Critics to a proposed shopping center near the Highway 305-High School Road intersection struck familiar chords at the start of the hearing for the project Thursday at Bainbridge Island City Hall.

But proponents of the project also got a chance to offer their views to the city’s hearing examiner — and to critics of the proposal — and countered that the development fits with existing zoning and regulations and should move forward.

Opponents to the nearly 62,000-square-foot shopping center — which would include a Bartell Drugs store, restaurants and offices for professional services — told Hearing Examiner Stafford Smith the development would bring redundant and unwanted businesses to the island.

Some also questioned whether the proposed project fit with the city’s comprehensive plan, the expansive document that guides growth and development in the city.

“I believe that most of us here tonight are here because we not only want to make Bainbridge liveable, we want to fulfill the vision of the Bainbridge comprehensive plan and make Bainbridge even more liveable,” said David Korten, a book author and island resident.

Korten drew a distinction between the views of islanders and those who want to develop the approximately 8-acre property that sits directly across from the McDonald’s on High School Road.

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