Arborwood DA Extension Public Hearing

Don’t miss this critical opportunity to make your public comment about the proposed Arborwood Development Agreement Extension.

WHEN: February 3, 5:30 pm

WHERE: Poulsbo City Hall, Chambers, 200 NE Moe Street, Poulsbo, WA 98370
(this is a change of venue for the convenience of North Kitsap residents)

HOW:

AGENDA: Arborwood Public Hearing 2.3.25

DOCUMENTATION: Arborwood Development Agreement Extension (10-page document with exhibits = 302 pages) Note: The County entered into a “Joint-defense agreementwith the developer applicant, and it appears that this documentation reflects that perspective.


Kingston Community Advisory Council letter to Commissioners (January 9, 2025):

“It has come to our attention that the Commission will be considering a request by the Arborwood developers to extend their 15-year development agreement. This development is an important part of the County’s efforts to comply with growth management goals, but as the development agreement relies on analysis and supporting documentation from the 1990s, we believe the Commission should consider the current community context and the history of community concerns before approving the renewal.

There are three areas we believe should be reviewed:

1) Kingston has grown and changed considerably since the 1990’s, the values and assumptions that underlie the development agreement should be reviewed and updated.

2) The community is much more aware of the impact of development on the environment, the strategies for managing stormwater have significantly improved, and we now have stronger policies supporting the importance of critical areas and our natural open space. In addition, the science revealing the impacts of climate change has become much more sophisticated and should be factored into the development agreement.

3) Transportation needs, volumes, patterns and modes (particularly bicycles and passenger ferry) are much more varied than they were in the 1990’s and we would like the Commission to consider current transportation goals and data when considering an agreement extension.

Thank you for considering this request. Respectively submitted by the Co-Chairs on behalf of the Kingston Community Advisory Council.”

Kitsap Environmental Coalition adds fourth point:

4) We would like the Commissioners to require that any development under an extension meet current county and state regulations including the recently approved Critical Areas Ordinance.


Comment by Kitsap County resident:

“I commend the County for the extensive work on the new 2025 Comprehensive Plan, the updated Critical Areas Ordinances, and the Tree Retention Policies. The County and its residents have shown great care in considering, evaluating, and incorporating up-to-date scientific data and public comments to establish a solid foundation for future growth. Implementing the regulations, codes, and ordinances will be an ongoing necessity for enforcement, and the groundwork has indeed been laid. With all this great work completed, aligning permit projects with our new County plans is sensible.

The Arborwood Development Agreement was written 15 years ago under policies that might have been appropriate at the time but do not meet today’s concerns about sustainable communities and the environmental impacts of developments. This agreement between Pulte Homes/Taylor Morrison and the County will reach its 15-year completion date on February 8, 2025. According to the agreement, the developer is required to complete 51% of the project within that 15-year period to be eligible for an extension request, but they have completed less than 10%. The developers have not met this agreement.

Given this context, the developers should be required to reapply for a new development agreement under the updated guidelines established by the County, which are now more credibly aligned with today’s environmental conditions and community needs. The only reason the County would consider granting an extension of this agreement, with the possibility of future extensions, would be solely for the benefit of the developer and not for the citizens of this County. Therefore, I urge you to deny the request for an extension.


Letter by Kitsap County resident:

Dear friends, neighbors and community members, 

As you may already know, the Arborwood Development Agreement, originally executed on February 8, 2010, is due to expire on February 8, 2025, having run its fifteen-year term. The terms of the agreement were that if 51% of the construction was completed, the developers would be allowed to request an additional five-year extension to complete the project. As of this date, only about 8% is complete, in the southernmost section. A request for an extension has been made through an Amendment to the Agreement, which the Kitsap County Department of Community Development (DCD) has stated that they intend to approve, despite the development failing to meet the required 51% completion threshold. However, this is a legislative decision for the County Commissioners and a Hearing Examiner to decide by a Public Hearing, not a simple permit extension as implied by the DCD notification to adjacent property owners. 

This is a matter for the people of Kingston, especially those using South Kingston Road, whose traffic will be most impacted by 751 additional houses, to speak up for their community. But the impacts will be felt throughout the north end. The County Commissioners, especially Christine Rolfes, whose district this falls within, need to hear from the residents

At issue is the continuation of “vesting” to outdated codes, dating back to 1997 – otherwise known as being “grandfathered in.” The outdated codes are more lenient than current ones, and the primary reason why the developers (Pulte Homes and Taylor Morrison) want the agreement extended, not updated to meet current codes. Stricter codes mean less profit. If you were building a single home today, you would be required to meet all current codes, which are intended to ensure your safety and that of the surrounding community. There is no rational reason why this does not also apply to a large-scale subdivision. 

Arborwood is a large-scale hi-density development, equivalent in population to present-day downtown Kingston. It has a complicated and controversial history as to why a large high-density development was approved for this location in the first place. At the time of the original agreement (15 years ago), county planners were trying to “incentivize” the real estate development of the area and granted special considerations for this project. The GMA population projections used at the time were inflated and were subsequently remanded, but the project was “vested” by then and was let stand despite the lack of need for its massive scale. 

