Kitsap weighs $7.8 million in housing grants, including 12 affordable units in Kingston

PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County commissioners will decide Nov. 9 on $7.8 million in housing and community development grants for 2027. The list includes a 12-unit affordable apartment project in Kingston, new roofs for two Poulsbo affordable housing complexes and a shelter in Gorst.

Commissioners held a public hearing on the recommendations Oct. 26 and voted to keep it open. Written comments will be accepted until noon Nov. 6.

The county’s Capital Grant Recommendation Committee reviewed 17 applications seeking just over $10 million. It recommended $7,749,456 for 14 capital projects, and three public service programs would share another $82,000. The money comes from the county’s one-tenth of 1% sales tax for affordable housing, known as Community Investments in Affordable Housing, and from federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds.

The largest recommended awards include:

• $1.88 million to St. Vincent de Paul for a four-story, 38-unit building in Bremerton with transitional and permanent supportive housing for women and children, plus $685,783 to add 17 beds to its Stella Maris shelter.
• $1.5 million to Housing Kitsap for Howerton, a 12-unit complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments in Kingston for residents earning up to 60% of area median income.
• $811,000 to Kitsap Mental Health Services for two prefab accessory dwelling units on property it already owns.
• $577,958 in HOME funds to Community Frameworks for down payment assistance for first-time buyers countywide.
• $567,250 for architectural, engineering and permitting work on Eagle’s Wings Coordinated Care’s planned 28- to 50-bed low-barrier shelter in Gorst.

In Poulsbo, Housing Kitsap would receive $250,000 each to replace roofs at Fjord Manor and Fjord Vista II. Joel Warren, who manages the county’s affordable housing sales tax program, said the Howerton project is a partnership with Kingston Cares. The land was sold for $10,000 in exchange for 50 years of affordability, he said, and at least half the units are expected to serve veterans.

One program left out of the recommendations drew concern from all three commissioners. Kitsap Community Resources’ Business Education Support & Training program, or BE$T, asked for $60,000 for its entrepreneur training classes and received nothing.

Bonnie Tufts, the county’s block grant program manager, said microenterprise training is a lower priority than housing rehab under federal block grant rules, and housing applications were plentiful this year. She said the city of Bremerton is funding the program and that staff will look for other ways to support it in next year’s cycle.

Commissioner Christine Rolfes said she would “hate to lose the infrastructure” of the program, including its instructors and alumni. Commissioner Katie Walters suggested the county’s workforce development funding as a possible source.

Two other applications were not funded: a two-unit reentry house proposed by Peninsula Community Health Services and renovations at West Sound Treatment Center’s Fuller House shelter.

Written comments can be sent to the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners before noon Nov. 6. The recommendations and project summaries are posted with the Oct. 26 meeting agenda at kitsap.gov.