you in good faith. So as a neutral commissioner with integrity, When you don't get this as part of your input, you are skewed. And the whole public is skewed when we don't get this information. This is how it happens. This is what happened to the Evergreen Point. This is a violation of the First Amendment because the public has a right to know material information. If we don't get full information, we're skewed, we're crippled from fully participating in democracy. This is what happens with the 2019-2021 S&P Periodic Review, in which they created Trojan horses, which were then used to rig the Evergreen Point. This is an incredibly cynical thing. I just discovered this Thursday or Friday, So law is not natural or intuitive, but it must be sought. We have professional attorneys with degrees, and it's their job to do this for us. Ordinary citizens, I'm a bum, I'm a hobo, right? Ordinary citizens should not have to become investigators to counteract the cynical manipulation of city planners and city attorneys working for developers. Thank you.

Good evening chair and members of the planning Commission. My name is Zachary Martin and I am a resident of Kitsap County. I've lived here since April of last year. I'm here tonight to ask you to recommend that City Council do everything possible to expedite the homeless shelter planned on Sheridan Road. This matters to me personally because I am also homeless. I know firsthand what it's like to not have a safe place to sleep at night. When you don't have that, everything else becomes so much harder. Your health, your safety, your ability to work, to think about tomorrow. This shelter will benefit our whole community, but I can tell you it will mean safety and dignity for people like me, your neighbors. It's not just a building, it's a chance to rest, to be safe, to get stable. Bremerton is in a crisis, and we need more options for housing and shelter, and we need them now. This shelter is compassion, it's community health, and it's how we become stronger together. Investing in this today builds a healthier, more hopeful tomorrow. I want to be part of a better Bremerton, and I hope this shelter can help me get there. Please, be part of the solution. Please move this project forward. Thank you.

Okay, good evening. I'm here tonight urging that you approve the shelter. The city of Bremerton has already said yes to this project, not once but twice. The city committed their funding, BHA has invested in this project, and people have spent years working on a solution to homelessness in this community. Now we're talking about throwing it all away, throwing all the people in desperate need of our support away. Washington law specifically recognizes housing authorities as public bodies created to address the shortage of safe, affordable housing. The Housing Cooperation Law gives cities such as Bremerton the authority to cooperate with housing authorities such as the BHA. and specifically allows them to pass a resolution accepting any issues of zoning, rezoning, building regulations, and or amending ordinances for housing projects. RCW 358360 says these powers can be exercised by a simple resolution of the governing body. It is that simple. The Washington Supreme Court addressed this very issue in Mercy versus City of Seattle. The court recognized that housing authorities and the municipalities working with them have special statutory powers for accomplishing this public purpose through one resolution under the housing cooperation law. So if there's a zoning problem, solve the zoning problem by a resolution exempting the zoning issue. If there's a regulatory problem, solve the regulatory problem the same way. If there's a contractual problem, deal with the contract and enter it in as a resolution. We cannot keep wasting time. There's already public funding committed to this project, and that funding has a deadline. If we keep delaying until the funding disappears, then what have we accomplished? I also want to address something else. We talk about homeless people as though we have to decide which homeless people are deserving. The elderly deserve housing. Children deserve housing. Disabled people and veterans deserve housing. But so do the people struggling with addiction. So do people struggling with mental illness. So do people who lose their jobs and fall on hard times and make terrible decisions. People who have not gotten their life back together yet still deserve housing. Everybody deserves housing. Everybody needs housing. Everybody deserves somewhere safe to sleep. And if we're going to talk about the homeless people as though they're the threat to our community and we're going to use them as the boogeyman, then isn't it actually more reasonable to public safety to have them inside of a shelter than outside with nowhere to go? A shelter gives people a place to sleep, a place to connect with services, a place to stabilize, and a place to begin moving forward. You don't solve homelessness by making homelessness harder to see. Pushing it out of your face doesn't make it go away. You solve it by giving people somewhere to go. The city already made a commitment to this project and the funding is there. The need is there. The legal tools exist to address the obstacles. So I'm asking you do not abandon this project. Don't delay and let it become the reason that this shelter never gets built. We're just asking that you pass a resolution to build this shelter.

Good evening. My name is Tim Bush. Thank you, Commission, for having this public hearing. I've lived here in Bremerton, just around the corner from this area, in Lebo, for over 30 years. My wife and I have raised four children, and three of our children and their spouses live within a half mile of where they were raised here, on Lebo. My concern is I now have five grandkids and counting within a half a mile or some within two blocks of this area. And I'm concerned for their safety from the perspective that most of the problem when we deal with homelessness involves drugs, mental illness. And I don't see anything in this plan to address the real underlying problems with homelessness. It's not shelter. It's mental illness and drugs. And I have a son-in-law that works at the shipyard, and he recounts to me the many needles, the stuff he has to step over walking to work every morning, the safety measures they had to put into effect to get into the shipyard safely. I think those are the real problems we need to address. I think there are options. Like was pointed out in the study per capita, Bremerton has More space is available for homeless than anywhere else in the county. I think there are options for people that want to change, that want to seek help and willing to submit to something other than their will to seek change. And another camp is not going to solve the problem. So thank you for your time. I appreciate hearing.

