The Kitsap County Commissioners will narrow down the options of eight Urban Growth Areas (UGAs), including Kingston on Monday, as required by the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board, a state commission.

In September, the board directed Kitsap County to “re-examine” its UGAs which had been expanded during the 2006 Comprehensive Plan. The board found the UGAs needed to be reduced according to the Growth Management Act.

The Department of Community Development has been redefining the appropriate urban density,  reducing UGA residential zones to four homes per acre in urban areas, from five homes per acre in the 2006 plan.

Currently, Kingston is divided among Urban Cluster, Urban Restricted and Urban Low Residential zones, the majority of the town is designated Urban Low Residential. There are currently three alternatives with several changes, but all three alter the zones along the shoreline to Urban Conservancy or High Intensity, keeping in line with the county’s Shoreline Master Plan, according to Angie Silva, special projects planner.

The three plans chosen on Monday will be further reviewed by a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Silva said. Additional public hearings will be held before the Aug. 31 deadline.