Suggestions: Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan Update Alternatives

Kitsap County has provided three alternatives related to land use and zoning to be included in the Comprehensive Plan Update. Working groups of KEC members have been discussing the alternatives. Here are suggestions that they are providing for your consideration. We urge you to submit written comments (send to compplan@kitsap.gov) and speak at the public hearing on April 10 @ 5:30 pm before the Board of County Commissioners. Check website for meeting details.  Feel free to draw on these ideas as you see fit.

In September 2022, when land-owners were submitting requests for rezoning, KEC submitted a request to rethink the County’s mission and vision. As we look at the three alternatives, we realize again the importance of the mission and vision. For example, in our suggestions for changes in mission and vision, we called for an orientation that promote a locally-based economy that provides:

• • a living wage and quality of life for all;
  • the ability to live and work in one’s community;
  • protection, security, and fair treatment for all;
  • protection and rejuvenation for our ecosystems in the midst of climate change;
  • well-being for current and future generations of Kitsap inhabitants, human and wild-life.

Alternative 2 is congruent with this vision while the other alternatives are questionable.

Overall, we place quality of life for all as our priority. And a true priority requires that financial viability is aligned with it.

Thus, here are our suggestions about the alternatives for your consideration.

1. Use Alternative 2 as the basic alternative as you move toward a Preferred (Composite) Alternative. We support concentrating on the UGAs and not dispersing growth.
2. Wait until after the Comp Plan Update is finished to look at rural land use, zoning, and codes as a whole with attention to ensuring protection of the natural environment and support environmentally responsible farming and timber harvesting practice.
   This means putting all requests for changes in the rural zones or LAMIRDs on hold until there is concerted attention to the rural areas following the completion of the Comp Plan Update. As examples:
   • Do not allow the zoning changes requested by the owners of 400 (approx.) acres near PGFHP to change from 1 dwelling/20 acres to 1 dwelling/5 acres.
   • Do not allow zoning changes for the LAMIRD request near Bond Rd in North Kitsap.
3. Support transit as well as housing options that promote Alternative 2. Invest in nonmotorized transportation that connects communities. If any shared use paths are allowed, ensure that they support affordable living and protect our ecosystems in the midst of climate change and new scientific knowledge about ecosystems.
4. Provide county residents with information about the costs to the County (and thus its taxpayers) of chosen elements of the preferred alternate including costs of maintenance and operations.
5. Ensure that goals can actually be carried out and will be adequately monitored to determine whether the shift from current practices are actually happening.

We have many other points to make about each chapter of the Comp Plan as the staff brings forth drafts. We will address those later. We have suggestions that range from roof top and parking area solar to recognizing that nonmotorized transportation could include communication modes such as broadband. We’re calling for creative thinking and action that supports the funding of quality of life for all.

Click here for the changes we requested in September 2022 to create a new vision and mission for the County. If you are part of a Community Advisory Council, we encourage you to talk with your community group about using such changes in Mission and Vision in your sub-area planning.