BREMERTON — Diane Manning raised her daughter in a duplex off Lebo Boulevard in Bremerton. While the old Navy World War II housing came with its fair share of problems, at least they had a roof over their heads.

“I fought mold and poor insulation and sketchy electrical,” Manning said. “But it was a home and we were happy, healthy and safe, and it beats living in your car.”

Manning is concerned residents of a recently rezoned area of East Bremerton may not get that luxury, after the Bremerton City Council approved new amendments to the city’s comprehensive plan and zoning code last month.

The updates to the comprehensive plan — a map of the Bremerton’s growth for the next 20 years — increased the density of four residential areas in the city. Changes included renaming the “multi-family residential” zone to “high-density residential,” and doubling the maximum density in those areas from 20 units per acre to 40 units per acre.

Manning and others worry that residents in one of the rezoned areas — which spans Sylvan Way to Ivy Road between Wheaton Way and Petersville Road — could be displaced if developers decide to take advantage of the newly increased density to tear down current apartment complexes and build new, market-rate housing.

The neighborhood is home to multiple rent-restricted apartment complexes, like the Viewcrest Village and the Bremerton Housing Authority-owned Tamarack Apartments.

“My concern is that someone will come in and buy up the property, and those folks are out on the streets with no alternatives,” Manning said.

City planners said the change was made to reflect the type and density of buildings that already exist in many of the targeted areas, and to reduce “nonconformities” in residential areas.

“The reason we wanted to up the zoning was because we looked at what existing development was in these neighborhoods,” city planning manager Allison Satter said. “The majority of the areas exceed the underlying density.”

Following a comprehensive plan overhaul in 2016, the city council has been approving incremental changes to Bremerton’s zoning code — allowing more duplexes and triplexes in certain areas, for example, and increasing the allowed units per acre of the low- and medium-density zones.

The goal of the amendments was to encourage new development and bring those properties into compliance, Satter said.

“We have to acknowledge what’s on the ground and allow that, then move forward from there,” Satter said.

The city council only considers updates to the comprehensive plan once a year. Before the proposed changes are voted on by the council, they must be approved by the city’s planning commission.

A section of Anderson Cove — which stretches from Rainier Avenue to Naval Avenue between 15th Street and 19th Street — was excluded from the zoning changes after members of the public, including Manning, expressed their concerns to the planning commission.

Their fear was that higher density would increase traffic and entice developers to replace existing housing with newer, more expensive units — a move that could displace low-income residents of Anderson Cove.

At the Dec. 18 council meeting, some city council members pointed out that the Sylvan Way and Almira Drive area was also home to many low-income families. Leslie Daugs, who represents District 2, made a motion to exclude the area from the rezone, but it failed to pass.

“I hope that the decision the council has made, even though it is to move Bremerton forward, I hope in the long run we don't displace families and make homelessness a bigger issue,” Daugs said.

Mayor Greg Wheeler said he supported the changes because they would help encourage developers to add much-needed housing in the city. He added that some Bremerton residents have seen their rent increases and faced displacement even without new development.

“Everybody should know it's occurring right now, this is not a new phenomenon that's happening,” Wheeler said.

The mayor said city staff is preparing “specific displacement strategies” to share with the city council at its council retreat at the end of January. The proposed program would make sure residents receive earlier notification if forced to leave their apartment, establish a “relocation fund” to help with expenses, and connect displaced people with resources.

“There’s no developer who is asking for this, the basic need is more housing, that is what (the zoning changes are) going to help us with,” Wheeler said.

The boundaries of the rezoned areas are not changing and no large housing projects for the areas are planned at this time, according to city staff. But Manning and 24 other residents still signed a petition opposing the changes.

“I just feel like there’s not a lot of heart in the decision-making,” Manning said.

Werner Road

At the Dec. 18 meeting, the city council also approved an update to the comprehensive plan that rezoned 22.5 acres near Werner Road from industrial to low-density residential.

Gig-Harbor based developer Harbor Custom Homes applied for the zoning change. The company has received a site development permit from the city to build a 240-house subdivision in the area.

The site, which is near an old gravel mine, is not usually one the city would approve of rezoning, Satter said. But due to the topography of the area, the old mine is located further down a hill from the proposed subdivision.

“Because there was a logical boundary where it was like, ‘this is the most minimal (impact),’ we will approve of this getting rezoned,” Satter said.

The newly rezoned land could allow the Harbor Custom Homes to build additional houses in the area, Satter said, but the developer has not received land-use approval for that yet.

A representative of Harbor Custom Homes did not respond to requests for comment.