Hi, I'm Mike Simpson. I live in District 6. Vote no. That's pretty simple. Bremerton already does more than its fair share, way more than its fair share. And the thing that you're not being told about is if there's a shelter, where do the people go when they're not in the shelter during the day? They go out on the streets. They cause the problems that we keep talking about. They're addicted to drugs. They're suffering from mental illness. We're not addressing that. But we've done it with Pendleton Place. And every time that we put more dollars into homelessness, it seems to explode and get bigger. So what are we going to do with this problem? Are we going to keep funding it? Are we going to keep enabling bad behavior? Are we going to keep doing the things that we shouldn't be doing? Or are we going to take a stand and say, no, we're not going to change this ordinance? And that's what we should do. Now, additionally... Vice Chair, Commissioner Peterson, I believe that you need to recuse yourself from this discussion because you have already addressed your opinion in the last meeting. By doing so, you have changed the nature of what the conversation is. So I think you really need to readdress that. Now, back to the issue at hand. What are we going to do about this? Well, we have shelters that are available. We have things that are available for people who want the help. But they don't go and get the help because they want to stay addicted to drugs. They want to stay addicted to alcohol. They don't believe that their mental illness is affecting their behavior. But it is. Now, we can do the things that are more appropriate with this money, with the things that would be involved in doing this. We can lobby our state to change our intake laws for folks who have mental health issues, who have addiction issues. And we can get those so that we can intake those folks and involuntarily commit them so they don't come out and continue to commit crimes in our area. Or better yet, we have another solution. There's the ferry terminal over there. They can seek services back in Seattle where many of them are from. And that should sink in. We should not be doing this. We should not be doing more than we are absolutely necessary, and this is not necessary. Thank you.

Hello.

Pause the time. Just a second. There's a lot of people talking over the person at the podium. Please stop that. I'll stop the time next time. That's not fair to Mr. Simpson. Thank you.

Again, my name is Marvin Randall. I'm a Bremerton resident and I might be the closest person to this area that we're talking about. My dad bought the property across the street from the OV site in 1954 and I bought it from him. So I've got a good 70 years. I went to grade school at OV, and I'm concerned about it, but I think what we're talking about tonight is just don't change the code. That's what they want. They want it extended, a long-term thing. Sounds like they could have a short-term thing already and find out it fails like a lot of places that have done this. I request the Planning Commission to select option three, no code change. The Harrison Heights sub-area plan is part of Bremerton's strategy to meet Growth Management Act housing capacity requirements, a long-term encampment. It does not count toward a required housing capacity It reduces land needed for future residential units, and it undermines adopted density assumptions. Your responsibility is to determine whether this amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use law. It is not. Deny a code change. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Janice Allison, and I'm a Bremerton resident. I request the Planning Commission select option three, no code change. The Harrison Heights sub-area plan emphasizes redevelopment, mixed-use buildings, pedestrian-oriented streets, and long-term investment. A three-year encampment is a temporary non-investment use that contradicts the sub-area plan's designated land use form and redevelopment pattern. Your responsibility is to determine consistency with the adopted plans and land use law. The amendment is not consistent. Select option three.

Good evening, my name is Aaron Coons, Bremerton resident. I request the planning commission select option number three, no code change. The Harrison Heights sub-area plan assumes future sewer upgrades, stormwater improvements, transportation improvements, and private redevelopment investment. A multi-year encampment adjacent to residential and commercial redevelopment areas raises compatibility concerns and disrupts planned infrastructure phasing. Your responsibility is to determine consistency with adopted plans and land use law. The amendment is not consistent. Please select option three.

Evening. My name is Lacey Coons, Bremerton resident. I request the Planning Commission select option number three, no code change. Washington's Growth Management Act requires internal consistency across all plan elements. A zoning text amendment that contradicts an adopted sub-area plan violates this requirement and undermines the city's land use hierarchy. Your responsibility is to determine consistency with adopted plans and land use law. This amendment is not consistent. Select option three.

good afternoon my name is Jared so I'm a Bremerton resident I live about a half a mile from live about a half mile from where this facility her homes would be would be placed if downtown Bremerton is a vision of what is to come for our community is not something that, just speaking on behalf of my family, not as a medical expert, or not as a legal expert, or knowledgeable about the RCWs too well, is not good for my family. And that's why I'd ask you to Go with option number three and not to adopt the code changes Having children who are looking at going to their first public school experience here soon And having this facility placed directly across from two of our our schools There's there's simply not enough security For those schools to make my children safe so I don't think it's better for our community to have people suffering behind doors from drug abuse, behind doors versus on the street. is an issue that we are not addressing appropriately. And concealing it behind temporary structures that don't meet safety codes does not seem like a safe or humane thing to do for people. So I, again, request that you adopt option number three and not to change the zoning. Thank you very much.

