Editor’s note: The projected average daily use of water is corrected in the 11th paragraph.

By SOPHIE BONOMI
sbonomi@soundpublishing.com

KINGSTON — A new community, Arborwood, is proposed between White Horse Golf Club and Kingston. But residents didn’t put out the welcome mat at a neighborhood meeting on April 13.

Arborwood, on land owned by Pope Resources, would consist of 765 homes on 361 acres next to dense woods, wetlands and streams that are habitat for fish and other wildlife.

Arborwood would also have a 20,000-square-foot retail area, described on the project website as “a central gathering spot for residents” that will include “convenience shops and spaces for local artisans.”

Olympic Property Group, Pope’s real estate arm, states on the project website (www.arborwood-kingston.com) that the neighborhood would be built in a way that “provides balance between the serenity of nature and convenience of services” in neighboring Kingston and Poulsbo, and “provides an ideal balance of community and nature.”

But residents said the sheer size of the project makes them nervous about the impacts to wetlands and streams.

“I think all of this is custom-made to make money,” said an upset Kingston resident who asked to not be named.

“Can you imagine 30-foot-wide lots? They’re cramming as many people as they can. They don’t give a damn about the infrastructure. They care about selling their buildings and getting out. People are freaking out.”

Christopher Ilo of Indianola expressed concern about the impact on resources.

“Last summer was a very dry summer and White Horse uses more water than Indianola. Our wells were dropping. What’s the anticipated impact on our watershed, plus the sewage? We live on a peninsula. What does that mean for [the] possibility of saltwater incursion when we have a very dry summer?”

Jon Rose, president of Olympic Property Group, said, “With or without this project, if drought conditions [continue], you’re going to see groundwater levels continue to recede.”

He said each Arborwood household will use a projected 200 gallons of water a day. For 765 homes, that’s an average of 153,000 gallons combined.

According to the project website, Arborwood would be built in a number of phases; the timing of each phase would depend upon the demand for new homes. The first phase would consist of two areas which would accommodate approximately 245 single-family lots. Phase 1 North would have 60 home sites, Phase 1 South would have 185.

Rose said removal of trees could begin in August or September.

Traffic impacts
According to a 2007 study commissioned by Pope, Arborwood would generate 7,358 weekday daily vehicle trips “with 551 occurring during the weekday a.m. peak hour and 747 occurring during the weekday p.m. peak hour.”

The level of service at three intersections would degrade, according to the study. Proposed mitigation measures include construction of eastbound and southbound right-turn lanes at State Route 104 and Hansville Road, a northbound right-turn lane at West Kingston Road and Miller Bay Road, and a new signal and westbound right-turn lane at South Kingston Road and West Kingston Road.

Another concerned resident, wishing to remain nameless, said, “One thing that this map, that map, all maps don’t show the community is the fact that this development has absolutely no plans, nor does the county at this time to my knowledge, for infrastructure improvement in terms of South Kingston Road. The impact of that many people … would limit car trips or emergency transportation. None of this is being addressed.”

Someone expressed concern about trucks related to the project.

“If you’re going to log [the construction site], those logging trucks [will be] coming down South Kingston [Road] where kids are picked up on both of those roads by school buses all day long in the middle of the week,” she said. “On the weekends, people ride bikes and walk up and down those roads. There’s pedestrians up and down those roads.”

Introduced in 2006
Arborwood is not a new proposal. It was introduced in a public meeting on Oct. 11, 2006 at what was then Kingston Junior High School. According to the Arborwood website, 300 people attended. Seven meetings between Arborwood planners and neighbors took place in homes. Another community meeting took place on Sept. 26, 2007. Olympic Property Group used information gathered through those public meetings and its own studies “as the backbone for the project’s design.”

“I’ve overheard people say, ‘When did they sneak that one in?’ Well, we’ve snuck it in over the course of probably 15 public meetings,” Rose said. “Arborwood is almost of piece of Kitsap County history. It’s been hanging around a long time.”

Originally, Arborwood was 1,100 acres; 736 acres became Heritage Park. Of the remaining 364 acres, 104 are set aside as a permanent greenway — described on the project website as “a generous right-of-way for freeform trails and attractive landscaping.” Streams and wetlands would be protected by setbacks established by the Kitsap County Critical Areas Ordinance.

Pope representatives say those miles of trails and hundreds of acres of parkland and open space will be what makes Arborwood unique.

Rose said to the crowd, “I ask, would you rather have this continued to be logged, or would you rather have it [be] something else? Because not everything in the world can be a park … You have to put people some place to comply with the Growth Management Act. You have to take people in Kingston. It’s a rule.

“I do think that all of you probably live in a house. I think your houses all require the removal of trees. I believe you all add to the traffic in this area. And all of us add to the impacts. It’s not the next guys that cause the problem.”