PORT ORCHARD — The Kitsap County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Nov. 17, on the first update since 2020 to the county’s road standards, the rules that govern how new and rebuilt public roads, sidewalks and trails are designed and when developers have to improve the roads next to their projects.
Public Works calls the 2026 update a cleanup to fix inconsistencies and gray areas raised by county staff and builders, with a larger overhaul planned to start in 2027. A commitment to have a draft ready by the end of 2025 was delayed by retirements and vacancies, according to the staff presentation.
The main changes, according to Public Works:
- Spelling out when private development must build frontage improvements along the road, which staff call “historically unclear,” by folding a 2025 county engineer memo into the standards.
- Clarifying when larger developments need two publicly accessible routes, and whether a fire-access route can count as the second one. The draft calls for at least two fully open access points to existing roads for developments that generate more than 1,000 vehicle trips a day, unless the county engineer and county fire marshal approve other measures.
- Clarifying who decides variances: the county engineer for public roads and the fire marshal for private roads, for things like on-street parking, cul-de-sac design and two-way single-lane roads.
- Requiring that survey monuments disturbed or destroyed during construction or utility work be replaced under a licensed land surveyor.
- Updating construction drawings to reflect current practices.
The Kitsap Builders Association submitted the bulk of the written comments so far, asking about how the county decides which projects affect roads, longer review timelines, appeals of technical decisions, utility trench backfill and how much asphalt must be restored after work. One resident asked the county to make road requirements for developers easier for the public to find, “especially when projects are happening in our backyards.”
The 2027 update is expected to tackle urban design standards, Complete Streets, private road standards, street tree survival and when older roads can be exempt from full asphalt restoration.
No decision is scheduled Nov. 17. The commission plans to deliberate Dec. 1 and adopt findings Dec. 15, possibly combining both Dec. 1. Its recommendation then goes to the county commissioners.
The hearing is part of the commission’s 5:30 p.m. meeting in the Commissioners Chambers of the Kitsap County Administration Building, 619 Division St., Port Orchard. It can be joined on Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/88636743440 (passcode 990680) or by phone at 253-215-8782, and watched on BKAT. Written comments received by 2 p.m. Nov. 16 will go to commissioners before the meeting; send them to Planning Commission Clerk Clara Jewell at cjewell@kitsap.gov. The draft standards and staff report are at kitsap.gov/dcd/Pages/PlanningCommission.aspx.
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