Hello, everyone. Thank you for letting us speak tonight and share our concerns and comments here. You bet, Jess. Sorry about that. So my name is Lisa. I have been a lifelong resident of Bremerton and this community in general. I request that the Planning Commission select option three with no code change. The Harrison Heights subarea plan emphasizes neighborhood compatibility, safety, and long-term stability through permanent redevelopment. A semi-permanent encampment adjacent to future residential and commercial use does not meet the public welfare standard embedded in this plan. Your responsibility is to determine consistency with adopted plans and land use law. This amendment is not consistent with this. I respectfully request that you select option three. Thank you so much for your time.

Good evening. My name is Richard Peplinsky. I'm a Bremerton resident, and I request a planning commission to choose option number three and no change to the code. The Harrison Heights Suburbian Plan is part of Bremerton's strategy to meet Growth Management Act housing capacity requirements. Approving a multi-year encampment in a designated redevelopment district creates a precedent that weakens all adopted suburban plans. If contradictions are allowed here, they can be allowed anywhere, undermining Bremerton's long-term planning framework. The Planning Commission's job is to determine if this zoning amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use. This zoning amendment is not consistent. I urge you to select option three. Thank you.

I'm CL Miller, I live two and a half blocks from the proposed site, Bremerton resident, and there's been, excuse me, there's been a lot of talk about worries about crime, and I just wanted to mention that statistically, Crime drops significantly when you house people, including in camps like this, including in places close to here where studies have been done. And they've monitored between the beginning, prior to the camp, during, sometimes as much as 70% decrease in crime in neighborhoods. There were only two incidences out of about 12 where crime increased. And it couldn't be correlated to the actual encampment. It is worth looking into also cost. It's significantly cheaper to house people immediately, including for all the things that we want to do, like get people into recovery if they're addicted to substances and get people mental health help. It's extremely hard to do any of those things when you have nowhere to put your stuff, nowhere to put your meds. nowhere to survive another winter before you can finally get some help. Nobody has ever recovered from addiction after freezing to death in the winter. The needs are more immediate and less theoretical. And I think it's worth considering. Thank you.

Good evening. Thanks for having a meeting here. My name is Neil Foley. I am a Kitsap County resident since about 1961. I support the idea of this project, this place at Olympic View for unhoused people 100%. I think it's funny that we have all these plans, And not one of these plans has anything that's addressing this type of homelessness. We've got people dying on the streets out here. I know that personally. I lost another friend here last week. No place to live, no address, nowhere to do laundry, had a pet, some obvious mental issues. But we need to support this, I think. It's high time for us to support this and quit kicking this problem down the road. There's no better way to solve a problem than to boundary it. We can boundary these people. The people can find help. The people that provide help can actually find the people. I mean, it just makes sense to put our arms around this problem, boundary this problem, maintain the problem, sustain the problem, and grow with the problem, because it's not getting any smaller. This problem is not getting any smaller. And to me, it's an emergency. When I see somebody out on the street, in the rain, in a wheelchair, that's cruel and unusual punishment to me, and I see it almost every day here. And we have to do something about this problem. And I strongly support the idea of this shelter. And I went to school there. Couldn't think of a better way to use that property. So thank you.

Hello, my name is Tommy. I own the local special needs gathering in Bremerton called Tommy's Story Hour. And I'm here tonight due to support our advocates who are here tonight and help get some justice for the homeless. And a lot of you guys might not know, there are special needs down on MLK. One of them was talking earlier. His name is Zach. And there are some other special needs who are personal good friends of mine who come to my monthly gatherings. And after our events, we help them with hot meals to send them back. And one of the most hardest things is when you see one of your special needs friends and they come to you and say, hey, can you help us with shelter, housing? I'm like, we can't. All we can do is recommend places to talk to you guys or city council or Greg or... are state reps, so I'm very close with all the state reps in Kitsap County and Washington State. And it's truly sad, us as advocates like myself and others, all we can do is give them recommendations, but we can't truly help because we don't have the resources without the help of you guys. And it sounds like you guys got your hands tied behind your back because State City Council everything else, and it goes back and forth, but we truly, everyone here is amidst trial tonight. We really want justice for the homeless to get some form of housing, and then there's some who are trying to figure out themselves how can they, you know, but three years ago, my brother passed away in Seattle. He was homeless, and With helping the homeless has been a passion of mine prior to my brother passing away. When I was a young kid, I used to help feed the homeless down on MLK, and I used to help hand out blankets and Bibles when I was a youngster, and I just truly wish we can get some form of help for them. They're very deserving, and some of them, are the disabled who are truly in need of help and the recovery community needs help too. A lot of them have addiction problems, but we could help them if we put our minds to it. God bless you guys.

Good evening. My name's Marie Weichmann, and I'm a resident of Bremerton. Thank you all tonight for being here and making time for us. I request the Planning Commission select option number three, no code change. You have heard claims that Bremerton will lose $1.1 million in ARPA funds if the amendment is not approved. But that is incorrect. Mayor Wheeler's July 10, 2026 letter confirms that U.S. Treasury guidance allows the city to redirect ARPA funds to other uses regardless of this application. Funding decisions rest with City Council, not the Planning Commission. Your responsibility is to determine consistency with adopted plans and land use laws. This amendment is not consistent. Select option number three with respect.

Hi, I'm Paula and I live down by Lyons Park. I request that the Planning Commission select option three for these reasons. The Harrison Heights subarea plan is part of the Brummerton strategy to meet Growth Management Act housing capacity requirements, and I'm gonna address the three points. First, spot, excuse me. First, spot zoning. A site-specific amendment benefiting one property owner at the expense of an adopted neighborhood-wide plan raises spot zoning concerns. Spot zoning is inconsistent with Washington land use law and undermines fair uniform application of zoning standards. Number two. SEPA, S-E-P-A, cumulative impacts. The subarea plan's environmental review did not evaluate the cumulative impacts of a multi-year encampment use. Introducing a long-term encampment adds environmental safety infrastructure impacts not analyzed under the SEP, creating inconsistency with the adopted environmental framework. Third, transportation concurrency. The plan's transportation modeling and concurrency assumptions are based on future development, not a multi-year encampment. A long-term encampment disrupts transportation concurrency assumptions and is inconsistent with the adopted transportation element. The Planning Commission's job is to determine if this zoning amendment is consistent with adopted plans and the land use law. This zoning amendment is not consistent. I urge you to select option three.

Good evening. My name is Jordan Almodovar, Bremerton resident. I request the Planning Commission select option number three, no code change. The Harrison Heights subarea plan is part of Bremerton's strategy to meet Growth Management Act housing capacity requirements. The plan's economic vitality goals rely on mixed-use redevelopment, pedestrian-oriented streets, and long-term private investment. A multi-year encampment undermines investment signals and conflicts with the economic development objectives embedded in the plan. The Planning Commission's job is to determine if this zoning amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use laws. This zoning amendment is not consistent. Select option number three. Thank you.

Good evening, my name is Sally Haas, and I'm a Bremerton resident. Thank you each for volunteering your time to our city. I request the Planning Commission select option number three, no code change. The Harrison Heights subarea plan is part of Bremerton's strategy to meet Growth Management Act housing capacity requirements. I'm going to address two points. First, land use hierarchy. Washington's land use system requires consistency between the comprehensive plan, subarea plans, and zoning. A zoning text amendment that contradicts an adopted subarea plan breaks this land use hierarchy and violates the consistency requirement. My second point has to do with the sub area plan integrity, allowing a zoning amendment that contradicts an adopted semi area plan erodes the sub area plan integrity. If adopted, Plans can be overridden for convenience. The reliability of all future planning efforts is thereby compromised. The Planning Commission's job, your job, is to determine if this zoning amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use. and land use law, this zoning amendment is not consistent. Select option three. Thank you.

Hello, thank you to the Planning Commission for conducting this public hearing, for allowing us to talk. My name is Joan Dingfield. I'm a 30-plus year resident of Bremerton, and I've been listening to a lot of the discussion this spring and summer regarding Bremerton Housing Authority's desire to develop temporary emergency shelter. Remember, that is what this discussion started out, temporary emergency shelter. But I call the chicken and egg discussion about what came first. There's a concentration of homeless people in the city of Bremerton, and there are some 80 service providers for homeless people in Bremerton. We've, you've seen a lot of the list. You've seen it again, you know, today, people like Pendleton Place, Wheaton Landing, KCR's Manette Housing, the Salvation Army Temporary Shelter. These projects all provide services to residents from wherever. They are not all from Bremerton. They are from a county-wide perspective. We've been through quite a dance this spring and summer regarding the Bremerton Housing Authority's continually evolving plan to develop the property on Sheridan. BHA is one of two high functioning service providers in Bremerton. The other is the Catholic Church. They have both been aggressively acquiring properties, some of which were already tax exempt, but many were not. They are both good providers of services to needy people, but are doing so at the expense of Bremerton property tax paying people and businesses who are now suffering from an increasingly crushing burden of disproportionate tax exemptions for a few. That discussion is going to be ongoing. But today's application for a zoning amendment for BHA is to accommodate only one thing, the ability to construct 30 stick-built, we'll call them, housing structures on the five acres. It's clear that they're going to be doing more with this property, and I support the idea of them developing affordable housing on this site, and I'd love to see them continue all the way down to the gaping hole that used to be Harrison Hospital. In the discussion this summer about temporary emergency shelter, it's been portrayed as a city of Bremerton issue. There's never been any discussion of who would pay for this kind of shelter. And as I mentioned, this is a countywide problem that needs to have a countywide solution. Thank you.

Oh.

Hello. My name is Helen Havens, and I'm a West Bremerton resident. I've spoken several times before you. And I'm not going to say the same things that I said before, although I've worked with low-income various kinds of social services for a very long time. And now in my retirement, I'm living in a neighborhood that has a great many unhoused people on the streets. If I walk three blocks to Safeway, I'm encountering several people whom I know already. I would have much preferred that we were all able and ready to hear each other as neighbors here in a better way. I wish that we'd had a much more robust and long process of community involvement about housing. I would have much preferred that this particular neighborhood had been able to meet with the proponents early on, as they wish. I would have much preferred that we were already familiar with each other and with our homeless neighbors. I would have much preferred that we all realize that many people who are homeless simply can't afford standard housing and they have not been able to get into housing and they are not mentally ill or chemically dependent or they began having problems after they became traumatized and unstable on the streets. I also would have much preferred that your staff were offering more possibilities, various possibilities, and not persuasion. I would have much preferred that we would never consider jail as a solution for innocent people in need. I would have much preferred that people would realize that sheltering our own is attractive to prospective neighbors. More than anything, I would have much preferred that we were all housed, fed, and safe because everyone deserves housing. I do believe that as the Planning Commission, and I've been a volunteer on committees for a long time, I always think that our main responsibility is to plan for a healthy and functional community in whatever capacity we are serving. This proposal is a simple way to help the people who are without shelter in our city. If you've ever been without shelter, you would not prefer it. It doesn't matter if it's not our fair share. The problem is getting larger, as somebody said, and it's ours. We have more than our fair share of need, and so we have to have more of our fair share of solutions, and this will save 30 people. This winter, how is a shelter with safeguards built in not compatible with a neighborhood when homeless people are already on my block? Please approve this step toward making us a better place. And I have six grandchildren, and three of them go to school at Mountain View. And I am confident that this will be safe.

Chair and commissioners, my name is Diane Manning. I'm a Bremerton lifer. I request the Planning Commission select option three, no code change. You've heard speakers address 13 distinct reasons why this zoning amendment is not consistent with Bremerton's adopted plans, the Growth Management Act, or the Harrison Heights sub-area plan. I will address two last points. Throughout this process, you've heard emotional testimony about empathy for people living unsheltered, Empathy is important, but your decision cannot be based on that. Your role is to determine whether this amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use law. Also, selecting option three does not harm the applicant. As owners of 1231 Sheridan Road, they can build deeply affordable housing consistent with the Harrison Heights subarea plan. And we have families and seniors desperately in need of that kind of housing. Collectively, these points demonstrate that the amendment would reduce required housing capacity, contradict the designated built form and redevelopment pattern, conflict with infrastructure phasing and transportation concurrency, violate internal consistency requirements under the GMA, raise compatibility and public welfare concerns, introduce unreviewed SEPA cumulative impacts, create precedent and spot zoning risks, and undermine economic vitality and long-term investment. You also heard clarification that ARPA funding is not at risk, and as I just said, that the applicant is not harmed by denial. Your role is not to weigh empathy, funding, or political pressure, nor is it to help the applicant figure out how to make this happen. Your role is to determine whether this requested amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use law. It is not. I respectfully request that you select option three, no code change. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Dan Heron. I live here in Bremerton. I'm here today to voice my strong support for the Bremerton Housing Authority's requested zoning code amendment. To manage regional growth, local commerce, and neighborhood safety effectively, our municipal zoning framework must remain flexible enough to adapt to real world needs. This can help ensure that the city can partner responsibly with housing providers to implement highly organized accountable developments. This collaborative approach allows Bremerton to aggressively address our community needs while fully preserving the character and long-term values of the surrounding neighborhood. Approving this zoning adjustment is the most practical, logical decision for Bremerton for three reasons. First, it brings stability to the Sheridan corridor. Leaving our unhoused neighbors to navigate the streets without dedicated sanitation or case management creates genuine friction for local businesses and residential areas. Permitting a well-regulated, professionally managed tiny home community provides a structured environment that actively reduces street-level homelessness while protecting neighborhood safety. Second, it protects critical public funding. The funding earmark for this transitional housing model has strict expiration dates. If we allow co-technicalities to stall this project, Bremerton risks forfeiting more than a million dollars in resources that would otherwise fund wraparound services and local management. Finally, It leverages existing infrastructure. The Sheridan Road site sits directly near existing transit lines and utilities. Using this specific location allows the city to address emergency housing needs without expanding costly new infrastructure or creating urban sprawl elsewhere. This amendment is a common sense fix that gives housing leaders the flexibility they need to establish a safe, orderly, and effective transitional pipeline. I respectfully urge the Planning Commission to recommend approval. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Debbie Smith, and I'm a resident of Bremerton. I'm going to reiterate what's been said several times tonight. I request that you select option three, no code change. You've heard a lot of emotional testimony about having empathy for people that are unsheltered. Empathy is important, but your decision cannot be based on emotion. Your role is to determine whether this amendment is consistent with adopted plans and land use law, and it is not. Please select option three, and also thank you for your time. Thank you.