But putting that aside for the moment, allowing it to be now built under outdated regulations is irresponsible, at the very least, and permanently destructive to the character and environment of our community. Under the current proposal, every square inch of the buildable site will be entirely cleared and regraded to flatten the hills and fill the lowlands – including as much wetland buffer as allowed, or more if they can get away with it. The existing neighborhood of Hillbend, built on the natural topography of the hillside, will be surrounded on three sides by this new development, built down 20-30′ feet lower. The buffer between the existing low-density residential and new hi-density is to be regraded to a steep slope. A visual barrier is unlikely to be preserved as the remaining narrow band (25’ wide) of fir trees will be at risk for blowdown in the strong valley winds. A preview of the regrade is visible at the south entrance of Arborwood. 

photo of grading at Arborwood south

I am not personally against development, and I fully appreciate the need for housing, but this is a squandered opportunity to do it responsibly. Using a questionably unbuildable plan from the 90’s (impossible to include that many houses and roads without violating even the outdated codes, as evident in the two Appeal Decisions), it is entirely out of scale with the character of Kingston, and disfigures the beautiful natural topography – the very reason we choose to live here. There are more responsible, respectful, beautiful, and creative ways to build in these times. We know better, and yet, our county is on the verge of approving what the developer wants – to get grandfathered in so they can cut down ALL the trees, pollute the streams, destroy natural habitat, and stamp out identical cookie-cutter units for maximum profit. 

Beyond requesting a simple 5-year extension, the developers are insisting on automatic additional extensions if any delays or legal actions are encountered. So when they again violate regulations, they are armored against legal action. Really, in America? Perhaps… if we don’t say something about it now. 

You do have a voice in this decision. And our local government wants to hear from you. Speaking up at the hearing will be critically important, but perhaps even more so are written comments sent to the Commissioners BEFORE the hearing, so they will be well-informed in their decision-making. Please send in your written comments to: ddaniels@kitsap.gov by 4:30 p.m. Monday, February 3

Whatever your viewpoint on this development, it must be required to adhere to current county and state regulations. An extension under outdated codes is unacceptable, and amending the agreement with the immunity clause is insane – these demands must be denied. We love our community and are willing to fight to protect it.”

Sincerely, April Ryan

Hillbend Lane neighborhood resident


Bullet Points:

Tell the Commissioners that the development must, at the very least, comply with current regulations. They already know that, but they must hear it from the people to act.

  1. The development does not provide affordable housing ($600k for base model, $900k for as built), nor the “missing middle.”
  2. This project exceeds Kingston’s UGA quota for single-family housing – there is no basis for this many units.
  3. The development does not comply with established and sustainable environmental standards – not in stormwater management, not in energy consumption or materials.
  4. The development proposes to clear the entire buildable site of all trees and vegetation. It does not provide adequate tree canopy services (shade, water management, temperature management).
  5. The development does not landscape in native plants, does not support the biodiversity critical for habitat sustainability.
  6. The development, as planned, will pollute fish-bearing streams with toxic 6-PPDs – fatal to salmon.
  7. The development will contribute to unacceptable traffic congestion (LOS) on the single arterial to the entire S.Kingston community, and cause gridlock on all access to downtown Kingston, schools, shopping, and ferries. Mitigation by a single roundabout, traffic light, and left turn lane are grossly inadequate to mitigate for 751 housing units. No traffic analysis has been done within the last 10 years.
  8. The development, as planned, will glut the real estate market with hundreds of identical tract houses, lacking character and neighborhood scale. Flooding the market with the wrong kind of housing, and reducing choices of housing – a very unhealthy scenario with well-documented results.
  9. The development’s “open space” consists entirely of barren land on each side of a broad “Spine Road,” and large fenced-off water detention ponds. Not in character with Kingston and North Kitsap.
  10. The developers lay waste to the natural topography of the landscape, despoiling the natural system. They remove hilltops and fill lowlands to recreate the prairies the cookie-cutter subdivisions were intended for.
  11. The development disrupts the natural recharge of the primary critical aquifer upon which North Kitsap relies for potable water. Normal precipitation is routed through pipes as “stormwater” to discharge almost directly into the sound. Disrupting the natural hydro cycle.
  12. The vast majority of the built surface is covered in impervious surfaces (roofs, sidewalks, roadways), short-circuiting the natural rehydration and absorption into the soil, creating a stormwater management problem they “solve” with fenced-off detention ponds.
  13. The developers are national giants, not local companies. Their “dwelling products” smother the local character. Independent, quality builders will suffer, and home-buyers will be left with fewer options.
  14. Kitsap Peninsula will devolve into another suburban sprawl wasteland, no different than eastside sub-divisions, but with a lot worse traffic because we have more topographic challenges  – hills, valleys, streams, shorelines.
  15. If the developers prevail, we will resemble the Midwest, but way more expensive because flattening hills and valleys is costly.
  16. The developers threaten to rescind the 104-acre Conservation Easement if they don’t get their Development Agreement extended. Since they already use it for detention ponds, utility corridors and access, the environmental value has already been compromised.

Your turn…

2025-02-03 17:30 2025-02-03 19:30 America/Los_Angeles Arborwood DA Extension Public Hearing

Don’t miss this critical opportunity to make your public comment about the proposed Arborwood Development Agreement Extension. WHEN: February 3, 5:30 pm WHERE: Poulsbo City Hall, Chambers, 200 NE Moe Street, Poulsbo, WA 98370 (this is a change of venue for the convenience of North Kitsap residents) HOW: In-person – Poulsbo City Hall Zoom link […]

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