Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners would like to thank all parties involved in rejecting the idea that legally built homes should become legal but non-conforming due to changes in the county’s Shoreline Master Program, which are currently in the works.

During a meeting of the County Commission on Oct. 24, David Greetham and Patty Charnas of the Department of Community Development recommended a solution. They asked the commissioners to support staff moving forward on language that proposes to make existing residential and appurtenant structures “conforming,” consistent with Substitute Senate Bill 5451, adopted by the Legislature last April and signed into law by Gov. Gregoire.

Over the past several weeks, shoreline property owners have delivered petitions requesting this change to the County Commission with more than 700 signatures. Doug Lyons and Carl Shipley spearheaded the petition drive with the help of Kitsap Alliance members. We are grateful to everyone who asked their neighbors to read and sign the petitions, and we are especially grateful to those who presented the signed petitions to the commissioners so the voices of property owners could be heard.

We thank the county commissioners for hearing our voices and approving staff’s recommendation that the Shoreline Master Program declare existing, lawfully built homes to be “conforming.”

Jackie Rossworn
Executive director
Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners