More analysis needed for Sterling Homes’ plan.

It was a small crowd at Wednesday’s Central Kitsap Community Council meeting, but there were some noteworthy happenings.

The biggest was the update on the proposed Sterling Homes project off Anderson Hill Road in Silverdale, as both Kitsap County Department of Community Development Senior Planner Jeff Smith and engineer Mark Coleman of Team 4 Engineering in Poulsbo said there was more analysis to be done before they could begin anything.

The performance-based development, zoned for urban restricted, is shooting for 151 single-family detached homes — each one built on a lot of 6,500 square feet — on 76.4 acres between Apex Road and Anderson Hill Road. The development also will include recreational facilities, drainage facilities and open space. 21.34 acres of the property is wetland.

Smith said that Sterling Homes has satisfied the county’s requirement for recreational areas on the property.

But he also said the project isn’t ready to be submitted for public hearing yet due to more analysis being needed and dealing with the concerns from numerous comments the department had gotten over the development.

Traffic will be a major issue, as will the development being located just a few miles down the road from Apex Airport.

“They (the pilots) want to be able to continue to fly their planes and have people who are moving in know there’s an airport and airplanes that fly through that property,” Smith said.

Another issue is the density of the development, which some feel impacts critical areas.

Coleman said the layout of the land has provided some “tough challenges” to work around.

“The solution to one of the areas of concern will impact the solution to the other areas of concern,” he said.

Some of those areas of concern include the placement of what was supposed to be a fish-bearing stream that wasn’t connected to Strawberry Creek, which was different from the historical mapping which showed it did.

“I’ve not encountered mapping errors like that before,” Coleman said.

Also a problem is Apex Road itself. Coleman said their proposal did not allow for a access point to the road because it was a substandard road and did not meet several county road standards.

It’s also light on traffic and Coleman wants to make sure it stays that way.

But even with a violation of county road standards due to more than 100 developments being near an access point, Coleman said the proposal still went out so they could get the feedback they needed for the development.

That feedback from departments will come in after the proposal had an access point onto Apex Road that would impact critical areas.

Coleman also said the entire proposal could change drastically after they get through the challenges it presents.

Both Smith and Coleman said the proposal won’t go out for a public hearing until January.