Beginning in September, the Kitsap County Department of Community Development will start working with two citizen workgroups to update the Suquamish Rural Village Sub-Area Plan and to develop the second phase of the Kingston Sub-Area Plan.

“At this time, we’d like to hear from additional citizens in Suquamish and Kingston who would be interested in participating in this planning process,” said Keri Weaver, senior planner with the County’s long-range planning section. “Each of these communities has diverse interests and concerns, and we want to be sure that the working groups adequately reflect the multiple viewpoints that should be considered.”

The current Suquamish plan was approved by the Board of County Commissioners in 1999, and will be updated to reflect current conditions. The Suquamish working group will also study the successes and failures of the 1999 plan, and identify new or continuing community concerns that have not been addressed.

The Kingston working group will update and refine the first phase of the Kingston plan, which was approved by the Commissioners in December 2003. Using the most recent countywide population projections and allocations, the second phase of the plan will address potential growth in the Kingston area through 2025, and make recommendations for any expansion of Kingston’s Urban Growth Area and public facilities necessary to accommodate the anticipated population increase.

Both plan updates will be completed by April 2005, and will then be referred to the County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners in the fall of 2005.

Each working group will hold between four and six meetings, which will be open to the public. County staff will also hold open houses to update citizens and receive public input. To volunteer on a work group, contact Weaver at (360) 337-4579.