North end community plans taking shape

The Kingston Citizen Advisory Council approved a downtown plan last week, intended to spark development and make streets more pedestrian friendly.

Meanwhile, the Greater Hansville Area Advisory Council has put finishing touches on its community plan, which lays out policies to safeguard the environment and rural feel of the peninsula’s north end.

The Hansville draft plan will debut before the county Planning Commission Sept. 15 in Port Orchard. The commission will review the Kingston plan Oct. 6 at the North Kitsap Fire and Rescue station on Miller Bay Road.

The Board of County Commissioners will need to approve both plans by the end of the year so they can be included in the county’s comprehensive plan.

Kingston has long had a sub area plan, which regulates density in the surrounding urban growth area. But citizens groups including the Advisory Council and Stakeholders Group, decided the downtown area needed a more focused plan.

“It’s the comunity’s living room,” said county planner Peter Sullivan, who works with both the Kingston and Hansville advisory groups. “It’s where people commute to get to work and it’s the economic engine for the north end.”

The draft downtown would allow greater density in the downtown core, largely through tweaks in county code. For example, the requirement for off-street parking in new developments would be lowered, while use of on-street and shared parking would be maximized. Some rezoning and zoning boundary changes would occur.

In the planning process, Kingston was divided into four sections and streetscape plans were developed for each, with the help of BC&J company of Bainbridge.

The plan assumes that the ferry loading lanes will eventually be rerouted onto NE First Street. That rearrangement was approved by the state Department of Transporation but was never funded.

Unlike the Kingston plan, the Hansville plan is so far in the policy stage, and doesn’t recommend specific code changes.

The Hansville plan began as a resident-led effort about about four years ago. County planners took the public input already gathered and helped weave it into a policy document.

Environmental policies include protecting existing shorelines and wildlife habitat and promoting stormwater retention.

“We understand growth will happen, but we want to protect the environment,” Advisory Council member Linda Redling said.

The plan would preserve the “rural feel” by maintaining large lot sizes and farmland. The plan also addresses economic development, parks, public services and roads.

The Greater Hansville area includes the north tip of the Kitsap Peninsula and extends to the southwest along Hood Canal Drive and southeast to Eglon.

Find out more...

To review the Kingston and Hansville draft plans see www.kitsapgov.com/dcd.

Contact North Kitsap Herald North End Reporter Tad Sooter at tsooter@northkitsapherald.com or 360-779-4464.

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