CK Pee Wee fields under appeal

Two groups are protesting completion of a PeeWee ballfield in Central Valley.

One group has filed a formal appeal of County Hearing Examiner Stephan Causseaux’s OK of the project; the other group is demanding county monitoring and reports of the examiner’s caveats and conditions.

The builders, brothers Pete and Ron Ross, are not appealing, despite many conditions put on the project — effectively reducing it from a two-field to a one-field project.

The group filing the appeal is a loose confederation of 10 neighbors on Paulson Road concerned about traffic blockage. The field is at the southwest corner of Paulson and Central Valley roads. The second group is the Chums of Barker Creek, an active citizen-lobbyist group for salmon.

l The Chums are not happy because the ballfield borders Hoot Creek — the largest tributary of Barker Creek.

Concerning the examiner’s decision to allow at least one field, Mary Bertrand, Chums’ president, wrote in a letter to the county’s Department of Community Development: “Is this a fair practice that would/could apply to all citizens of Kitsap County?” she asked. “What with the publicity of tight budgets it seems a contradiction to what is expected of all law-abiding citizens for (DCD) staff to be so generous to someone (the Rosses) in obvious violation.”

The reference to “obvious violation” referred to the Rosses starting work on the fields without permits. The brothers, long supporters of PeeWee youth sports, thought the project too small to need permits — this based on informal contact with the county. DCD planners admitted they were in error the first time around, and the matter was referred to the land-use hearing examiner.

The Chums protested county staff time spent on the buffer enhancement plan and said elements of it were “vague”; requested notification of steps taken such as fencing installation and drainage ditch work; quibbled over parking, congestion, noise, and privacy mitigations; and protested waiver of certain fees.

The appeal, filed by neighbor Don Nyswonger and nine others, focused on parking. In seven identical letters signed by the 10 complainants, the group said:

“According to the hearing officer’s (sic) decision, 16 on-site parking spaces have been allowed by the DCD. We, the residents of N.W. Paulson Road feel that the parking issue has not been sufficiently addressed.”

They fear overflow parking will block Paulson Road and pose a safety hazard for emergency vehicles. They asked for immediate revocation of the special use permit if this happens, and warned of possible “altercations” between residents and drivers of blocking cars.

The Rosses, who started building the fields last summer, have declined to comment to the CK Reporter, except to confirm they will continue to work with the county to complete at least one field.

Causseaux’s 16-page decision, issued Jan. 31, had many conditions. They include buffer zones, parking, portable bathrooms, no lights; other conditions might increase street widths, restrict access of automobiles, increase or decrease off-street parking or loading areas, or focus on landscape screening, monitoring noise and glare, creating better access, and signs.

In the Rosses’ favor, Causseaux said “The Silverdale PeeWees provide a quality, much needed sports program for the Silverdale area at no cost to the public.”

The PeeWees are reportedly trying to get the north field finished by the start of baseball season, March 15.

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