Most cities in the state have to grow in population to meet government goals.
But Port Orchard won’t have to grow as much as some because it’s been growing for four years. The City Council received an update on that and other aspects of its Comprehensive Plan at a meeting Sept. 17.
The growth plan through 2044 calls for 10,500 residents and 5,400 jobs, said Nick Bond, the city’s community development director. “The good news is that all of the growth that’s happened in the last four years is subtracted from that number, and so we have 7,000 or so residents to plan for over the next 20-year period.”
Mayor Robert Putaansuu said the one subsidized housing project being built is Riverstone, single-family homes built in cooperation with the Housing Kitsap. All the rest are homes built to meet market demand.
Bond said that while Port Orchard has land available to build on, subsidized funding hasn’t followed. “The last housing bill passed at the federal level expired in 2009, and we haven’t done anything at the national level to add to that,” he said. “So, we will probably hit our growth target, though we probably won’t hit our housing target. But at least we’ll have land available to meet market demand,” he said.
Much of the discussion was focused on zones for land use, changing it from commercial to residential. Like all cities in Puget Sound, Port Orchard will be building more apartments, but funding through government subsidies have to follow along with the choice of where to build. “We’re not in the house-building business,” Putaansuu said. “That’s more of Housing Kitsap’s role, and so we have to wait on that.”
The Comp Plan also includes small sections dealing with parks and natural systems. “We didn’t have a heavy touch on these,” Bond said. “We’re just laying out the policies and goals for our critical areas.”
The two primary plans now under review by the city’s Planning Commission include the Bethel Lund plan and the Bethel Sedgwick plan. They are the two largest areas of growth for the city. The areas are bordered by Port Orchard’s unincorporated areas to the east and Blackjack Creek to the west. Bond said his department is working with input from area residents on three alternative plans for each area’s zoning and land use.
The choices discussed with the community were keeping everything the same; what Bond called, “a light touch”; and Alternative 3 was a mixed-use and transit-oriented development. “The Bethel Lund area was a little more resistant to change than the Sedgwick area,” he said. “So we made fewer changes in that area.”
Some of the changes included height requirements as well as whether an area is a commercial corridor or a mixed-use commercial and residential area.
Bond said the city anticipates taking public testimony Oct. 1. The Planning Commission will then discuss the input and meet again Oct. 29. After the Planning Commission makes its recommendation, the Comp Plan will go to the City Council. Bond said a final decision is expected by the end of the year.
