Future of Silverdale put on display

The future design of Silverdale has been in the works for one year now and although the planning will continue, the community was given an insider’s look at the vision developed so far.

The Silverdale sub-area open house on Thursday provided an opportunity for the public to get an idea of what has been discussed and planned by the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC). The CAC is an advisory group made up of Silverdale community members who work with the Kitsap County Department of Community Development in developing a future plan for Silverdale.

Jack Hamilton, a member of the CAC and the Central Kitsap Community Council (CKCC), is happy with the progress the group has made.

“We’re making reasonable progress, we’ve started out with a lot of really good education,” he said.

Education, he added, was the fist step in the planning process which helped in developing a study area.

“We know what the UGA (Urban Growth Area) is and we took the 2052 plan and other stuff that preceded it and said, ‘What do we want to be when we grow up?’ What we’re talking about today isn’t going to happen tomorrow.”

He added that the Silverdale sub-area plan isn’t necessarily about expanding boundaries, but more like re-setting them to accommodate growth and population, economic development, public facilities and transportation. These topics, as well as others including watershed analysis, existing conditions and urban design guidelines are what have been at the helm of CAC discussions during the last year.

“This (sub-area plan) is not for me, this is for my grandkids,” Hamilton said. “We really need young people to come in and tell us what they think.”

Jim Bolger of the Department of Community Development expects the sub-area plan to be complete by the end of next year.

“We’ll have a draft plan easily by next fall,” he said.

Because the planning process is still ongoing it is difficult to predict what the outcome of the plan will be, he added.

“It could be everything from zoning to land use reclassifications ... It could even be new areas to accommodate population growth,” Bolger said.

CAC member Hank Mann-Sykes, who also is president of the CKCC, is confident the sub-area plan will enhance the Silverdale community.

“Because of this process, hopefully the community will be better and will be able to move forward in the next 50 years,” he said. “As a result of all of this — the citizen committee, all this input, meetings a couple of times a month and consultants – hopefully it will make Silverdale a strong community that flourishes.”

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