Kitsap hearing examiner leaves record open on Provost Subdivision after staff recommends conditional approval

A Kitsap County Hearing Examiner left the record open at a virtual proceeding over a preliminary plat application for the Provost Subdivision (file 2303248) after staff recommended approval subject to conditions and the applicant objected to two conditions tied to state right-of-way concurrence.

The Department of Community Development staff presentation, delivered by Jenny Kreifels, described the proposal by Huber Properties LLC to subdivide approximately 4.63 acres along Provost Road Northwest in the Silverdale urban growth area into 16 single-family lots. Kreifels said the application included stormwater management, on-site parking, utilities, landscape buffers and recreational open-space tracts; she reported one Category 4 wetland and a Type F stream on or adjacent to the site, and said a Habitat Management Plan and a 10-year maintenance and monitoring plan were included in the submittal. Kreifels said the project was processed using the optional SEPA Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) process and that no appeals had been filed.

The staff report, admitted into the record as Exhibits 1–35, recommended approval of the preliminary plat subject to conditions in the staff report. Kreifels explained that an administrative buffer reduction was proposed for lots 15 and 16 (reducing an outer buffer by 25%, from 150 feet to 112.5 feet) and that buffer averaging and native-plant enhancement in Tracts B and C would offset vegetation removal.

Applicant representative Matt Weber, a civil engineer with AHBL representing Huber Properties LLC, told the examiner he agreed with most recommended conditions but objected to conditions numbered 47 and 48 (as listed in the staff report) that referenced Washington State Department of Transportation concurrence for impacts to state right-of-way. Weber said he had contacted WSDOT staff (Jeff Smiley and Andy Larson) and had an email indicating WSDOT had “no interest in this project” and did not request mitigation to state facilities; he asked the examiner to strike conditions 47 and 48 or accept the WSDOT email into the record. The examiner permitted the applicant to submit the email and the clerks designated that submission as Exhibit 36.

A nearby homeowner, Jazuk Dunn, spoke during public comment and raised concerns about density, traffic, emergency-vehicle access, and the project’s proposed on-site community septic systems. Dunn said the existing nearby subdivision’s streets “are not wide enough for emergency vehicles,” that parking is insufficient, and expressed opposition to proposed septic systems because nearby properties already rely on septic and a high share of rental units could lead to improper septic care.

County staff addressed the concerns on the record. Darren Gurney (development engineering) explained the county’s code requires connection to a sewer system only where a sewer line with capacity exists within 200 feet of a parcel; in this case, he said sewer lines were not within that distance and may be over a mile away, so the code allows a large on-site septic system to serve urban-level densities. Staff also said road and fire-access standards would be enforced at the site development (SDAP) stage and that there are conditions requiring emergency-vehicle access to meet code.

The examiner chose not to issue a final decision at the hearing. Instead, he left the record open until the following Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. for staff and the applicant to attempt to resolve the disputed conditions and to allow the applicant to submit the WSDOT email into the record. He instructed the clerk to circulate any revised conditions to parties and permitted the public two business days to file responses to any revised conditions; staff and applicant may then reply.

The hearing record shows the application was deemed complete August 3, 2023; a DNS was issued September 10, 2024; the proposal lists Silverdale Water and on-site community septic systems as utilities; and the county identified 35 exhibits in the staff report and accepted an additional applicant email as Exhibit 36. No final approvals or votes were taken at the hearing.