POULSBO — One group of Old Town neighbors didn’t get everything they wanted this week but they did essentially stall what they felt would be a “monster house” from being built in their neighborhood.
Or any other Old Town neighborhood for that matter.
At its Aug. 6 meeting, the Poulsbo City Council unanimously voted to place a six-month moratorium on any new building in the Old Town Study area. The ban is effective immediately and a public hearing has been set for Sept. 3 for citizen comment.
The idea of the moratorium stemmed from the Terhune Short Plat Conditional Use Permit application that was first before the council July 17 and was approved Aug. 6. Terhune Custom Homes proposed building two new homes on two adjacent parcels of land on the 700 block of Haugen Street, off 8th Avenue. The parcels are a total of 14,850 square feet, on which a 2,996-square-foot building and a 1,692-square-foot building are proposed in addition to one existing home.
The proposal, the applicant contends, would take advantage of the residential infill incentive, which allows underdeveloped parcels to add density.
A handful of neighbors spoke out against the proposed development on July 17, citing concerns over loss of views and the concern that the added house would be a monster house that would have adverse impacts on the neighborhood.
On Wednesday, those neighbors were joined by a packed house of Old Town neighbors.
Haugen resident David Blaskowski said an informal meeting of neighbors Aug. 5 netted 35 participants.
“We would like to see builders, developers and contractors required to work in a manner that requires them to respect the building preferences of a general area,” Blaskowski said of the group’s general consensus.
“The main concern was to maintain the integrity and charm of this old neighborhood,” added neighbor Tom Nordly.
In a four to two decision Wednesday night, the council approved the proposal to allow the subdivision. Council members said they felt since the Terhune application was not a building application, that the belief it was a monster house in the making was purely conjecture.
“I don’t think at this point we have a lot of options but I think we need to move forward with the Terhune short plat and hope that as a builder in this community, the concerns of the citizens would be taken into consideration.” Councilwoman Kathryn Quade commented.
The majority of community members in attendance also advocated for the council to place enact a building moratorium until the Old Town Study can be completed.
“Unless you enact a building moratorium, you’ll find it’s too late to lock the barn door — the horse is already gone,” Muriel Williams.
The $20,000 Old Town Study will look at the area east of downtown south of Iverson Road to the southern city limits and west of State Route 305 to Fjord Drive — a total of approximately 140-acres.
Interim Planning Director Barry Berezowksy told council members that architect Mark Hinshaw has begun his work on the study. Hinshaw and his staff from Seattle’s LMN architects have done preliminary reconnaissance work gathering information about the neighborhood and hope to have the first public meeting with neighbors in mid to late September.
Council members supported the suggestion of a moratorium, saying they preferred to keep themselves out of the monster house fight until they have a better public mandate.
“We don’t know what the Old Town Study is going to say,” Councilman Dale Rudolph said. “We certainly know what these people think but I think we all owe it to each other to find out what we all think, not just to listen to the people here tonight.”
Berezowsky said that under the newly enacted moratorium, Terhune will be allowed to divide the property, however, any building permits will have to wait until after the new building ban has ended.
Berezowsky also said the ban regards any new construction or work that would add square footage on a home. Needed home repairs and other minor work will be allowed. For more information, call the Planning Department at (360) 779-5111.
