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Kitsap County Planning Commission Hears Broad Public Concerns on 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update
Summary
At a Sept. 24 public hearing on the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update, residents, builders and agency staff raised concerns about the Tree Canopy and Critical Areas ordinances, Boundary Line Adjustments, parking/impact fees and housing affordability; the hearing closed with no formal action.
Kitsap County Planning Commission Acting Chair Alan Beam convened a special meeting on Sept. 24, 2024, and opened a public hearing on the county’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update. Deputy County Administrator Eric Baker presented the draft plan and then took public testimony from residents, industry representatives and agency staff.
Speakers at the hearing raised a range of concerns. David Onstad of Port Orchard questioned the plan’s use of Best Available Science and submitted written comments. Several surveyors and consultants — including Mark Eisses (Maps LTD), Berni Kenworthy (Axis Land Consulting), Gary Chapman and Kevin Biggs — urged the Commission to revisit proposed changes to Boundary Line Adjustments (BLAs), saying industry experts were given insufficient time to review the code changes. "Short notice" for the BLA change was a recurring theme among those commenters.
Representatives of the Kitsap Builders Association, including Ian Harkins, pressed the Commission on housing-affordability implications and urged delay of the Tree Canopy Ordinance to allow more industry review. KBA-affiliated commenter Ron Perkerewicz separately raised concerns about proposed parking rules for single-family residences and the Tree Canopy regulations.
Agency and project-specific comments included Kitsap Transit planner Ed Coviello’s note that the draft plan’s impact-fee table lists a park-and-ride impact fee of $2,500 per parking space. Mark Goldberg requested inclusion of a Port Orchard property in the Urban Growth Area and said he provided a map to Commissioners; Michael Korsness spoke about a proposed 438-unit multifamily project off NW Anderson Hill Road. Several commenters, including Beth Nichols and Carol Price, voiced support for tree canopy protections and affordable, walkable neighborhoods. Martha Burke submitted written comments focused on the Parks element of the plan.
No formal votes on the Comprehensive Plan Update were taken at the meeting. After public testimony concluded, Chair Beam closed the hearing; the Commission adjourned by unanimous consent at 6:53 p.m. The meeting minutes record that the agenda was adopted earlier in the evening by a unanimous motion from Commissioner Aaron Murphy. The plan’s project webpage is listed as kcowa.us/compplan for additional documents and materials.
The public hearing provided the Commission with a cross-section of industry, agency and resident perspectives that the Planning Commission will have to reconcile as it considers next steps on the Comprehensive Plan Update.
