More Dive Site Access Lost Today...

[fishb0y]

Harper Fishing Pier near Port Orchard now has no parking signs posted next to the water. While you can drop your gear off at the pier, you now have to park up the street (in the ditch).

[Rooinater]

How can they have no parking at a public fishing pier? That doesn't make a lot of sense from a public access stand point...

[ETdiver]

Does any one know why those signs were put up?

[dwashbur]

There have been clashes with the man who owns the house up the hill from the coffee shop for ages, it might have something to do with that.

[fmerkel]

I wonder if those are "official signs"?

We had an altercation with the owner once when we were using that area to drop dive gear with no intention to even park. He effectively made a whole group of friendly people non-customers forever in just a few seconds. And, of course we repeat the story. It's a wonder if anyone actually uses the coffee shop.

[Grateful Diver]

Another "Mr. Angry" ... just what we need.

It's been a while since I dived that site, but at the time they were pretty OK with divers. I gotta wonder what happened to change that ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Penopolypants]

It's been a while for me too, but the last time I was there the coffee shop was for sale. Perhaps it sold to a less friendly individual.

[Rooinater]

How long ago was the coffee shop up for sale? It's been about 6 months since the last time i dove there and the lady that ran the coffee stand then was a complete sweet heart asking about our dive.

[Nwbrewer]

PO isn't that big of a town, call the city and ask what the story is. If it's really public property this sounds like something you might be able to get reversed if you put together enough people and show up to some city council meetings.

Jake

[Grateful Diver]

I recall when DIW's "Mr. Angry" put a chain across the access path with a No Trespassing sign. It was completely illegal, of course ... but it stayed up for a few days before someone took it down. They also used to park their car across the path, blocking access ... until the city put a "No Parking" sign in the middle of the entrance ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[CaptnJack]

I wonder if those are "official signs"?

Yes they are official, more details below.

Some random thoughts first...
The coffee shop owner has some mental problems, one day a jerk, the next he's nice as can be. The coffee shop has been "for sale" for at least 10 years.

The "parking area" is and will always be public right of way. It actually used to be a thru street but the county blocked it off as people were using it as a excessive speed bypass to get around school buses on the arterial and make the ferry. Before Southworth Drive was completed it was the only arterial.

The actual fishing pier/dock is owned by the Port of Bremerton, they might have a lease I'm not sure. The land underneath it is owned by the WA department of transportation. Parcel info: http://kcwppub2.co.kitsap.wa.us/pls/ili ... id=1746403

Despite the postal address its most definitely not in the City of Port Orchard. Its unincorporated Kitsap County. Soooo...

I called the County traffic engineer. He gave me the scoop. "A neighbor" complained about how people were parking to the sheriff. The sheriff contacted the Traffic division of Roads and they researched the situation. Apparently the only paper documentation for that area dates from a 1976 resolution declaring the Cornell St right-of-way a no parking zone. The County traffic engineer (Ron Pierce) does not know at what point the signage was changed to 2hr parking. But because they were getting complaints and they had no council declaration or paper trail to say otherwise, they had to reinstitute "no parking" in the little stub of Cornell St.

They know this is not ideal and have contacted one of the frequent fishermen and Sound Dive in Bremerton to come up with a parking proposal that has community support. Kitsap traffic division would take that proposal to the council and get a new ordinance passed with a improved duration/scheme.

So if you want this changed, contact Sound Dive and ask to sign onto their letter/petition. Or we can come up with our own and I will send it to the traffic engineer as support. The traffic engineer does not want negative comments about the no parking, he knows that isn't working - he needs a concrete proposal that has a broad base of community support. Since I live 1 mile from Harper's if NWDC has a proposal and co-signers, I am willing to submit it to Ron using my local address.

Richard

[Fishstiq]

I wonder if those are "official signs"?

Yes they are official, more details below.

Some random thoughts first...
The coffee shop owner has some mental problems, one day a jerk, the next he's nice as can be. The coffee shop has been "for sale" for at least 10 years.

The "parking area" is and will always be public right of way. It actually used to be a thru street but the county blocked it off as people were using it as a excessive speed bypass to get around school buses on the arterial and make the ferry. Before Southworth Drive was completed it was the only arterial.

