It’s one thing to advocate for a stronger economic base in Port Orchard. But it’s entirely another thing to take care of the nuts and bolts of government regulations that can impact growth.

The hard work to optimize economic opportunity, said Port Orchard Mayor Rob Putaansuu, begins with a thorough review of the city’s extensive, often convoluted and conflicted development code. Under the direction of Putaansuu and Nick Bond, the city’s community development director, the review will be an exhaustive process that could take a year, possibly even two years, to complete from start to finish. The mayor said it will be “a time-intensive process. I’m not that patient.”

“We want to make sure our codes are relevant,” Putaansuu said last week in an interview. “We need to be competitive to our neighboring communities or we’re not going to see things change here.”

The mayor said he has met with commercial development officials about some prioritized projects that could help transform areas in the city that have fallen behind in reaching their potential. He said those near-term revisions are important because time is of the essence.

“We don’t want to spend the next year to two years revamping our code when we don’t know when this building and economic growth cycle is going to end,” Putaansuu said. “You’d hate to spend all your time fixing your code and miss an opportunity in this economic cycle.”

Downtown Port Orchard and areas along Mile Hill Road have been identified by Putaansuu as needing short-term fixes to the city code prior to completion of a code revamping down the road.

Two of those “quick fixes” could involve revamping development codes to encourage new multi-family building in both areas. The other fix would be loosening downtown residential restrictions.

Currently in Port Orchard, the city restricts the minimum size a developer can build each unit in a multi-family structure. In this jurisdiction, a unit has to be at least 600 square feet or more in size. Just why is that restriction in place? Putaansuu chuckled and said, “Good question! This is one of the regulations that doesn’t make sense.

“I took this (concern) to the City Council, and we’ve discussed it in the land-use committee. Everyone seems to agree that it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

The 600-square-foot unit restriction seemingly eliminates the option to build some studio apartments or micro units within a new development. That has repercussions beyond the scope of development designers, Putaansuu said.

“I think you let the (housing) market dictate what’s needed out there, particularly if you’re trying to solve the homelessness issue.

“If we have Housing Kitsap wanting to build a project somewhere in our community, they’re going to want to have smaller units.”

The Housing Kitsap organization is working to build or renovate structures that can accommodate low-income residents throughout the county. With that covenant in place, the option to create smaller, less expensive to build units isn’t available.

The mayor also has prioritized another look at building use codes for downtown. Previously, in an effort to encourage retail use there, zoning was created that mandated ground-floor building tenants to be retail-related. That requirement shut out tenants seeking professional office space at street level.“I think that’s one of the things that’s holding us back,” Putaansuu said. “Why would somebody come in and redevelop a property if they’re required to do retail when there’s no market for it? It’s a deal killer.”

The initial intent to facilitate retail storefronts along Bay Street, for example, can be mitigated through a unified set of design standards that would retain a retail-like appearance on the ground floor but be able to accommodate commercial offices.

“As long as it has a storefront facade,” he said, “why wouldn’t we want to have professional office space downtown as part of a project?”

Putaansuu said the existing market for retail space in Port Orchard is weak, resulting in some empty ground-level downtown storefronts.

As the market for retail improves downtown in coming years, he said market pricing would prompt professional office tenants “to move up the hill” to seek cheaper leasing terms.

An additional possible code change could allow for park space along buildings facing Sinclair Inlet. Putaansuu said that by allowing downtown buildings to have ground-level residential units, it could spark more retail business development there. That option doesn’t exist now downtown.

“I think that’d (provide) a phenomenal condominium for someone — an apartment that has a ground-floor patio that steps out onto a park.”

The city also is allowing a multifamily property tax exemption over eight years for developers constructing new buildings or revamping structures with 10 units or more.

It also is offering developers a 12-year property tax exemption if they sell or rent 20 percent or more of their units to low- or moderate-income families, Bond said at a recent City Council meeting. The tax exemption, which applies to the value of new or rehabbed units, is applicable only in the city’s designated “challenged” areas. Taxes still must be paid for the land parcels on which the units sit.

The community development director told the council that the goal of the property tax exemption is two-fold: revitalize underdeveloped or downtrodden areas in the city, and encourage the development of affordable housing. Like almost all Puget Sound cities and regions, affordable rental units are scarce in Port Orchard and South Kitsap, with few signs indicating that an upsurge in supply is near.