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Hearing examiner reviews mitigation-heavy variance to reduce wetland buffer for new house in South Kitsap
Summary
Kitsap County staff recommended a Type 3 critical area variance to allow construction of a 2,300-square-foot single-family house and driveway to encroach to a 33-foot minimum buffer from a Category III wetland on a 3.52-acre South Kitsap parcel; staff and the applicant presented a mitigation package that includes removal of existing driveway, 49,
Hearing Examiner Emily Terrell opened a Type 3 public hearing May 8 on a critical areas variance requested by Ryan Morton to reduce the wetland buffer for a Category III wetland on a 3.52-acre parcel in South Kitsap.
Jeff Smith, senior planner with the Kitsap County Department of Community Development, said the applicant proposes a 2,300-square-foot single-family home and associated infrastructure and requests relief from KCC critical-area buffer provisions so portions of the house and driveway would approach the wetland buffer to a minimum of 33 feet at the narrowest point. Smith described the site as roughly 600 by 285 feet, wooded with conifers and deciduous trees, currently occupied by a 1974 manufactured home used as a temporary special-care mobile home. The property is zoned Rural Protection (one dwelling unit per 10 acres) and is mapped with soils and wetland features that trigger critical-areas review.
Smith said Peninsula Environmental Group performed the wetland delineation and classified the wetland as Category III with a habitat score of 6, yielding a standard buffer of 110 feet. He summarized the applicant’s mitigation sequencing (avoid, minimize, mitigate), including removing portions of an existing circular driveway and replacing open areas with native vegetation to improve buffer function. Staff’s materials identify the wetland as about 58,000 square feet; the mitigation plan identifies 49,838 square feet of enhancement area and removal of approximately 260 linear feet of hog-wire fencing.
Civil engineer Kallie Iverson, speaking for the applicant, said the proposal seeks to “impact the site as little as possible” by using existing topography, reducing impervious surface, and removing western portions of the circular driveway to increase distance from the wetland. Iverson said the project will reuse the existing septic drainfield and will not require upsizing the system as part of this proposal.
Casey Lanier, wetlands biologist with Soundview (participating remotely), told the examiner the proposed driveway and house are sited where existing vegetation is younger and revegetating from past clearing and that removal of the western portion of the circular driveway increases the closest approach from the wetland while improving overall buffer function. Rob Doherty, an adjacent property owner at 9372 Lawrence Drive SE, said he has no objections and welcomed the family to the neighborhood.
Smith told the examiner staff finds the project meets variance criteria where: special site circumstances limit buildable area; the proposal minimizes impacts through mitigation; and staff considers the requested footprint to be the minimum necessary to achieve reasonable use. Smith recommended approval of the variance with the mitigation measures identified in the record.
Terrell closed the public hearing and said she would issue a written decision within 10 business days. No members of the public offered opposition testimony at the hearing.
The record contains mitigation plans and exhibits entered at hearing; the examiner’s written decision will state final conditions and any required monitoring or planting schedules if the variance is approved.
