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This page was last updated on March 11, 2020
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What is the Comprehensive Plan?
The Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan describes the 20-year vision for unincorporated Kitsap County and how that vision will be achieved. The plan covers land use, economic development, environment, housing and human services, transportation, capital facilities and utilities as well as parks, recreation, and open space. The Comprehensive Plan is mandated by the Washington State Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A).
How often does the Comprehensive Plan get changed?
Major Comprehensive Plan updates are mandated by the state every eight years. The last major update of the Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2016. Between major updates, the County may choose to consider minor amendments to the Comprehensive Plan on an annual basis. Other amendments, such as to resolve an appeal, can be processed at any time. The Board of County Commissioners have opened the annual Comprehensive Plan amendment process for 2019.
Click here to view all public meetings regarding this amendment process and download
meeting materials, if applicable.
Expand the headings below to learn more about each phase of this important process
SCOPING PHASE (November - December 2018)
The first phase of the process, called the scoping phase, determines what amendments will be considered in 2019. The Board of County Commissioners do this through the adoption of a docket resolution for the annual Comprehensive Plan amendment process. The docket resolution describes what types amendments will be considered and the schedule for the process. The Board of County Commissioners adopted the initial docket (Resolution No. 227-2018) on December 19, 2018. The Board may revise the docket in March or April during the Development Phase.
A public comment period was open on the staff recommended initial docket from November 30, 2018 to December 11, 2018. Oral and written public testimony was received during a public hearing on Monday, December 10, 2018.
All public comments were reviewed by the Board of County Commissioners. Based on public comments, the Board of County Commissioners added a new item to the docket resolution regarding a possible amendment related to the Manchester area. The following are the issues raised in public comments that were not adopted into the docket resolution:
DEVELOPMENT PHASE (January - December 2019)
The second phase of the process, called the development phase, is when most county-sponsored amendments (including alternatives, if appropriate) are developed. Since the docket resolution allowed for the submittal of certain applications, they were developed and submitted during this phase of the process. After reviewing the status of the Comprehensive Plan Amendments, the Board of County Commissioners adopted final docket resolutions on April 24, 2019
(Resolution No. 069-2019) and on August 21, 2019 (Resolution No. 133-2019). On November 4, 2019, the Board of County Commissioners agreed to unhitch one amendment regarding an update to the Comprehensive Plan Amendment process in Kitsap County Code (KCC) Chapter 21.08 from the rest of the batch for separate development and consideration as specifically allowed by KCC 21.08.040(B(9).
What county-sponsored amendments are in development and how can I participate?
The County will be developing the following amendments.:
Clarifying Edits
Remove the Mineral Resource Overlay (MRO) from parcels that do not meet designation criteria
Initial center designations in unincorporated Kitsap County
Clarifying polices to associate the Kingston and Silverdale Unincorporated Urban Growth
Areas with the future Cities of Kingston and Silverdale
Phase 2 of downtown Kingston code and policy updates
Public participation in the development of county-sponsored amendments varies. Some county-sponsored amendments will include specific public participation opportunities during this phase of the process. Some county-sponsored amendments may have already been developed through a separate public process and therefore won’t have additional public participation opportunities during this phase. Some county-sponsored amendments are more administrative in nature and are developed by staff. Most of the public participation opportunities regarding proposed amendments is during the consideration phase later in this process.
Visit our Participation Opportunities page or contact staff to learn more about how your can participate.
What types of applications could be submitted?
Comprehensive Plan amendment applications are how interested parties can propose legislative changes to the content of the Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan, including the land use designation of property on the Land Use Map and corresponding changes to the zoning classification on the Zoning Map. The specific types of applications that could be accepted were determined during the earlier scoping phase. All applications are reviewed against the decision criteria provided in
Section 21.08.070 of the Kitsap County Code.
Applications were accepted from January 7, 2019 through February 8, 2019 for the following categories:
ANALYSIS PHASE (June - December 2019)
The third phase of the process, called the analysis phase, is when staff analyze the Comprehensive Plan amendments through the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review process and the preparation of staff reports. SEPA review evaluates the probable environmental impacts of each amendment as well as the cumulative effects of all the amendments. Staff reports analyze amendments for consistency with state law, the Comprehensive Plan, and the decision criteria in Kitsap County Code Chapter 21.08. Staff reports include the Department’s recommendation to adopt, adopt with revisions, adopt with conditions, defer to a subsequent year, or deny amendments. Staff reports and SEPA analysis may be updated, as needed, during the consideration phase. SEPA documents and staff reports are posted to the Documents page when available.
CONSIDERATION PHASE (August 2019 - April 2020)
The fourth phase of the process, called the consideration phase, is when the public, Planning Commission, and Board of County Commissioners review the proposed amendments. The Planning Commission reviews the proposed amendments and public comments, holds a public hearing, adopts findings, and makes a recommendation on each proposed amendment to the Department of Community Development. The Department then forwards the Planning Commission’s findings and recommendation along with any further staff recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The Board of County Commissioners similarly reviews the proposed amendments, recommendations, and public comments, and holds a public hearing. The Board of County Commissioner will decide to adopt, adopt with revisions, adopt with conditions, defer to a subsequent year, or deny each proposed amendment.