The actual fishing pier/dock is owned by the Port of Bremerton, they might have a lease I'm not sure. The land underneath it is owned by the WA department of transportation. Parcel info: http://kcwppub2.co.kitsap.wa.us/pls/ili ... id=1746403

Despite the postal address its most definitely not in the City of Port Orchard. Its unincorporated Kitsap County. Soooo...

I called the County traffic engineer. He gave me the scoop. "A neighbor" complained about how people were parking to the sheriff. The sheriff contacted the Traffic division of Roads and they researched the situation. Apparently the only paper documentation for that area dates from a 1976 resolution declaring the Cornell St right-of-way a no parking zone. The County traffic engineer (Ron Pierce) does not know at what point the signage was changed to 2hr parking. But because they were getting complaints and they had no council declaration or paper trail to say otherwise, they had to reinstitute "no parking" in the little stub of Cornell St.

They know this is not ideal and have contacted one of the frequent fishermen and Sound Dive in Bremerton to come up with a parking proposal that has community support. Kitsap traffic division would take that proposal to the council and get a new ordinance passed with a improved duration/scheme.

So if you want this changed, contact Sound Dive and ask to sign onto their letter/petition. Or we can come up with our own and I will send it to the traffic engineer as support. The traffic engineer does not want negative comments about the no parking, he knows that isn't working - he needs a concrete proposal that has a broad base of community support. Since I live 1 mile from Harper's if NWDC has a proposal and co-signers, I am willing to submit it to Ron using my local address.

Richard

That's all well and good, but could someone do a little research and get some useful information please?

[selkie]

I wonder if those are "official signs"?

Yes they are official, more details below.

Some random thoughts first...
The coffee shop owner has some mental problems, one day a jerk, the next he's nice as can be. The coffee shop has been "for sale" for at least 10 years.

The "parking area" is and will always be public right of way. It actually used to be a thru street but the county blocked it off as people were using it as a excessive speed bypass to get around school buses on the arterial and make the ferry. Before Southworth Drive was completed it was the only arterial.

The actual fishing pier/dock is owned by the Port of Bremerton, they might have a lease I'm not sure. The land underneath it is owned by the WA department of transportation. Parcel info: http://kcwppub2.co.kitsap.wa.us/pls/ili ... id=1746403

Despite the postal address its most definitely not in the City of Port Orchard. Its unincorporated Kitsap County. Soooo...

I called the County traffic engineer. He gave me the scoop. "A neighbor" complained about how people were parking to the sheriff. The sheriff contacted the Traffic division of Roads and they researched the situation. Apparently the only paper documentation for that area dates from a 1976 resolution declaring the Cornell St right-of-way a no parking zone. The County traffic engineer (Ron Pierce) does not know at what point the signage was changed to 2hr parking. But because they were getting complaints and they had no council declaration or paper trail to say otherwise, they had to reinstitute "no parking" in the little stub of Cornell St.

They know this is not ideal and have contacted one of the frequent fishermen and Sound Dive in Bremerton to come up with a parking proposal that has community support. Kitsap traffic division would take that proposal to the council and get a new ordinance passed with a improved duration/scheme.

So if you want this changed, contact Sound Dive and ask to sign onto their letter/petition. Or we can come up with our own and I will send it to the traffic engineer as support. The traffic engineer does not want negative comments about the no parking, he knows that isn't working - he needs a concrete proposal that has a broad base of community support. Since I live 1 mile from Harper's if NWDC has a proposal and co-signers, I am willing to submit it to Ron using my local address.

Richard

Wow Thanks,

Maybe Washington Scuba Alliance should weigh in with a letter/petition also? Any one here on the WSA board?

[CaptnJack]

BTW I also asked Ron if Kitsap County transportation would be adverse to putting in steps there. He wasn't, but was concerned about costs, permitting, and both Port of Bremerton and WSDOT permission. The neighbor and fishermen may or may not be agreeable as well. There are alot of players in changing the bulkhead to include some decent stairs. I don't know where to start this concept nor if I have the ummph to make it happen.

