In a stunning decision, the WA Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB) sided with Affordable Hometown Port Townsend (AHPT) on every one of the issues that formed the basis of the appeal, in short holding that the City:

• Failed to provide early and continuous public participation
• Failed to make adequate provisions for affordable housing for all segments of the population
• Failed to perform a land capacity analysis by income category
• Failed to identify and adopt policies and regulations to address racial disparity in housing
• Failed to adopt anti-displacement measures
• Failed to ensure a level of service standard for transportation consistent with the planned development
• Failed to identify transportation facility and service needs
• Failed to include a financing plan in the Transportation Element
• Failed to perform the required concurrency analysis for the level of service it established for roads
• Failed to identify the financial feasibility for planned infrastructure
• Failed to ensure public services, facilities and utilities will be adequate to support development at the time development is available for occupancy without lowering the level of service below the minimum standard
• Failed to adopt an up-to-date capital plan
  And more…

For more about the Comp Plan Update, see the AHPT website.  

On its website, AHPT will soon post a full analysis of the decision by its lawyer Bryan Telegin.

View PDF of full decision HERE

The GMHB also took the extraordinary step of invalidating the City’s six-fold upzone and “related zoning changes” in the RII because the City violated its own public participation program. It found the late adoption of six-plexes and twelve-plexes to be problematic in a number of ways. The only thing Port Townsend seems to have prevailed on was a decision not to invalidate the Comprehensive Plan itself because, while the Plan was found to be legally insufficient, what the City adopted in 2025 was better than what had been previously adopted.

The City Council has called a special session for Monday 8/24 to discuss the decision in executive session and possibly take action. 

You can weigh in with the City Council to tell them to accept the decision and commit to a robust public process for fixing the Comp Plan.  Send an email by 4 pm on Mon Aug 24^th to: citycouncil@cityofpt.us

Or click this link to make a comment: https://publiccomment.fillout.com/cityofpt

You can also make a spoken comment at the meeting instead of or in addition to an email comment. 

If you want to attend the City Council meeting remotely CLICK HERE . 

You can also attend in person at 6 pm at City Hall, 2^nd floor, located at the intersection of Madison and Water St.   

Finally, please come to the Accountable PT meeting at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, 8/30 at the Quimper Grange to hear from John Watts, President of AHPT, about the decision and what happens next.