Kitsap County releases preliminary land-use map alternatives to address future growth

Workshops, open house this month; Public comment period open through March 17

Kitsap County, as part of its 2024 Comprehensive Plan update, released preliminary alternative land-use maps and descriptions to address targeted population, employment and housing growth through 2044. The alternatives also address issues such as housing diversity, development incentives and climate change.

Virtual public workshops are scheduled at 6 p.m. Feb. 9 and 15 and an in-person open house takes place at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 to learn more about the alternatives, understand how they may impact communities and ask questions. Go to kcowa.us/compplan for details.

These three alternatives distribute growth differently based upon Growth Management Act and regional plan goals, growth targets, requests for reclassification of properties and local circumstances. The three alternatives can generally be described as:

• No Action: All maps, policies and regulations remain as they are today.
• Focused Growth/Urban Center Focus: Population and employment growth is focused in existing urban areas such as Silverdale and Kingston with policies to incentivize more diverse housing types such as townhomes, multi-family and cottage housing. Rural uses remain the same as they are currently. Policies are developed to set greenhouse gas emission areas and provide greater tree canopy in urban areas.
• Dispersed Growth: Distributes growth similar to historic trends focusing on single-family housing. Urban areas are expanded to accommodate growth and some additional rural development is allowed for housing and jobs.

Documents and maps related to these alternatives can be found at Kcowa.us/compplan.

None of these three alternatives are a recommendation but rather a menu of options to assess environmental impacts and capital facility needs (road, sewer, schools, etc.). They will also be evaluated through public comment as the Board of County Commissioners works to determine a preferred alternative by the end of the year.

Public participation opportunities to discuss the merits of the alternatives will be held through March and can be found at Kcowa.us/compplan including dates, times and more information.

To provide comment on the alternatives or any other aspect of the Comprehensive Plan update, please email compplan@kitsap.gov. All comments received will become part of the update record and available to the Board of Commissioners.

Send specific questions and comments to compplan@kitsap.gov or call Kitsap1 at (360) 337-5777 and ask for Planning and Environmental Programs.