KINGSTON — Irked neighbors are beginning to make waves about a private 220 foot dock that is proposed for Port Gamble Bay.

Residents, who first dismissed the project as being unfeasible, have since changed their tune and are now voicing concerns with the way the plans have been handled by the private residents who hope to build the structure. They also argue that insufficient notice of the project was given.

However, Kingston residents Charles and Sondra Peters first submitted permits for the construction in early 2004. Since then, the project has been progressing, but so have neighbors’ concerns.

“The beach here is pristine,” said Kingston resident Gwenn Thomas. “It hasn’t really changed over the years. This deep water anchorage could change everything.”

“We here in the county receive a number of permits for shoreline floats or docks,” said Kitsap County Department of Community Development Environmental Planner Patty Charnas, adding that before the county makes a decision to administer permits, it looks at a number of criteria including the shoreline designations, area zoning and the environment. “This dock has generated a lot of concerns.”

One such concern is that it will obstruct the view of Port Gamble Bay for the other residents who live along the beach, said Kingston resident Lola Gracey.

“It will be about 100 feet north of us,” she said. “Just to look out instead of seeing bay, we’d see the pier makes me upset.”

When the construction proposal first came up in 2004, Gracey and Thomas both agree that it came out of the blue and said they had no idea the Peters were planning anything like it.

“I was rather amazed and appalled when I heard,” Gracey said, adding that she felt there hadn’t been enough notice given by the county or the Peters for nearby residents to respond or act before the permit process began. “I’d never even heard of such a thing. It’s wrong that something as big as this can happen without people being informed.”

“They sent letters to people who were only within 400 feet,” Thomas said. “There are so many other people this would affect that live further away than 400 feet. There are people who live across the water that this would affect.”

So far, the county has received 105 requests from residents in the area who want to be kept up to date on the dock project, Charnas said. The next step for the county is to make a determination in regards to the State Environmental Policy Act.

“This isn’t something we routinely do without careful consideration,” she said. “We’re trying to provide as much information as we go along as possible. We’ll issue the determination in the beginning or middle of September at a public hearing.”

In the meantime, Thomas and Gracey are hoping to alert as many residents as they can about the potential dock construction. Gracey has sent out mass e-mails, and Thomas has gone door to door to talk with people about her concerns.

“The more docks you get, the more boats you get, the more marine traffic you get changes the status quo of the bay,” Gracey said. “It’s pretty quiet right now. I hope it can stay that way.”

The Peters did not return the Herald’s calls by press time.