Kitsap hearing examines Meadowview SEPA appeal over off‑site stormwater easement and Barker Creek daylighting

The Kitsap County hearing examiner heard legal argument and witness testimony Jan. 9 in an appeal of the Meadowview preliminary plat and related SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) determination, focusing on two narrow issues: whether the applicant—orrectly treats an off‑site parcel as used only for stormwater easement purposes and whether mitigation measure No. 7 in the county raft Mitigated Determination of Non‑Significance (MDNS) properly requires daylighting a piped section of Barker Creek.

The dispute matters because the applicant nd the county reached different views about what land and what impacts the SEPA decision covered, and because the daylighting measure would require work on land the applicant does not own. If the examiner finds the mitigation is not tied to the project s proposed, the county could be required to remove that condition from the MDNS.

At the hearing, applicant counsel Joanna Koloskova said the Meadowview preliminary plat as proposed does not include construction within Barker Creek or its buffer and that stormwater facilities placed on an adjacent parcel would be served by an easement. Koloskova asked the examiner to remove mitigation measure No. 7, arguing the MDNS used mitigation not connected to a project impact: "Under 4321c060, the statute is clear that mitigation must be designed to mitigate 'specific adverse environmental impacts' of the project," she said, adding her position that "the project does not propose any activity or impacts to Barker Creek or its associated buffer that would warrant that particular mitigation measure."

County planner and project lead Darren Gurney testified the county…