GOALS OF
GROWTH MANAGEMENT
1. WASHINGTON STATE GROWTH MANAGEMENT GOALS
The Growth
Management Act set 13 goals for any comprehensive planning process or
amendment. These are identified in
the Revised Code of Washington (RCW 36.70A.020) as:
PLANNING GOALS
The
following goals are adopted to guide the development and adoption of
comprehensive plans and development regulations of those counties and cities
that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040. The following goals
are not listed in order of priority and shall be used exclusively for the
purpose of guiding the development of comprehensive plans and development
regulations:
(1) URBAN GROWTH
Encourage
development in urban areas where adequate public facilities and services exist
or can be provided in an efficient manner.
(2) REDUCE SPRAWL
Reduce the
inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density
development.
(3) TRANSPORTATION
Encourage
efficient multimodal transportation systems that are based on regional
priorities and coordinated with county and city comprehensive plans.
(4) HOUSING
Encourage
the availability of affordable housing to all economic segments of the
population of this state, promote a variety of residential densities and
housing types, and encourage preservation of existing housing stock.
(5) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Encourage
economic development throughout the state that is consistent with adopted
comprehensive plans, promote economic opportunity for all citizens of this
state, especially for unemployed and for disadvantaged persons, promote the
retention and expansion of existing businesses and recruitment of new
businesses, recognize regional differences impacting economic development
opportunities, and encourage growth in areas experiencing insufficient economic
growth, all within the capacities of the state's natural resources, public
services, and public facilities.
(6) PROPERTY RIGHTS
Private
property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation having
been made. The property rights of landowners shall be protected from arbitrary
and discriminatory actions.
(7) PERMITS
Applications
for both state and local government permits should be processed in a timely and
fair manner to ensure predictability.
(8) NATURAL RESOURCE INDUSTRIES
Maintain
and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber,
agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of
productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage
incompatible uses.
(9) OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION
Retain open
space, enhance recreational opportunities, conserve fish and wildlife habitat,
increase access to natural resource lands and water, and develop parks and
recreation facilities.
(10) ENVIRONMENT
Protect the
environment and enhance the state's high quality of life, including air and
water quality, and the availability of water.
(11) CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND
COORDINATION
Encourage
the involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure coordination between
communities and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts.
(12) PUBLIC FACILITIES AND SERVICES
Ensure that
those public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be
adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for
occupancy and use without decreasing current service levels below locally
established minimum standards.
(13) HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Identify
and encourage the preservation of lands, sites, and structures, that have
historical or archaeological significance.
2. ACHIEVEMENT OF GROWTH MANAGEMENT GOALS
The goals
and policies of the Illahee Community Plan, hereafter the Plan, achieve the
Growth Management Act goals in the following ways:
(1)
URBAN GROWTH
The Illahee Community is in support of growth in urban areas
and has a substantial portion of the community in an urban zoning
designation. However, until the
1998 Comprehensive Plan, Illahee was designated as Òsemi-ruralÓ. It had the unfortunate situation of
being located between two urban areas and was caught up in a blanket zoning
proposal that essentially connected the area between Bremerton and Silverdale
with ÒurbanÓ zoning designations.
Historic Illahee is not urban, nor does it have the commensurate
infrastructure, such as sewers for it to be classified as urban. In the two instances where sewers were
run to relatively new developments, the area between the developments, and the
entire area north of the developments, were exempted from Historic Illahee and
retain the urban zoning designation given them in the 1998 Comprehensive Plan.
The Illahee
Community is at near build-out status.
Sprawl reduction goals are for more undeveloped areas and as such this
is not an issue for the Illahee Community.
Illahee has
a limited road system primarily due to the steep slopes of Illahee Creek. There is only one north-south road
going through Illahee, Illahee Road, which goes from Bremerton to Brownsville,
and crosses Illahee Creek near its mouth.
The next north-south road, Wheaton Way (State Highway 303), is one and a
half miles to the west. This means
the road system essentially detours one and a half miles to avoid Illahee Creek
and the Illahee Preserve. This
creates a significant open space area and benefits the Illahee Creek, but
limits the transportation options.
Bus service
is impacted by the lack of through roads and currently service is only provided
along the perimeter of the community.
There have been no requests submitted as part of the Community Plan to
expand service further into the community. Nevertheless as urbanization increases in the Bremerton and
Silverdale areas, bus service will likely be run through Illahee and
appropriate stops should be provided.
More and
better walking path was a common request from the questionnaires received. To
increase pedestrian traffic and safety roadway shoulders should be widened to
accommodate walking paths. These,
or sidewalks, should be mandated for any new developments within the Illahee
Community boundary.
The Illahee
Community is at near build-out status and as such is limited in its ability to
contribute substantially to providing the desired goals of this GMA item. We nevertheless have designated areas
within our community where we feel higher density and affordable housing
contributions can best be made.
(5)
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Illahee is predominantly an open space and recreation area
surrounded by residences. Along the Wheaton Way border 120 acres of commercial
highway businesses are concentrated, which is IllaheeÕs primary contribution to
the GMA economic development goal.
Additionally, a few cottage industries already exist and more could be
accommodated as non-conforming uses. Because of our overabundance of natural
resources, open space, and recreational areas, the community is open to the
economic opportunities and benefits these entities can provide.
The Plan
balances new regulations with private property rights through provisions for
non-conforming lots and existing County Zoning Ordinance regulations protecting
non-conforming uses and structures.