My name is Mary Lou Long. I've been a resident of Bremerton for over 55 years. I have seen the homeless situation grow and grow and grow because of drug and other issues, mental illnesses and broken families. And I have empathy for the people that are ill. but if you have a law and you have a plan you should follow that if you don't what do we end up with piecemeal changes all over the place and why is bremerton being responsible for a major change like this the county has a lot of people and the other thing is if you build it they will come how do you know that this particular project if okayed, won't multiply two, three, or four times in the next three or four years. And what are we going to do then? This is not a solution to change the code. I say stick with no change. And I guess that's the best I can do. You've heard everything else, and I say ditto to all of the wonderful remarks and comments to not change the code. Option three is the way to go. Thank you.

Roy Renyon, Bremerton resident. Well, you've heard some real passionate arguments for changing the zoning code. You've heard folks very rationally explain why the proposal is not consistent with a comprehensive plan. So I'm not going to repeat any of that. They've done that. I attended the July 20th meeting of the Planning Commission. and after the public comment, and then I was kind of out of the room and kind of in, and so I didn't hear the full deliberation that the planning commissioners undertook, so I reviewed the video on BCAT of the planning commission meeting of July 20th. As a result of that, on August 7th, I sent an email to the city, to DCD and the planning commission. I'm gonna read that to you. This is addressed to Vice Chairman Peterson and members of the Planning Commission. I am writing to formally request that Planning Commissioner Peterson recuse himself from all discussion and voting regarding the proposed zoning code amendment application by Bremerton Housing Authority. This request is based on the appearance of fairness doctrine and is necessary to protect the integrity of the public process. Commissioner Peterson demonstrated his clear predetermined position regarding the specific issue to based on his statements made during the July 20th, 26th meeting of the Planning Commission. On the BCAT recording of the meeting, Commissioner Peterson made the following statements, and this is at time 2-52-40. Commissioner Peterson stated, quote, it seems we should be looking for compromises that move us forward. Time 2-58-58, Commissioner Peterson stated, I like option two. Commissioner Peterson is a predetermined position regarding this specific project due to the aforementioned public statements in support of the applicant's, quote, acceptable options or option. Permitting a commissioner with a known conflict of interest to participate in the deliberations or vote on this matter compromises the fairness and legality of the planning commission's proceedings. To avoid any perception of impropriety or a potential legal challenge to the rezone decision, I request that Commissioner Peterson refrain from making public comments for or against the application and abstain from voting during the upcoming Planning Commission public hearing, which is where we are today. I have attached some information regarding RCW 42.36, which is appearance of fairness doctrine, and also some information from the MRSC, Municipal Research Service Council, that discusses appearance of fairness doctrine. And they clearly indicate that planning commissioners are subject to the appearance of fairness doctrine. This is a public hearing. That is a certain instance where you are definitely accountable. Thank you.

