A community divided by class and social status. In the 19th century there were two distinct Port Townsends. In Uptown and Morgan Hill, the prim and proper wives of captains, bankers and customs officers never had to rub elbows with the roughnecks and Chinese along the waterfront.
Crime was confined to the lower reaches of the city, where prostitution, drugs, alcohol, violence and shanghaiing were not only common, but economic pillars. Looking down from the widow’s walks on their Victorian mansions, captains could see their ships at anchor, accompanied sometimes by rowboats ferrying landlubbers pressed into virtual slavery as involuntary crew for voyages that might last years.
“Bloody Townsend,” our fair Victorian seaport and arts community was known up and down the west coast. But that moniker did not apply to the genteel, refined, abstemious upper class on top of the hill and bluffs.
Stairs to Port Townsend’s Victorian Uptown
Maybe for a period of time the city escaped its segregationist past. People who have been here for decades talk wistfully of a less stratified Port Townsend. But in recent years, Port Townsend has returned to being a segregated city, and it is getting worse. How we got here will be the subject of future articles on why Port Townsend is far from being a “strong town.”
Not really a “progressive” city
Port Townsend has undergone economic class cleansing, reestablishing the higher elevation areas of the city as the very exclusive domain of the well-to-do. Now even downtown has been swept of lower-economic status residents. Workers have been driven to the city’s edges or to the Tri-Area or even further away. A growing number of Port Townsend workers commute from homes in other counties because they cannot afford to live here.
The policies of “progressive” city councilors and county commissioners are only making the segregation worse. For the past twenty years the city has accomplished economic segregation by exclusionary zoning and building codes.
The prized Victorian neighborhoods were not planned. Those mansions were not built after waiting endlessly on building permits or having to pay city employees a high hourly rate to explain codes and regulations. But now they and the entire city are subject to a straitjacket of codes, regulations, and ordinances that stifle the more intensive and dense development of PT’s urban center.
Social policies have exploded building codes and made every type of construction more expensive. It is not all about safety and structural integrity. There are aesthetic elements in those thick codes, as well as the products of lobbying and policy aspirations.
“Snob” zoning hit Port Townsend about the same time real estate interests gained control over local government. Preserving or enhancing real estate values was a goal of these exclusionary and barrier-raising regulations. Real estate appreciation has been pushed as a major economic engine in and of itself. Planners suddenly had much more power.
The burdensome regulations had the effect of making new construction and remodels more expensive, or prohibiting up-zoning so that old buildings could not be repurposed for multi-family units. Manufactured housing, the portal to affordable housing for tens of millions of Americans, was excluded from most areas of the city. Regulations that sounded innocuous, such as requiring so much off-street parking per unit, drove up prices and restricted supply.
In the face of a housing emergency declared five years ago, only now, at its March 24, 2022 meeting has the city Planning Commission done its “first touch” on considering loosening the off-street parking requirements for ADUs. It is worth noting that prior to 2007, city codes did not require an off-street parking space for an ADU. That requirement was added in 2007. Fifteen years later, city government is only now “considering” revising that habitation-killing requirement.
Historic building designations are perhaps the most exclusionary regulation — only those with the resources to meet the astounding costs and legal requirements (and legal fees) for maintaining a historically-designated, preserved property can get in. If you want to avoid having poor, even middle-class people for neighbors, move into a historically designated neighborhood.
The regulatory framework leveraged more power over development by allowing homeowners to impose their will on other property owners and get in the way of building affordable housing. Page back through The Leader’s archives and you will find incidents where proposals to provide more affordable housing have been stopped by opposition from private citizens who already “had theirs.”
Snob Zoning on Steroids
City councilors, joined by county commissioners, are now concentrating the poor people and working families on the south side of the city, away from the moneyed hoods on the hills and up around North Beach and Fort Worden.
Lower income housing is already heavily concentrated near the QFC and blocks to the south. That’s where you will find the mobile homes and most apartment buildings. That’s where the county gave land to OlyCap to build its multi-story affordable/low income apartment building.
Olycap’s low-income housing project under construction across the street from mobile home park
Not far away, the city approved the “wooden tent” encampment called Pat’s Place. This love-driven project was built by volunteers and private donations. They had to creatively shoehorn the project into a narrow slot in city codes. There is no “tiny homes” zoning allowed in Port Townsend, but there is an emergency tent encampment exception to the strict prohibitions against camping anywhere beyond a few select locations (e.g., the Fairgrounds). Hence, “wooden tents” appeared instead of “tiny homes.
