March - April 2023

A Permit's Journey - A Multi-Part Series - Part 2

Welcome to our multi-part series called, A Permit’s Journey. We will cover the basic steps that a general permit will take at Kitsap County. Your process may differ depending on the type of permit you seek or if you live outside of non-incorporated Kitsap County. If you live in a city, your process will follow that city’s steps.

If you missed the first part of this series, you could read the beginning in the January-February 2023 newsletter.

UNDER REVIEW

Your permit has been reviewed by permit technicians and has now been accepted. Congratulations! You are now “Under Review” and placed in line with all other permit customer applications, which are pulled and served on a first-come, first-served basis. We perform a concurrent review process, meaning two or more reviews may happen simultaneously depending on staff availability and your line placement. There are several types of technical reviews, and the ones that will be needed will depend on the type of permit you seek. 

STORMWATER REVIEW

This review is required on, site development activity permits (SDAP) and most building, land use, and environmental permits.

The review aims to ensure that the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff created by projects are controlled to prevent adverse effects on the environment and neighboring properties. To accomplish this, they will review the information you submitted about your project, determining the type of drainage review and stormwater mitigation that is needed. This determines what features they will review on your site plan.

Some common problems found when reviewing these documents include the following:

• No clearing limits or land-disturbing activity are shown on your site plan. Very few projects have no clearing or land-disturbing activities.
   
  • “Clearing” is defined as the destruction and/or removal of vegetation by manual, mechanical, or chemical methods.
  • “Land disturbing activity” means any activity that changes the existing soil cover (vegetative and non-vegetative) and/or soil topography. Land disturbing can include but is not limited to:
    1. Grading
    2. Filling
    3. Excavation
    4. Compaction associated with stabilizing structures and road construction
       
       
• Incomplete site plans, missing information such as:
  1. Critical areas (if any) and their buffers
  2. Flow arrows, indicating the direction of flow of stormwater
  3. Lacking Stormwater Management Best Management Practices (BMPs)
     
     
• Inconsistency on worksheets – ensure your numbers are accurate and consistent for hard surfaces and disturbed areas throughout your submission.

Resources Available

• Contact Us – Schedule a 15-minute virtual or in-person meeting with a Stormwater Planner to help answer your questions.
• Review the 2021 Stormwater Design Manual
• Start Here! Resources include a detailed site plan brochure, which contains a helpful checklist.

Shore Friendly Kitsap Hosts a Free, Fun, and Informative Workshop and Beachwalk, Saturday, March 25th

Shore Friendly Kitsap invites shoreline landowners to a FREE, FUN, INFORMATIVE workshop and beach walk on Saturday, March 25^th, from 12:00-3:30 pm at the Seabeck Conference Center and Scenic Beach State Park! 

Join Jonathan Waggoner and Rachel Johnson from Herrera Environmental Consultants to learn about:

• coastal processes,
• how sea level rise can intensify erosion and flooding,
• and strategies and adaptations shoreline landowners can take to prepare for change on dynamic shorelines to make their properties more resilient.

This shoreline landowner workshop and beach walk are free, but space is limited.

Register NOW to save a spot.

To sign up or to learn more, please visit shorefriendlykitsap.com/events
or contact shorefriendlykitsap.gov. 

Retaining Walls It is the season for working in our gardens and restoring our landscapes from the winter onslaught. If one of your projects includes fixing an elevation change in your yard by adding a retaining wall, this article is for you.

Your retaining wall does not require a permit if the following applies: Non-shoreline Less than 4’ in height from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall Not supporting a road, building, or tank with combustible or flammable liquid Retaining walls can be a project taken on by Do-It-Yourselfers, with some construction knowledge, but you will want to plan for the success and longevity of the project. Even a four-foot-tall, fifteen-foot-long wall will need to have the potential to support up to 20 tons of soil pressure. Before beginning your project, make sure you contact 811 to mark the location of any buried utilities to avoid unintentionally digging into an underground line.

The Comprehensive Plan establishes the direction for Kitsap in addressing land use, environmental protections, employment, housing, transportation, and other facility and service priorities over the next 20 years. The Board of Commissioners uses this document to guide decisions on policy, County Code, and development review.

Preliminary Alternative Descriptions

The public comment period on the land use alternatives for the comprehensive plan is open until
4:30 pm, on April 14th, 2023. To provide comment on the alternatives or any other aspect of the Comprehensive Plan update, please email compplan@kitsap.gov. All comments received will become part of the update record and available to the Board of Commissioners. 

Alternative 1: No Action
This alternative assumes current land use, urban growth area (UGA) sizes and configurations, zoning and development regulations remain unchanged. It establishes a baseline of environmental impacts and capital facilities needs. Changes proposed in Alternatives 2 and 3 are compared against this baseline.  

Important Calendar Dates

March 12th,
Daylight Savings Time Begins - Spring Forward

April 10, 2023, 5:30 pm
Board of Commissioners Public Hearing, Hybrid, Commissioner's Chambers
619 Division Street, Port Orchard

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Kitsap County Department of Community Development
614 Division Street - MS36
Port Orchard, WA 98366

Media Contact: Alicia Adler

KITSAP COUNTY
Kitsap County government exists to protect and promote the safety, health and welfare of our citizens in an efficient, accessible and effective manner.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The mission of the Department of Community Development is to foster the development of quality, affordable, structurally safe and environmentally sound communities.