Hi there, thank you for having the hearing. It's appreciated. I'm Christie Schultz. I live out in the UGA, out to the east of town. I'm not without compassion either for the homeless population here. They are a challenged population. We need to cure that. The Sheridan hybrid shelter has been proposed. I know that it takes into account certain things that are lacking in our city, such as a day room. There's a lot of people that are turfed out of their shelters during the day. Presumably, they're supposed to be looking for work, but they need a place to go and hang out, so we need a day room. And also, apparently, from the emotional Testimony I heard today, we need a central intake that's a little more effective than what we have now. That's not your concern. You're the planners. So I'm going to go back to that. I've always wondered in this town why we didn't just take an empty box store somewhere and turn it into a dormitory for the homeless and sort them out from there. It seemed reasonable. It would be cheap. But it turns out that shelters, there are shelters out there, they won't accept certain people. People with serious behavioral issues, such as alcoholism, drug use, and they also won't accept people that have dogs. There's a lot of homeless in this town that have dogs. I don't know why. They're having trouble taking care of their own lives. I don't know why they think they're responsible for a pet. Anyway, that's the way it is. My mind keeps going around and around about this mini pod thing. They look very flimsy. I've seen videos of them over in Seattle. They look pretty nasty. They get run down after a while. That's what we're doing. We're getting these mini pods because we have people in the population that can't get along with others, or they have dogs that bite or something like that. So what we're essentially doing is setting up the opportunity for drug people to come in there and to bring their dogs along. It's going to be a dog park. There's going to be barking. I don't see any propositions in the hybrid shelter plan for a poo patrol. You know what I'm saying? It's going to get kind of nasty there. So I think that I have no problem with this hybrid shelter. I think it's a nice idea. But it's the wrong place for it. This is a zoning situation. We have schools right across the street from Sheridan. It's zoned for schools. It's not zoned for homeless shelters. So I would urge option three. I think that's important. And if anybody else is listening, yeah, we need a good central intake and we need a good day room for our homeless population. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Gary Welch. I'm not making a recommendation, just going to offer evidence and a fact. So statements have been made about this shelter helping prevent deaths among the homeless community. Here are the facts. 45%, the leading cause of death among the homeless is drug overdoses, followed by heart and cardiovascular disease due to long-term abuse, accidents, trauma, alcohol-related conditions, suicide, homicide, and cancer. What's not listed? Malnourishment and exposure to the elements. It's less than 1%. This facility does not address that issue. So it will not affect deaths among them. You will still have the same amount. Other comments not made necessarily here, but Councilmember Chamberlain of the Bremerton City Council indicated that it should be addressing the elderly, the homeless elderly, because 8% of the homeless are elderly. That is correct. But I ask you just basically to the math, what does that mean? It means 92% are not elderly. The most likely person to use the facility is going to be what's predominantly among the homeless community, single males between the ages of 20 and 50 who have alcohol, drug addictions, or a mental illness. That is what's going to be in this facility. They bring up about displaced families, about sheltering displaced families. Again, we go to the numbers. Less than 4% of the homeless in this community is made up of families. And both the county and the city have really addressed this issue for temporary displacement and the care of women and children, of providing more permanent type of shelters and more long-term care for them to get them back into society. These have already been addressed. The most likely scenario is if there is a woman or children within this facility, they stand a higher chance of being raped, assaulted, or robbed, or any other type of crime committed against them. Both the Bremerton Police Department and the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office have publicly stated and have it on record that crime rises where homeless communicate and congregate. It's not safer. There is going to be a higher crime rate where they are at. And then finally, that we're talking about caring for them and taking care of the homeless. What the studies show is that this type of facility, less than 30% exit the facility and get back into a normal life. They are most likely going to continue doing what they're doing. The permanent resident solution that is being currently used by Kitsap County and the city of Bremerton has a 50%. It's still bad, but it has a better odds of bringing them back in society. All you are doing is just creating a way for them to congregate together.

Is there anybody on Zoom with their hands up? We can go back to you, sir.

We currently have one person with their hand up. Jessica D., I'm going to allow you to speak. Can you hear me?

I hit unmute. Yes, we can. Okay. My name is actually Jessica Brandon. I know it says Jessica D. on my Zoom, but my name is Jessica Brandon. And my comment is that the staff report and the oddly aligned comments are all full of red herrings today and last meeting. What is a rigid wood tent? We're talking about dog poop, pretending that this plan is tents with no services. Still, we're talking about this seriously. Why the focus on counting this as housing when the multi-use zone currently allows development that may never be counted as housing at all on this plot right now? as others have said over and over and over during these meetings. Would you block a light industrial building on this plot? Because that's allowed. Doesn't count as housing. According to what Garrett sent me when I asked, you know what's not allowed? Single family homes. Would you approve a code change for a few single family homes? Would people here support that? because no one's scared of people who can afford houses or because those people deserve what people keep describing as the Harrison Heights plan. They deserve that because they can afford a house. but not the unhoused. Let them die. Let's pass anti-capping. Let's sweep. That'll solve it. Regarding criteria one, no, the staff did not prove that this didn't meet criteria one. They fall extremely short of doing that. As others have said repeatedly, last meeting, this meeting, through emails, through laws that have been provided, this does 100% meet criteria one. Just in a logistical, not logistical, just in a logical view, we're in Washington state. Please tell me what development plan or conversation doesn't encourage helping the unhoused providing housing and services as this plan does like really what does that this has already been addressed last meeting and pointed out at the existing harrison heights plan jeff coughlin last meeting literally read line for line how the harrison heights already encourages us to do this it's just been pointed out over and over right across the street this could be built right now Is our city really going to stand in the way of nonprofits, not the city of Bremerton, doing this work because people arguing that this are completely misinformed. They have no idea what this plan is. They are scared. And to be frank, many of them are older and have a misconception about what homelessness looks like in 2026 or what shelters look like in 2026. has multiple comments that I have provided. They have no idea about the actual plan and they're scared and they're misinformed. But regardless, that's irrelevant. Again, emotional, as people have pointed out, which is gross, by the way, to ask people in government not to consider empathy. This does meet criteria one or two. This is really a question of we are going to do what's right or what's easy. Some of these comments are shameful. Some are actually insane. Like some of them are actually insane. Asking you to ignore empathy, again, just abhorrent, especially. No wonder our world is like this. No wonder we have unhoused. How long are we going to listen to the same misinformed comments over and over, the bullet point comments they keep saying?

