Dear Neighbor,

The Jefferson County Citizens’ Alliance for Property Rights (CAPR) recently learned that the idea for building traffic roundabouts on Upper Sims Way began several years ago and considerable money has been spent out of the general budget to hire engineers and consultants to develop plans and sell the idea to Port Townsend citizens. By overwhelming numbers residents, commuters and business owners along upper Sims Way have told the city they do not want this project. Yet, the city is moving ahead with their plan anyway.

The scope of this project is not simply the building of two traffic circles on Sims Way. It includes taking property by eminent domain to radically grade and reconstruct the intersection of Thomas and Sims. It includes major roadway construction of Howard Street to the south of Sims Way and through the wetlands behind the commercial center between Sims and 4thStreet. It also includes reconstruction and improvements for 4thStreet from Howard Street all the way to Logan and possibly beyond.

By contacting the Department of Transportation and the State Legislature Committees for Transportation and Budget we have learned that the state has absolutely no money to offer the City of Port Townsend for highway construction on upper Sims Way. The obvious conclusion of this finding is that the only way the city will be able to develop this project is through an LID. An L.I.D. is a Local Improvement District, or more specifically, a new tax district that will be used to force property owners to pay for the roadway construction. We are contacting you because your property in Port Townsend is included in this new tax district.

Our objective is to educate as many of our friends and neighbors as possible about what this project entails and recruit them to support our efforts to defeat the LID. When the city announces the boundaries of the new tax district we will have 30 days in which to gather signatures in opposition to the proposal.

In order to protect our property values and stop the additional tax we need both support and contributions to help fund printing and mailing costs. Please contact us on the link provided so we may keep you aware of future meetings and events.

Thank you for your support,

Jim Boyer
President CAPR-Jeffco