The city charged the group $52,000 in permit fees for a settlement that under current regulations is limited to 180 days plus one 60-day extension. The good people behind the project raised the funds and built the project on faith that the city would relax that time provision. It has still not been relaxed, though City Council is supposed to take this issue up at future meeting, after it has worked its way through a thicket of other procedural steps. This critical correction was only at the “first touch” stage for the Planning Commission at its March 24, 2022 meeting. City Council has to wait for the Planning Commission to make its recommendation on what to do with this ludicrous obstacle to providing emergency shelter for people who otherwise would be living under tarps in the wet woods or in their cars.
Pat’s Place
The city did waive the outrageous mountain of fees. This was a project sponsored by a nonprofit dedicated to providing low income and transitional housing. The city can get around the state-law prohibition on gifts to private entities under an escape hatch for charitable works. Private individuals seeking to build an affordable home or an ADU don’t get this gracious treatment from the city. Their effort at building something affordable runs head on into the city’s crushing building fee demands.
A little further southeast, at Mill Road and just outside city limits, the county bought about 30 acres in order to relocate the open air drug market and homeless/transient camp that had taken over the Fairgrounds inside the city. Plans are in place to expand the Mill Road development to be a “housing hub” for services and accommodations for the unhoused and those seeking transitional housing.
Mill Road encampment
The Mill Road camp also allows city law enforcement to remove the homeless from downtown PT and transport them to the city’s edge, or send them packing in that direction. The drugs that plagued the Fairgrounds (now mainly Fentanyl) are still prevalent in the county-sponsored camp to a shocking and depressing degree.
People surviving out there are not getting better. Many, maybe most, are enslaved by their addictions and killing themselves slowly or dramatically (the young man who hung himself outside Manresa Castle) or harming, even killing others (the young man who murdered two of his family members earlier this year).
For the rich and privileged of Port Townsend, the problems are out of sight, out of mind, handled more neatly and cleanly than when the Victorians could not avoid seeing Bloody Townsend at the bottom of their hill. Very, very few of PT’s upper crust will ever see the Mill Road camp or even be aware of its existence.
In November 2021, the city bought 14.4 acres directly across Mill Road from the OlyCap development. The city hopes to build its own low-income planned community. This concept is currently known as the Evans Vista Project. Upon completion, it will go a long way toward finalizing the concentration and segregation of the city’s remaining indigent, working poor and low to lower-middle class households in an out-of-the-way location removed from the city’s elites.
The city has land in the affluent areas of town. It could be driving a bulldozer through the morass of codes, regulations, permit fee schedules and time consuming procedures to clear a path for a radical change in the city’s housing and demographic landscape. It could be doing something other than resurrecting the segregated Port Townsend of the 19th century.
It isn’t.
Next: Why Port Townsend is Not a “Strong Town”
Jim Scarantino was the editor and founder of Port Townsend Free Press. He is happy in his new role as just a contributor writing on topics of concern to him. He spent the first 25 years of his professional life as a trial attorney, then launched an online investigative news website that broke several national stories. He is also the author of three crime novels. He resides in Jefferson County. See our "About" page for more information.
Marin County, Mill Valley, CA is the perfect example of what will happen here in Port Townsend if the community is not allowed to be fully involved in all the decisions that elected officials are making without involvement. I grew up there and saw the effects of rising home prices, property tax, and a move to bring in the elite rich. Neighbors that could no longer afford the costs had to move. The community vibe was destroyed by the so called do gooders in city government. In 1974 Jarvis-Gann/ Prop. 13 finally came about, but too late for many families. Restrictions by the hundreds became part of the bureaucracy that made building new construction, remodeling, or septic systems, an impossible barrier for middle classes and impossible for the poor.
My family had lived on the same land since 1891, and my husband and I were going to build a 2 story 1100 sq. ft. home. It was a simple design without any fancy anything from the outside, yet it took 7 YEARS and 10’s of thousands of dollars to get the permit (golden ticket)! By that time my husband was too ill and we sold the property at a financial loss!
Beware! I see the vestiges of it here.
My heart goes out to you, MarieYoussefirad. We tried to develop a lot in Gualala, at the Sonoma/Mendocino border. The Coastal Commission got involved and mandates an extra $200K in REDUNDANT “studies”, eventually changing our architect’s plans and ruining the project. We had to sell the land and move to Washington. Apparently, this sort of thing is a common occurrence.
The end result of all the years of exclusionary building codes – my new next door neighbors do NOT have bathrooms or kitchens in their so-called tiny houses. They have to walk outside to common shared facilities. My family was very poor and I lived in some trashy neighborhoods. Everyone in urban areas had indoor plumbing from long before I was born in the 1940s.
