Kitsap County Electronic Notification System

Community Planning Monthly - June

Kitsap County sent this bulletin at 06/14/2026 10:00 AM PDT

Hello neighbors! We’re excited to kick off our first Community Planning Newsletter. Each month, we’ll keep you in the loop on project updates, shine a spotlight on one of the bigger efforts underway, and highlight easy ways for you to get involved. Plus, we’ll sprinkle in a few planning insights to help explain how everything fits together in our community.

Projects at a Glance

Project Spotlight

Comprehensive Plan and Code Updates

Ways to Participate

Planning Explained

Projects At a Glance

PROJECT	STATUS
Administrative Code Updates 2026	Drafting
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)	Researching
Boundary Line Adjustment (BLA) Code	Reviewing Feedback
Comprehensive Plan Remand Update	Drafting
Rural Lands Analysis and Salmon Recovery	Researching
Silverdale Design Standards	Gathering Public Input

Three photos one with running water, one with a squirrel and the last with a barn.

Project Spotlight: Rural Lands Analysis and Salmon Recovery

The purpose of the Rural Lands Analysis project is to evaluate rural land use patterns, policies, and regulatory frameworks in unincorporated Kitsap County and to provide a clear analytical foundation for future rural planning decisions. The project will support recommendations for informed program and policy development, potential future updates to the Rural and Resource Lands Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan and the identification of future targeted code improvements.

As part of this effort, we’re also working on the Salmon Recovery in Local Planning (SRLP) project. This project focuses on identifying strategies in local salmon recovery plans that connect with land‑use planning in Kitsap County. We’re nearly done cataloging the plans and supporting data.

Next, we’ll begin analyzing this information to develop clear, practical recommendations for how the County can better support salmon recovery.

Open House – July 8

We invite the community to join us to learn more about the project, hear about our initial findings, and share feedback on our approach and next steps.

Comprehensive Plan & Code Updates

Comprehensive Plan Updates

Silverdale Design Standards

We are currently looking for feedback on design district configurations and methodology.

Project Webpage
Silverdale Design Standards Presentation Document

Code Updates

Farmstand Director's Interpretation

The purpose of this Director’s Interpretation is to clarify existing code for a farm stand or market, a type of business activity accessory to a primary agricultural use, and to reaffirm the intent of existing regulations.

Read the Farmstand Director's Interpretation

Admin Code Edits 2026

The Kitsap County Community Development Department proposes administrative or “housekeeping” edits to the Kitsap County Code (KCC). Edits may be related to Titles 16, 17, 21, and 22.

Review the Admin Code Updates webpage

Boundary Line Adjustment (BLA) Code

A boundary line adjustment (BLA) is a process that allows property owners to move or adjust lot lines between neighboring properties without creating additional lots. At present, Kitsap County does not have a dedicated BLA code which has led to complex problems for property owners when development is proposed. The County is proposing a dedicated BLA code to ensure BLAs are reviewed for compliance with zoning criteria before problems are created.

Review the BLA code webpage

Ways to Participate

OPEN HOUSE

Rural Lands Analysis & Salmon Recovery in Local Planning

July 8, 2026
5:30 PM

Kitsap County Administrative Building
Commissioners Chambers

PUBLIC WORKSHOPS

Read, Roam, Rules (RRR)

July 20, 2026
5:00 PM

Long Lake Park
5100 Long Lake Road SE
Port Orchard, WA

In partnership with Kitsap Public Health and
Kitsap Public Works Stormwater Division

RRR Book Club Workshop in partnership with Kitsap Regional Library

July 27, 2026
5-7 pm

Port Orchard Library
87 Sidney Ave
Port Orchard, WA

SURVEY

Rural Lands Analysis & Salmon Recovery in Local Planning - opens July 8th, visit the project website to participate.

long lake photo background with a photo of monthly book club choice on top

Planning Explained

Map was found and used as a creative commons document hosted by University of Prince Edward Island.

Many people believe that modern planning in the western world began during a major public health crisis: the 1854 cholera outbreak in London. It may seem surprising, but both planning and the study of disease grew out of this same event.

In 1854, cholera spread quickly through London and killed tens of thousands of people. Scientists at the time struggled to explain how the disease was moving from person to person.

Then an English doctor named John Snow suggested that the disease was spreading through unsafe water.

He created a map of the Soho neighborhood and marked each cholera death with a black bar. His map showed that many of the deaths were located near a public water pump on Broad Street, where people gathered to get water.

Public officials shut down the pump and later learned that a leaky sewer had contaminated the water.

Today, planning offices like the Department of Community Development use knowledge from many different fields to help guide decisions on important county services, such as building roads, making sure land is available for housing, and protecting the environment.

But planning is not done alone. It is a shared process with the community. The County listens to the people who live, work, and play in Kitsap County to understand their needs.

Planning is often about finding hidden connections and creating practical solutions to challenges that are not always easy to see at first.

To learn more about John Snow and his work, you can visit this Encyclopedia Britannica article or this London Museum article.