PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County residents have until noon Nov. 20 to submit additional written comments on proposed Silverdale growth and county parks planning changes after commissioners extended the comment period at their Nov. 9 meeting.
The board continued the matter to Dec. 7 for deliberation and decision. Commissioners did not adopt the amendments Nov. 9.
The package would update the parks, recreation and open-space portion of the county’s comprehensive plan, the parks portion of its capital facilities plan and the Silverdale Regional Center subarea plan. It also would add the Silverdale Center Plan as an appendix.
Long-range planner Heather Cleveland said the work brings information from the parks department’s six-year plan, adopted in 2025, into the county’s broader 20-year comprehensive plan.
The proposed parks changes address natural-resource management, visitor amenities, volunteer programs, event facilities, potential divestiture of property and management practices.
The Silverdale component updates the vision, goals, policies and implementation priorities for the regional center, including transportation and public spaces.
Staff said earlier public comments addressed air quality, connections among parks and open spaces, complete streets, pedestrian crossings and last-mile transportation.
One recurring concern involved the removal of Heritage Park as a formal park classification. Staff said the affected properties would be accounted for under natural-resource and regional classifications, but their Heritage Park names would remain.
Public testimony Nov. 9 raised questions about how earlier comments had been summarized, the balance between recreation and conservation, legal constraints on park uses and the future of park stewardship groups.
Staff said the county’s project webpage includes a public-comment summary and the Planning Commission’s deliberation matrix, along with the draft amendments.
The board also considered a separate 2027 planning docket. That proposal would set the subjects eligible for next year’s comprehensive-plan review; it would not itself approve the eventual zoning or land-use changes. Commissioners continued that matter to Nov. 23 for decision and accepted additional comments through Nov. 20.
Drafts and the public-comment form for the comprehensive-plan amendments are available at https://www.kitsap.gov/dcd/Pages/Kitsap_County_Comprehensive_Plan.aspx.
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