Following a staff review at its June 9 briefing, the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners in a split 2-1 decision voted to move forward with removing all 14 residential rezone requests, one of which was to rezone 400 acres of forestland owned by Raydient off of Bond Road to build a proposed recreation center, trails and housing.

Commissioners Katie Walters and Christine Rolfes affirmed the decision, while Commissioner Oran Root dissented. The requests are part of the county’s ‘Year of the Rural’ initiative, which includes updating rural policies, reviewing development codes, and engaging with rural communities throughout 2025, per a county news release.

The commissioners ultimately approved a revised docket removing all 14 residential rezone requests that would have added up to 135 to 140 additional residential units across rural Kitsap County following a June 23 public hearing.

“A Department of Community Development evaluation found that the cumulative effect of residential requests conflicted with the county’s rural growth targets and Comprehensive Plan policies to direct growth to urban areas,” per the release.

Additionally, the board unanimously moved three rural commercial and industrial rezone requests forward for additional review. A final decision for those requests will not be made until the end of the year, per the release.