If there’s one thing Silverdale residents have made clear, it’s this: They want to be in charge of their community’s future.

Twice, residents have voted down measures to incorporate their community. Essentially, residents made a decision on how they want to be governed: by the county, not by a new layer of bureaucracy called a “city.”

They are making their voices heard again.

The Central Kitsap Community Council asked the county for a presentation on the potential for Bremerton to annex Silverdale. Silverdale is one of several designated urban growth areas in Kitsap County — areas identified under the Growth Management Act as places where future growth should occur. The Growth Management Act requires the designation of urban growth areas in order to prevent sprawl.

According to the county — and much to the community council’s relief — the rural Barker Creek area between Silverdale and the Central Kitsap Urban Growth Area is a buffer that likely means Silverdale can’t be annexed by Bremerton.

Because the Silverdale and Central Kitsap UGAs are not contiguous, Bremerton can’t absorb Silverdale. Like Kingston, there is no city adjacent to the Silverdale UGA. It’s what the county calls a “standalone” urban growth area.

That buffer could affect how Bremerton plans for growth. It also means Bremerton can’t use Silverdale to fulfill any long-range development plans.

Silverdale residents did not abrogate their right to chart their community’s future because they chose to chart that course as an unincorporated community. If Silverdale someday becomes a city, that will be for residents to decide.

Silverdale’s future? A river — or a creek, rather — runs through it.