Is there anybody else online?

No one with their hands raised. Oh wait, one person just came through. Rebecca H. Rebecca, you can speak now.

Sorry, I did not mean to raise my hand. Thank you.

There's no one else.

Hello, my name.

Hello. Can you hear me? OK, my name is Taylor Peel. I'm a Bremerton resident. I don't know my district, but I grew up here. I grew up homeless. I really know what it's like. Yeah, and I have a house now. I was very fortunate. I'm very lucky in my life. So I've repeatedly voted on tax increases to make sure that no ladder is yanked up by me. So I honestly am not clued in enough on this resolution to say which way to vote as far as we just need to provide more housing to homeless people. Stripping away anything that they have, it doesn't help anyone. People say homeless people are violent, but you don't really get what it's like when you haven't had a good night's sleep, when you haven't been able to eat in days, and someone else comes and tears down the only little thing you've been able to build yourself to call a home. And also, most homeless people are family. I just want to put that out there. It's a lot of found family. And you really just don't get what it's like. So I don't know. Give them their housing.

Is there anyone else for public comment? Okay, I now close public testimony. and I'll open the floor for planning commissioners to deliberate on the proposed zoning code amendments, including any clarifying questions on the material from city staff or the applicant.

Mr. Garrett, we're here for a zoning change. Did the Housing Authority approached the Department of Community Development prior to purchasing that property, talking about the zoning, et cetera.

Yes, in August of 2024, the city DCD staff provided in writing to the applicant that the site was not zoned for temporary encampments, but we did reiterate at that time that an indoor emergency shelter permanent housing would be an allowed use.

Thank you.

And I'm sorry, that was prior to the purchase of the property in November of 2025.

regardless of how we vote here and recommend the city council will most likely also consider this and i think it might help it would help my understanding of this issue and it might move us forward as a community uh I was wondering, I would like to know more about Brevard and Housing Authority's criteria for, so back in 2024, we voted on zoning change to allow these pallet shelters across like 40 percent of the city and the applicant has said that that none of that area there was no sites in that area that met their criteria for for what they were trying to do I think it would help my understanding to know a little bit about what those criteria were. Maybe some kind of a case study or two about sites that were considered that didn't work to help us understand why we're being asked why we've ended up at this Sheridan site. I know it's very late in this process, so whether you respond right now or not, that's fine. I'm just wondering that aloud, perhaps. Does BHA want to say anything? I just wanted to say I did supply a packet to you all that had a presentation and that criteria was listed in that presentation. Anybody else with anything? Motion motion.

Mr. Chairman, I'm moved to recommend that the City Council not adapt the proposed amendments to the Bremerton Miss Municipal Code chapter 20.46 based on the staff report in the findings and conclusions presented in Appendix E.

SECOND.

ALL IN FAVOR?

AYE.

WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR FROM COMMISSIONER WAFFORD. THAT'S SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER to recommend that the City Council not adopt the proposed amendment to the Bremerton Municipal Code Chapter 20.46 based on the staff report and the findings and conclusions presented in Attachment E. Commissioner Peterson? Yes. Commissioner Wofford?

Yes.

Commissioner Kirksell?

Yes.

Commissioner Browning? Nay. The motion passes three to one.

Excuse me.

Excuse me. Can everybody please sit down? Please sit down. Okay, excuse me. The public portion of this meeting is now closed. Let's move on to our business meeting. Do we have a chair report? Chair report? No? Oh, yeah, thank you. I'm the vice chair. I don't have a report tonight. Do any other commissioners have a report?

No report.

DIRECTOR? NO REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR. OLD BUSINESS?

ANY NEW BUSINESS? NEW BUSINESS IS THAT FOR THE NEXT PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING WE'RE EXPECTING A PUBLIC HEARING ON HOME-BASED BUSINESSES, A WORKSHOP ON COMPREHENSIVE PLANNED AMENDMENTS AND A WORKSHOP ON FAMILY BURIAL GROUNDS.

okay the next regular meeting of the planning commission will be held on september 21st 2026. uh thank you this meeting is adjourned