(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was culled from notes provided by Kingston Citizen’s Advisory Council secretary Mary Kulish from the KCAC meeting Dec. 3. The next meeting of KCAC takes place at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 in the Kingston Community Center
The Kingston Citizens’ Advisory Council met Dec. 3 and featured a presentation by Olympic Property Group President Jon Rose and Vice President Elizabeth Wilson.
Prior to the presentation, KCAC members welcomed Tom Waggoner who has joined the group as the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce representative. A new representative for the Kingston Farmers Market should be chosen by next month’s meeting. KCAC is still awaiting word from the S’Klallam Tribe about a representative to serve on the council. A date for the annual Kingston Open House, organized by KCAC, has not been set yet.
The council also discussed the pros and cons of meeting at the Kingston Community Center or moving the location of monthly meetings to the Paul T. Nichols Headquarters station of North Kitsap Fire & Rescue, located on Miller Bay Road. After much discussion, a motion passed to begin holding KCAC monthly meetings at the fire station beginning in January. NKF&R has offered use of its meeting room for no charge.
What’s on OPG’s platter?
Jon Rose, president of Olympic Property Group, gave KCAC an update and overview of the North Kitsap Trails Association and its “String of Pearls” trails network concept, which will connect with OPG’s Arborwood development in the future. The approximately 50 miles of trails will cross through much of OPG’s 8,000 acres, eventually linking North Kitsap waterfront communities – Kingston, Port Gamble, Hansville, Indianola, and Suquamish.
“The overriding concept is to use the Olympic Property Group lands in partnership with the communities of North Kitsap so that we have total consistency throughout,” Rose said. “We’ve spent a lot of resources on the String of Pearls concept with 4,000 acres in Port Gamble, 2,000 in Kingston, and 2,000 in Hansville. We see this as a project that will be economically and socially beneficial to Kingston and all of the communities in North Kitsap.“
Rose said there are representatives from every community, including Poulsbo, on the NKTA. He credited “an amazing set of volunteers” with helping to pull the trail association plan together.
The planned Arborwood development, which will encompass about 360 acres off South Kingston Road, is in Kitsap County’s Urban Growth Area. As it’s planned now and as is typical in urban areas, the largest lots will be 70 feet wide. Rose said taking into consideration the tendency for people to downsize their family numbers these days as well as the fact that there is a preponderance of retirees and aging baby boomers in the marketplace, he predicted real estate offerings will be on a smaller scale than in recent years. Most of the houses in Arborwood will be single-family with open space, trails, and parks throughout the development. He said there also would be a small village center consisting of four buildings of about 5,000 square feet each; he envisions tenants such as a community center, deli, small grocery and dry cleaner. In response to questions asked by KCAC members, Rose said Arborwood’s design team is open to implementing low-impact methods of development if they can be shown to work on the soils and with the densities and drainage conditions. He said they are hoping to do some purple pipe (reclaimed water for irrigation) in the sewage system. PUD water will be used for the project, which will be connected to the sewer treatment plant.
KCAC member Betsy Cooper asked about the project’s Development Agreement with the county and some of its provisions. Rose answered that such agreements help ensure certain aspects of a project will not be changed over a stretch of time – say 20 years in the case of Arborwood’s build-out time – otherwise the developer and the community would be constantly in flux about what the end result will actually be. Provisions in Arborwood’s agreement include green buffers, open space and zoning codes. Rose noted the agreement stays with the land and would not change even if ownership of the land changed.
Rose said he expects a public hearing on the project to be held sometime the first quarter of 2009. The hearing will consider the project details submitted so far, the environmental review and public comment. In response to a question about breaking ground, Rose figured three years would be an acceptable estimate. The project specifics are online at www.arborwood-kingston.com or people can make inquiries at the Kitsap County Community Development Department.
Subcommittee Reports
Parks and trails – KCAC member Walt Elliott submitted a report, including details on a likely timeframe for having a memorandum of understanding between the county and the North Kitsap Heritage Park stewardship group. Also, the White Horse public trail is about 2/3 complete.
Downtown Kingston Master Plan – KCAC member Alex Thomsen reported there are 13 people on a subcommittee, which is working to create a master plan for downtown Kingston at the request of Kitsap County. The subcommittee meets 7-9 p.m. the third Thursday of each month at the NKF&R station on Miller Bay Road. The topic of discussion for the Dec. 18 was defining the boundaries of downtown.
North Kitsap School District – KCAC member and NKSD communications director Chris Case read a letter written by the school board stating it will continue to work to make sharing the North Kitsap Stadium more equitable for both Kingston and Poulsbo, also acknowledging the benefit lights would have in increasing the use of the Kingston High School’s playing field.
Case also reported the district had an excellent response to its budget work groups in an effort to get help and input in trimming the 2009-2010 school district budget. Parents and community members are asked to volunteer for the Citizens Review Committee from 7-10 p.m. Jan 21 in the Kingston High School Commons. To volunteer, e-mail to ccase@nkschools.org.
