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Planning Commission hears 30% briefing on Kitsap County 'Year of the Rural' project; staff outlines reclassification review
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Summary
County staff briefed the Planning Commission on the Year of the Rural project's 30% draft, mapping work, proposed code update topics and initial review of 17 deferred rural-to-rural reclassification requests.
Kitsap County Department of Community Development planners briefed the Planning Commission June 9 on the "Year of the Rural" project, presenting a 30% draft of the planned rural and resource lands chapter and outlining related code-review work and reclassification requests.
Heather Cleveland, long-range planner with DCD, told commissioners the project will deliver three products: an updated rural and resource lands chapter, potential code updates, and recommendations on reclassification requests. The project timeline presented to the commission sets a 60% draft in September, a 90% draft with findings and public hearings in November, and adoption targeted for December 2025.
Cleveland said staff are using survey results, earlier comprehensive-plan public comments, subject-matter interviews and mapping to build the draft. She highlighted several priorities including agriculture, energy siting (battery energy storage systems and transmission), mineral-resource mapping, and an inventory of zoning and parcel histories. The project also will examine limited areas of more intensive rural development (LAMIRD) and "innovative techniques" listed in state law, such as clustering and transfer of development rights, as potential tools for balancing rural character and limited housing needs.
On reclassification requests, Cleveland said 17 rural-to-rural requests were deferred from the 2024 comprehensive-plan process and are now under assessment. Two of those requests had been included in alternative 2 of the comp-plan analysis, while most were placed in alternative 3. Staff are applying the county's application criteria and RCW-based guidance (Kitsap County code 20.187.070 referenced for criteria) to evaluate whether requests should move forward for further analysis and public hearings. Initial scenarios under consideration ranged from advancing all residential requests for further review to advancing only industrial/commercial requests; staff said one scenario that would treat residential area-wide amendments differently was considered but is no longer being pursued at this time.
Cleveland said staff will present an initial reclassification review summary to the Board of County Commissioners the week of June 9; the board's regular meeting on June 23 will include an item for possible docket updates and public comment. She also noted the Department of Commerce's draft rural element guidebook as a current reference for framing rural-character questions.
Commissioners asked for clarifications on the reclassification criteria and how the project will define and measure "rural character." Cleveland said more detailed policy language and mapping will appear in the 60% draft and that a possible appendix could provide deeper historical and outreach documentation. Commissioners also sought information on how the county might measure implementation success compared with the 2018 plan; Cleveland said backward-looking, project-level tracking had not previously been compiled but staff intend to track projects and prepare prioritization tools moving forward.
No formal commission action was taken; the briefing closes the Planning Commission's role for the 30% milestone but indicates additional hearings and deliberations ahead as staff develop a fuller draft for public review.