The solution is to help people MOVE! Moving from this area is very difficult and expensive for low income renters. Converting working class neighborhoods into 3rd world shanty towns might make you folks feel good but it is not a good long term solution.
Economic discrimination is widely practiced by the City and County governments. It is sad that in the most prosperous nation on the planet, that the best some can hope for is a tent on government owned property.
Converting working class neighborhoods into 3rd world shanty towns might make you folks feel good but it is not a good long term solution.M.J. ,thank you for that insightful and helpful suggestion.It is hard to see a way out of this mess, Help people vote with their feet.
It is no secret why it is easy to buy $$$ and difficult to build $$$.
Have you ever asked yourself the question “whose town is this”? I did after reading Jim’s article. Is it the liberal elites town? Is it the middle class’s town or is it the town of the poor and/or homeless? My observation is this is a town run and ruled by politicians who cater to the the town’s most wealthy and influential members. Simply, we have a gentrified town and how it got this way is through our “public servants” creating rules and regulation that benefit only one section of our community.
I met with a group of neighbors yesterday who heard and questioned two women running for state representative and county commissioner. What impressed me about the meeting was the wisdom, knowledge and energy of the normal folks that attended the meeting. Politicians come and go but our friends and neighbors are still here and looking for ways to change this town in a way that serves ALL our residents not just the moneyed few. The way to start this process of freedom and equality is through meetings like this. For neighbors to get together and look at the entire town not just their section.
We are headed into a time that will test our hearts and souls. If we look at ALL the social ills we have dealt with over the last 20 years, how many were caused and exacerbated by politicians? The values that the folks at our small meeting voiced is what is needed in politics. You and I know what is best for all and we must let the politicians that have caused the creeping gentrification in Port Townsend know that we are fed up with government’s tie to special wealthy interests. The only way to rein in the ruling class’s moneyed influence over politicians is for those of us that that value equality and freedom to let our demands be know. If we are to survive this world-wide coming crisis it is in and through community, not politics.
Please consider the potential class action lawsuit against “the City” regarding the Streateries. This is first and foremost about taking public property and giving it to special elite interests. Poorly cloaked in this case. It happened at Fort Worden. Twice.
The City Attorney is silent on streateries taking public property. Who does she work for? Look what she has already turned a blind eye to.
Look at all the Free Press stories from housing to Fort Worden to police and more and assess the root cause. A white hot core of special interest individuals scattered around that vaporize any new input.
A course of action to try to “fix” Port Townsend is for this paper to follow and highlight Current Council. Specific individuals could be covered by several volunteers reporting back and writing regarding the past voting records and other positions held by some, and current voting.
Clean up will take years.
The PDN story regarding the Streateries shows some Council, new and ‘”vetted” totally miss the taking of public property issue and suggest fun and wonderful ways to trim out the taken property. Which individuals in town do they work for?
https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-townsend-to-consider-permanent-streatery-program/
A class action lawsuit now to get folks in it for the long haul talking as this comment suggests is a good start and sends the message that enough is enough. Tracking Council and getting real people up to speed to run against the extremely toxic neighbors who betray most all of us is a needed aspect for long term change.
This is not Seattle or Portland or a large city. The veils and walls easily seen have been managed into existence. So have many obvious problems.
Attorney and appointed mayor Faber and City Manager Mauro conspired to fast track the Streaterie take over. Minimal notice. Least possible real public input. Main Street polls which are always slanted towards the cities agenda is a tool used.
I would suggest reading these stories to start and connect the dots from there. Specific folks on Council move things backwards. Backwards.
With no remorse.
https://www.porttownsendfreepress.com/2022/03/16/fabers-folly-howards-hovel-cherry-st-project-worse-than-it-looks/
https://www.porttownsendfreepress.com/2022/03/22/pt-police-struggling-at-less-than-half-strength-and-costing-a-lot-more/
https://www.porttownsendfreepress.com/2022/03/30/strangulation-by-streateries/
The Streaterie story ends with a larger issue. We can move towards many solutions locally with an involved real group of residents.
City Manager Mauro with his questionable agenda betrays everyone. He must go. Council Faber and Howard at the first opportunity.
Any spines out there? Faber’s type thinks not. Look for info, at least in comments from me, regarding the Class action lawsuit. It is an overstep that I believe is actionable. Time to be good neighbors no matter the political stripe.
My personal lesson in life is not to run up the hill into battle and find that others have lost interest.
