Despite receiving praise from the Port of Port Townsend’s executive director, a project proposed by the Northwest Maritime Center to construct a new classroom on port property in downtown Port Townsend hit a snag after one commissioner called for additional discussion about the proposal before agreeing to move forward.

The proposed project would include a 30-year lease of port property on Water Street across from the Northwest Maritime Center. The property is currently operated as an 18-space gravel parking lot.

Eron Berg, executive director for the port, said he’d been hearing about the project to construct a new classroom at the location — termed the “Landfall Site” in port documents (after its previous tenure housing the Landfall restaurant) — since he first took his position within the port.

“Most recently, Jake [Beattie, executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center] approached me … in anticipation of a congressional request and a need for additional space,” Berg said.

“The maritime center has continued to grow and has a need for space,” he said. “The Landfall site is one of a few possible locations where they can grow within walking distance — or even WiFi distance — of their port campus.”

The paid parking lot hasn’t exactly been a gold mine for the port, and only accounted for about $7,500 in revenue in 2019. The Port of Port Townsend also maintains water infrastructure on the lot and pays a monthly water bill to maintain the lot’s Equivalent Residential Unit connection.   

“We maintain the Landfall site’s water connection, I think, under the theory that that’s cheaper than having the meter taken out and potentially having to pay for a new capital charge,” Berg explained.

Under the proposed lease, the Northwest Maritime Center would rent the property for 30 years. At about $1,000 per month, rent from the center could generate roughly $4,600 more per year than what the site gathered in 2019.   

“Really the big question for the commission … are we ready to lease this Landfall site? If so, how much of the area would we like to lease, and secondarily, is the maritime center in fact the correct candidate for us to do business with?” Berg asked commissioners Pam Petranek and Bill Putney during the meeting. 

“My perspective is it is time for us to make a decision and move forward on the Landfall site,” Berg continued.

“I think we should lease as much of it as is not already impaired by existing tenant use and it seems to me that there isn’t really a better user out there than our neighbor and co-collaborator in spirit on so many of these projects that are important to the port and to Port Townsend and, in fact, the Northwest maritime community,” he said.   

Berg said there was no question that taking out even 18 parking spaces would likely have an effect on port tenants and the surrounding community.

“We, the port, are not regulators of parking,” Berg added. “The city of Port Townsend has developed a [comprehensive] plan and zoning code that specifically addresses how downtown parking and development occurs within that framework.”

Beattie explained that the center had previously been pressed for space to teach its programs, namely the Port Townsend Maritime Academy. The center often had to resort to teaching classes in hallways and the lack of space created difficulties in finding adequate desk space for staff.

In the wake of the pandemic, Beattie said organizers at the center expected a big push for more educational opportunities within the three-dimensional realm.

“We anticipate a really strong demand for more of this hands-on, in-person education as more people are just so darn tired of being on the screen all the time,” Beattie said. “Without space to accommodate, we just won’t be able to grow the mission and grow the economic impacts.”

Putney called the proposed project an excellent idea, adding that he has “Always been a little nervous about the use of that area as a parking lot for itinerant non-marine uses.”

“This use seems to fit right in with the Shoreline Master Plan, so I think from that perspective it’s great,” Putney said.

Petranek said construction on the project could potentially hinder the port’s plans to rebuild the Point Hudson breakwater.

Beattie said the center would be open to extending an effective date for the lease of the property, however.

“We’re really just interested in securing [the lease] so we have something to plan on,” he said.    

But in the absence of a third commissioner — Pete Hanke — Petranek’s objection to drafting a lease with the center kept it off the table for the near future.

“I think it’s premature to put a lease on the table in two weeks,” Petranek said. “I would like to know about the due diligence on financials; I would like to explore leasing existing buildings. I would like to know more about the city’s zoning for this spot.”

Petranek also said the port should first conduct an appraisal of the property prior to developing a lease.

That idea prompted pushback from Putney during the May 12 meeting.

“I would just like to go on record as saying those [requests] seem extraordinary to me. It’s not something we do with any other tenant,” Putney said.

“If we’re going to start making rules like that, they need to be in port procedures. Taking off on a tangent should be something that we rarely do,” he said.

Petranek pointed to feedback she’d received from port district residents who regarded drafting a lease for the project “premature.”

“I’m representing my constituency, so I’m just trying to be the elected representative who speaks more than from just my point of view,” Petranek said. “I welcome and want to work with the Northwest Maritime Center and I just want more information and more discussion.”

Petranek asked for continued deliberation on the proposal, and suggested that commissioners have an opportunity to meet with representatives from the maritime center prior to continuing in the process.