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Port Orchard hearing on LU25-reszone-01: staff neutral, neighbors cite safety and environmental concerns
Summary
At a Dec. 3 hearing, Port Orchard staff said a site-specific rezoning to R3 for about 2.7 acres is consistent with the comprehensive plan and issued a neutral recommendation; the applicant argued the change would enable infill and infrastructure improvements, while multiple neighbors urged denial citing missing sidewalks, traffic danger and slope/runoff risks.
PORT ORCHARD — A hearing examiner on Dec. 3 took public testimony on a site-specific rezoning application (LU25-reszone-01) that would change roughly 2.7 acres from R2 to R3 near the Sherman Avenue and Melture Street West area, while staff and the applicant debated whether the change is appropriate and neighbors urged denial over safety and environmental concerns.
Connor Dalquist, an associate planner for the city, told the hearing the department found the rezoning request consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and municipal code and therefore is "eligible for consideration"; based on the findings and the record staff issued a neutral recommendation to the hearing examiner. Dalquist said the project record includes a determination of non-significance issued Sept. 18, 2025, a modified DNS on Oct. 29, 2025, and 34 exhibits entered into the record.
The applicant's representative, Larson, said the rezoning would allow the option of apartments in addition to townhomes and would prompt frontage and sidewalk improvements. Larson told the examiner that, depending on the product type, "we could build roughly 75 bedrooms ... versus around 100 bedrooms" and framed the proposal as an infill connector that could extend sidewalks from nearby developments.
But multiple residents urged the examiner to deny the rezoning. Lindsay Paradiso, who said she lives on Hull Avenue, asked the examiner to deny the request, arguing "the request is not compatible with the established character, function, and long range planning vision for the neighborhood" and that introducing R3 zoning would "create a sudden unplanned disruption rather than a thoughtful transition." Paradiso also said recent apartment construction nearby already adds significant housing capacity.
Savannah Coats, who lives directly across the parcel, said sidewalks cannot be connected without taking neighboring private property and described the road as "very dangerous" for children boarding buses at a blind-hill driveway; she warned that a larger development would increase hazards for pedestrians and bus routes. Miss Walstrom, a longtime neighborhood resident, raised environmental concerns, saying removal of vegetation around new developments has increased tree fall and that adding impermeable surfaces could worsen runoff during heavy storms and threaten downhill properties protected as green belt.
City staff and other city witnesses acknowledged the neighborhood lacks sidewalks on segments of Whole Avenue and said off-site improvements would likely be required at the building-permit stage for any project generating more than 30 vehicle trips. Nick Bond, the department's community development director, said the city's 2024 comprehensive plan update requires planning for housing at multiple income bands and that increased R3 capacity could help provide housing in income bands where new supply has lagged.
The examiner admitted the staff report and exhibits, heard testimony from staff, the applicant and five public commenters, and closed the hearing. He said he will prepare a written recommendation to the city council, typically within a couple of weeks; the council will review the record in a closed-record review and cannot accept new evidence.
No final council decision was made at the hearing.
The planning department will post the examiner's recommendation; members of the public were told to contact the permit center at permitcenter@portorchard.gov (or the planning department) to receive the recommendation when it is issued.