Agree on WSA letter being a good move. And explaining in such letter that people visit the site from all over, not just locals. But since Ron wants an actual proposal someone needs to coordinate so that conflicting proposals aren't submitted which may cause Traffic to throw up their hands and leave it no parking until consensus is achieved.

My suggestion would be:

• 1. Mark 3 spaces on the segment of Coulter St (the little stub) as 2 hour parallel parking.
  2. The shoulder area at the base of the pier should be marked as an "unloading zone".
  3. Unmarked overflow parking across the street along Southworth drive.

I can run this by the staff at Sound dive as it seems like they may be viewed by Kitsap Co. as community leaders on this issue amongst the dive community. Not sure what they have done so far, but I have to go there tomorrow to drop cylinders off for hydros anyway.

[enchantmentdivi]

BTW I also asked Ron if Kitsap County transportation would be adverse to putting in steps there. He wasn't, but was concerned about costs, permitting, and both Port of Bremerton and WSDOT permission. The neighbor and fishermen may or may not be agreeable as well. There are alot of players in changing the bulkhead to include some decent stairs. I don't know where to start this concept nor if I have the ummph to make it happen.

Stairs would be awesome! I might actually consider diving there again with stairs. I severly sprained and broke my ankle at Harper's a year ago, but I'm actually grateful that it was only that. It could've been a lot worse.....

[CaptnJack]

I think step 1 is to re-establish parking (which the County is already agreeable to).

Step 2 is using that new relationship to work on building stairs. I am willing to put in labor and some materials if we can get County/Port/WSDOT/WDFW to deal with permitting and making stairs an official diver specific ammenity there.

[FlyinV]

A group of us came and dove there last winter from Vancouver and Portland.
So if they happened to improve access and had parking we would certainly come back and dive again.

[fmerkel]

Jim Trask at WSA would be a good first contact if you get to the 'stairs' stage. He got the Les Davis stairs put in and is familiar with the kind of (myriad/multiple) hoops required.

[dwashbur]

I'd be willing to do some grunt work putting stairs in as well. Harper's used to be one of my favorite sites when I lived in Bremerton. Saw my first PSL and a bunch of other stuff there. Having the guys at Sound Dive coordinate efforts would probably be a good idea. They are seen as community leaders in that regard, and they use the site a lot.

[fishb0y]

Jim from Sound Dive and I have been talking about this... he'll be bringing this up at a meeting next week with the Port Orchard Rotary Club. Most new divers certified in the Kitsap area do their open water ckeck outs there... Harper even has a resident GPO at the small sailboat wreck now.

[CaptnJack]

I'm not a rotary club member, exactly what are they discussing? The stairs or the parking?

Ron with Kitsap Co. Roads - traffic division just needs some sort of community supported parking proposal to get the zone changed via the City Council.

[kitsapdiver]

Richard,

Seeing as how I also frequent that site, and have a Port Orchard address I'd be willing to help you with any proposal that needs to be written. I hadn't read this thread when I saw you at SD on Friday, but I need to get fills again tomorrow or Tuesday so I'll see what Jim has done other than bring it up with Rotary.

Stairs are secondary based on what seems to be the accelerated deterioration of the Barbara G I'm not sure how much longer this will be dive site. As of late the line running to the wreck is gone and the only lines left run to the small run-about wreck first, and then to the barbara G. As of last week there were also excessive amounts of additional rope, a kite, some clothes, and other ugly debris down there.

Do you know who the fisherman he contacted was? Furthermore can we confirm the neighbor is the bi-polar man? All the other neighbors have always been more than friendly to me there.

Furthermore, it should be possible to park on the adjacent street to access the water still.

[CaptnJack]

The Kitsap Co. traffic engineer wouldn't confirm it was the coffee shop owner who complained, but didn't deny it either. Best just to give him a wide berth. I'll have to see if I still have my notes about the fisherman who was contacted by traffic. The traffic engineer told me he's there squiding "every night" when I asked the best way to get ahold of him. I don't remember if the traffic engineer gave me the fisherman's last name or not.

[CaptnJack]

Fisherman guy is Jason Bodie. I have no contact info though.

[CaptnJack]

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/jan/ ... p-countys/