Well said and accurate Harvey. One thing I learned yesterday is that 13,000 folks in the county did not vote in the last election. Most of these folks are hard working and some have more than one job. Many have trouble keeping things together financially and have little faith in the political system in our county to change and notice who and what they are about.
An untapped group that could, at some time in the future, might possibly be willing to “follow you up that hill”. “When the people lead, the politicians will follow”.
Several years ago, I heard a local someone saying that the goal of the city was to be a West Coast Martha’s Vinyard. As time moves on it becomes more evident that this is the goal of the powers that have been and are the goals of the current City Counsil. They want to regulate the types of businesses that can build. The only allow one major fast food, three retail food stores and small motels and the beat goes on. Now they make themselves feel good by protesting Black Lives Matter staging a demonstration coming into downtown and painting the street instead of going to where the black lives live and protest. In the 50’s it was more evident that Port Townsend was red lined. For you that don’t know, that is keeping “undesirable” races out of town which most likely was black people. Now, it’s more open by moving the “homeless” out to the county where they won’t be seen in Port Townsend. Some things never change.
They called it paradise, I don’t know why
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye
I totally agree with this post. We need a revolving Wisdom Council (See Jim Rough’s Society’s Breakthrough) made up of a diverse cross-section of the populace, not an elected City Council who will ALWAYS cater to the moneyed class, and the political party that got them elected.
You are one of the people that is driving up the cost of housing.
How is it that none of you big brains know that there is a low income apartment building smack dab in the middle of downtown Port Townsend at the corners of water and Taylor streets? The building is currently being renovated. It has been there for well over 30 years as a subsidized housing complex.
Isn’t that building currently empty? If low-income residents return, it is about the sole exception downtown. Just across the street diagonally, formerly affordable residences have been converted to luxury condos for weekenders. The city could have built low income housing on Memorial Field and converted the Evans Vista acreage to even bigger playing fields. It would have been a much more cost effective and faster approach as the utilities and streets are already in place downtown. Or the city could have established low income apartments on its vacant land on top of Morgan Hill, or in Sather Park, where utilities and streets are already in place. Instead they will put poor and working class people on the edge of town near the mill.
Well said Jim !
Thank you for that correction, Dale. I know folks who live/have lived at the Admiralty, that should have popped into my mind straight away. I’m keen to get it right, but not expecting to be perfect, ever.
The building in question is called the Admiralty Apartments and it is definitely not empty. The low income citizens who live in that building are being forced to live in it while it is being renovated. Half of them were disrupted and removed elsewhere, who will return when the building is completed. You all have done no research on this and have no care for the low income people who actually do live downtown. You just like to run your mouths so you sound smart and look cute, but you are neither.
Conceded: there remains a building downtown with low income residents. Is the city expanding low-income or workforce housing downtown? Nope. It is putting those folks on the south side of the city, as the article shows. “Sweeping” was the wrong term to use in the article, and it is so conceded.
When the renovation is completed, I’m sure the rental or sale of rooms will be so high only the people with money will be able to live there. I wonder where the local powers plan for those people will safely protect their cars. Maybe they could have bus service like the Casinos from the parking lot at the Bus Stop by Safeway. One thing you can be assured of is someone is going to make a lot of money on it.
Mr. Scarantino, what are you referring to when you say, regarding the Mill Road encampment, … “the young man who murdered two of his family members earlier this year.”? Are you saying that happened at the encampment, or that it involved residents there? Please clarify. Thank you.
I am informed that the young man who killed two of his family members west of Sequim had been a resident of the Brown/Caswell Mill Road Camp.
That is untrue. If you are referring to accused killer Chris Haltom, he was never a resident at the Brown-Caswell facility. In fact he was trespassed from the fairgrounds site way back, well before Brown/Caswell existed. In any case, it is unfair to besmirch Brown/Caswell and its lawful residents in this guilt-by-association manner. (The city of Oak Harbor, for example, was the home of serial killer Robert Lee Yates for years, yet no one would consider his crimes emblematic of the city’s values or identity. Why do you heap scorn on this homeless community and its people by implying it harbors accused murderers?) You seem intent on condemning (without providing evidence) the people at Brown/Caswell as addicts and criminals: “People surviving out there are not getting better. Many, maybe most, are enslaved by their addictions and killing themselves slowly or dramatically (the young man who hung himself outside Manresa Castle) or harming, even killing others (the young man who murdered two of his family members earlier this year).” That is a gross exaggeration. And the young man who hanged himself, according to residents, outreach workers and others, had uniquely tragic motivations, unrelated to drugs and deeply sad.