Port Orchard approves McCormick Village development agreement after brief public hearing

The Port Orchard City Council on May 12 adopted an ordinance approving a development agreement with McCormick Communities LLC for the McCormick Urban Village, authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement.

Director Bond outlined the agreement during a public hearing, saying it would grant limited flexibility on design standards — including lot coverage, parking stall dimensions, porch setbacks, facade‑variation requirements, siding material clarifications and relief for detached garages on nonstandard lots — to address practical design constraints discovered during engineering. Bond cited Port Orchard Municipal Code (POMC) 20.26 and POMC 20.12415 as the code sections involved and said the flexibility is limited and intended to implement the 2021 McCormick Village sub‑area plan.

Greg Crabbe, who said he represents McCormick Communities, told the council the requested changes are "helpful" and confirmed the developer will help expedite a Perris/Parrish Creek augmentation station design as part of the agreement. Bond said the city will later consider a water‑agreement amendment to credit the developer for building the augmentation station; for now the design work is being offered as consideration in exchange for the code relief.

Council members asked whether the design approach might be applied elsewhere and how the housing types will be classified. Bond said he has shared the concept with the local development community and that the approach may inform future sub‑area plans but is best handled through development agreements because writing a universal zoning standard for this configuration is difficult. Council discussion also clarified that fourplexes are considered middle housing under Port Orchard code and that a sixplex meets the city’s definition of an apartment when it contains five or more units.

The council voted to adopt the ordinance approving the development agreement. The staff recommendation to approve followed a public hearing, and the planning commission had earlier unanimously recommended approval. The council noted the agreement includes city benefits — the developer’s design work for the augmentation station — and that any amendments to the city’s water agreement to credit construction would be considered later.

Next steps: the city will proceed with the contractual execution and later consider the water‑agreement amendment that would grant credit to McCormick Communities for constructing the augmentation station.