(7) PERMITS
All permits
for development within the Illahee Community will be processed according to the
requirements of the Kitsap County Procedures Ordinance.
(8) NATURAL RESOURCE
INDUSTRIES
At this
time, no such resource industries are located within the Illahee Community and
no reference is made to them in this Plan. However, in the past there has been a partnership with the
Suquamish Tribe to incubate salmon smolts both along Illahee Creek and at pens
moored at the Illahee community dock.
This natural resource industry is currently on hold until the Illahee
Creek storm water problems are resolved.
(9) OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION
The Illahee
Community satisfies open space and recreation goals for not only the Illahee
area but also for Kitsap County, the nearby city of Bremerton, and the state of
Washington. The Illahee Community
is an open space and recreation paradise sandwiched between two highly urban
areas, Bremerton and Silverdale.
The Illahee
Community is distinguished by the amount of open space areas and the recreation
possibilities offered. At the
center of Illahee is Illahee Creek, a salmon stream, and the Illahee Creek
corridor which is surrounded by deeply incised canyons and heavily forested
areas. The bulk of the Illahee
Creek watershed is still in its natural state. Comprising and surrounding the creek area is the Illahee
Preserve. At one end of the
waterfront is Illahee State Park and at the other end is University Point, both
areas of steep and unstable slopes.
Recreation opportunities abound at the State Park, which enjoys a major
dock area, and at the Illahee Community dock, approximately one mile to the
north. Along the Illahee Preserve
is Rolling Hills Golf Course, a community golf course open to the public. Based on total acreage, Illahee is
approximately half open space and half Òsemi-ruralÓ residential.
(10) ENVIRONMENT
The Illahee
area is an environmentally sensitive area. As a salmon bearing stream Illahee Creek has been devastated
by unmitigated storm water flowsÕ emanating from developments put in during the
1970Õs before detention ponds were required. Increasing sediment and salmon passage issues required a new
culvert for Illahee Creek in 1999.
This problem has not been resolved and requires continued monitoring and
eventual resolution if Illahee Creek is to become a viable salmon rearing
stream.
Additionally,
Illahee Creek has been plagued by high levels of fecal coliform in the stream,
and Kitsap County Health Department personnel are working with Illahee Forest
Preserve personnel to increase stream monitoring to help determine the source
of the problem.
The Illahee
Creek watershed area is also classified as both a Category 1 and Category 2
Aquifer Discharge area. Recent
studies have noted this is an area of porous substrataÕs which allow water to
readily flow from the shallow aquifer feeding Illahee Creek to deeper
aquifers. This affects well water
rights in the area along with development considerations.
The steep
and unstable slopes and banks along the waterfront areas and along Illahee
Creek create a geological hazardous zone for the area. Additionally, the 2001 Seattle
earthquake, identified a fault line that extends through the tip of Bainbridge
Island and over into the Illahee area.
The impact of this finding needs to be investigated further so community
members will know if they are at an increased earthquake risk.
The Kitsap
County Critical Areas Ordinance and Shoreline Management Master Program outline
the primary governmental protections for the natural systems and habitat. These
regulations are complimented by County Health District water quality monitoring
program. Locally, the Port of
Illahee, the Illahee Preserve Stewardship Committee, the Illahee Community
Club, the Illahee Forest Preserve, and community service groups also monitor
the environmental conditions of the community and support community clean-up
efforts.
(11) CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AND
COORDINATION
To develop
the Plan, a citizenÕs advisory committee was established to develop and review
a draft Illahee Community Plan.
Four public meetings were held to receive input from the community and
to begin the development of the draft plan. Additionally, over a thousand questionnaires were
distributed to obtain written input of community wishes and desires. The draft Plan was distributed and
another set of public meetings were held to ensure community acceptance. Additionally, door to door contacts
were made in those areas considered by the County to be marginally within
Historic Illahee to ensure at least a 70 percent approval rating.
(12) PUBLIC FACILITIES AND
SERVICES
The major public
facilities and services available in Illahee are nearly all associated with
open spaces and recreational opportunities. Rolling Hills Golf Course is a privately owned 18 hole golf
course which was permitted as a course to be open to the public. The Illahee Preserve is a recently
established Kitsap County Heritage Park comprised of both active use areas, an
old growth forest area, and wildlife preserve. Illahee State Park is a major recreation area supporting
camping and saltwater activities.
The Illahee community dock supports year round fishing and boating
activities. The only other public
facility is the Kitsap County Fire Station #45 located at the top of Illahee
hill off of Trenton Avenue.
(13) HISTORIC
PRESERVATION
Illahee is
a historical area from earlier centuries when Native Americans inhabited the
area, as verified from various archeological findings, including a registered
archeological site at SchuttÕs point.
The preservation of these lands began with the establishment of Illahee
State Park in the 1930Õs and the Illahee Preserve in 2001.
With the
coming of the white man the Illahee community was inhabited by
homesteaders. Soon after the area
became a resort and second home community for Seattle residents. The community has been in existence now
for over 120 years and continues to function as a close knit and involved group
of citizens.
Historic
home preservation is being considered for homes in the general area of the
Illahee community dock and near the mouth of Illahee Creek. This is the primary area where existing
turn of the century homes still exist. To preserve these historical homes, the
Plan recommends the development of design standards. These standards should
cover architectural, landscaping, site design and roadway regulations that
identify the homes.
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