KINGSTON — The national pharmacy chain Rite Aid is the first and largest retail store expected to be constructed on the cleared lot at Miller Bay Road and State Route 104.
Kitsap County Department of Community Development received an application in January for the project and a revised application from Rite Aid in mid-April.
The project calls for a 17,000-square-foot building, the entrance of which will face the corner of Miller Bay Road and SR 104. Because it exceeds 5,000-square-feet, the applicant must apply for a conditional use permit.
There will be a public hearing on the project, tentatively set for July 14. However, members of the Kingston Citizens Advisory Committee will host a special July 6 presentation of the project.
“The whole idea of the Kingston citizens advisory group (getting) involved early provides an opportunity for people to comment,†said DCD planner Jeff Smith.
According to the conceptual site plan submitted to the county, the new business development is called Odell’s Corner and Rite Aid will be the largest building on the 13-acre property. There are five other retail buildings slated to be constructed, but the county has not received business applications for them, Smith said.
The property is owned by Frontier Financial Corporation CEO Mike Clementz, whose company also owns Poulsbo-based Frontier Bank. There has been no word as to whether a bank will be constructed on the property. Smith noted, though, that there has been talk of bringing in a car wash.
There will be two entrance and exit points in the business complex, on northbound Miller Bay Road and on eastbound SR 104 and 164 parking lots within the complex. DCD staff has asked Rite Aid to incorporate the Kingston Design Standards for the building and signage, so it will be consistent with the Northwest look of the other retail centers within the area, such as George’s Corner.
“It’s going to be consistent with the overall scheme of the Kingston Design Guidelines, from what I’ve seen, (and) have a similar design to what is across the street,†Smith said.
The northern third of the property zoned as neighborhood commercial, where the business developments will be, and the remaining two-thirds are rural residential. There are two wetlands on the property, but Clementz has already completed land mitigation north of Kingston in exchange for filling some of the wetlands for the site.
