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Silverdale Center plan reaches 90% draft; staff outline design standards, district consolidation and implementation steps
Summary
Kitsap County planners presented a near-final Silverdale Center plan (about 90% draft) that refines vision, consolidates design districts, proposes standards versus guidelines, and lists implementation priorities including design standards, a redevelopment code framework, and coordination with Kitsap Transit; staff said materials and an open house will be posted in early May.
Jim Rogers, a long-range planner with the Department of Community Development, presented the Planning Commission with an update on the Silverdale Center plan on April 21, saying the draft is roughly 90% complete and that staff are preparing design standards, district maps and implementation priorities for public review.
Rogers walked commissioners through the plan’s structure — vision, area-specific concepts, transportation and public-space priorities, goals, and an implementation table listing near-, mid-, and long-term actions. Near-term priorities identified in the implementation table include urban design standards, a redevelopment-code framework to help constrained sites, exploring multifamily tax-exemption programs, funding and prioritization for transportation projects, and a parking study. Rogers said staff plan to post the 90% draft and preliminary design standards on the county website and hold an open house in Silverdale in early May.
On design, Rogers explained a proposal to consolidate and simplify multiple overlapping design districts into fewer, clearer districts (core, transition, Old Town, and a medical district), and to use overlays — for example Clear Creek and potentially the waterfront — to provide special protections or requirements in sensitive or strategic subareas. Rogers emphasized the distinction between enforceable design standards (massing, height, setbacks) and advisory design guidelines (aesthetics and creativity) and said staff plan to convert narrative guidance into clearer tables and graphics to aid predictability in development review.
Commissioners raised several points: one suggested exploring a credit-based approach to stormwater for constrained Old Town parcels; another urged stronger EV-charger requirements for new multifamily and commercial buildings, noting forthcoming state multifamily code changes. Commissioners also asked how the county would keep the plan from being shelved; Rogers pointed to the implementation table that assigns responsibilities to departments, an ongoing countywide implementation plan and a state-required five-year progress review in 2029 to monitor outcomes.
Rogers asked commissioners to suggest stakeholders and civic groups for outreach as staff finalize design standards and district maps. Next steps include public posting of materials, an early-May Silverdale open house, further refinement of design standards and diagrams, and eventual integration of standards into county code by year-end.
