012-14 - Resolution - Approving Comp Plan Periodic UpdateIntroduced by: Development Director
Requested by: Development Director
Drafted by: Development Director
Reviewed by: City Attorney
Introduced: May 13, 2014
Adopted: May 13, 2014
RESOLUTION NO. 012-14
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD,
WASHINGTON, APPROVING THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD
2016 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PERIODIC UPDATE PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION PROGRAM
WHEREAS, the city is required to complete a periodic update to its
Comprehensive Plan by June 30, 2016; and
WHEREAS, RCW 36.70A.140 requires that the City establish and broadly
disseminate a public participation program identifying procedures providing for early
and continuous public participation in the City of Port Orchard 2016 Comprehensive
Plan Periodic Update; and
WHEREAS, On April 21, 2014 the Planning Commission held a public hearing
on the proposed Public Participation Program and voted to approve Planning
Commission Resolution 004-14, recommending approval of the Public Participation
Program by the City Council; now, therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD,
WASHINGTON, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
THAT: The City of Port Orchard 2016 Comprehensive Plan Periodic
Update Public Participation Program is hereby approved as attached
hereto.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Port Orchard, SIGNED by the Mayor and
attested by the Clerk in authentication of such passage this 13th day of May 2013 .
~~c?~
City of Port Orchard 2016
Comprehensive Plan Update
Public Participation Program
City of Port Orchard Department of Community Development
Address: 216 Prospect Street, Port Orchard WA 98366
Phone: (360) 87 4-5533
E-mail: planning@cityofportorchard.us
Website: http://www.cityofportorchard.us/departments/planning
F acebook: https://www. facebook. com/pages/City-of -Port -Orchard-
Government/41457560196823
Nick Bond, City Development Director
nbond@cityofportorchard . us
Stephanie Andrews, Associate Planner
sandrews@cityofportorchard. us
Tom Bonsell, Associate Planner
tbonsell@citvofportorchard. us
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I. INTRODUCTION
Port Orchard is conducting a periodic review of its Comprehensive Plan as required by the
Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA). As a city in Kitsap County, Port Orchard is
required to complete its update by June 30, 2016. The entire Comprehensive Plan will be
reviewed and updated with review to include the following elements or chapters:
• Introduction (Vision)
• Land Use (and Zoning)
• Housing
• Parks
• Natural Systems (Critical Areas)
• Economic Development
• Utilities
• Transportation
• Shorelines
• Capital Facilities
• Implementation
• Appendices
In addition to the review and update of these elements and chapters, the city will also conduct
a consistency evaluation to ensure that its development regulations are consistent with the
updated comprehensive plan.
The GMA requires early and continuous public participation in the Comprehensive Plan and
Municipal Code Update in RCW 36.70A.140:
Each county and city that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36. lOA. 040 shall
establish and broadly disseminate to the public a public participation program identifying
procedures providing for early and continuous public participation in the development and
amendment of comprehensive land use plans and development regulations implementing such
plans. The procedures shall provide for broad dissemination of proposals and alternatives,
opportunity for written comments, public meetings after effective notice, provision for open
discussion, communication programs, information services, and consideration of and response
to public comments ...
The purpose of this document is to identify the City of Port Orchard's public participation
objectives, approach, audiences, schedule, and opportunities for public participation. This
document may be updated over time to reflect the needs of the Comprehensive Plan and
Municipal Code Update project and experiences in early outreach to ensure public participation
is effective.
II. OBJECTIVES
The Port Orchard Comprehensive Plan Update Public Participation Objectives include:
• Meet the public participation goals of the Growth Management Act.
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• Offer engaging opportunities to the Port Orchard community to participate in planning
and comment on the future of the city.
• Provide objective information to assist the public in understanding issues and solutions.
• Provide opportunities for the public to provide feedback through all phases of the
review.
• Use a variety of participation methods (such as meetings, media, social media, mailers,
etc.) to offer all residents a variety of ways to participate.
• Make the review inclusive to people of all ages, races, cultures, and genders.
• Make the plan itself easily accessible to residents of the community.
• Ask new questions of the community in order to gain new insights about Port Orchard
and choices about the Comprehensive Plan polices, regulations, and implementation
strategies.
• Identify GMA requirements, policy trade-offs, and opportunities to voice unique
conditions about Port Orchard.
Ill. APPROACH
The city's current Comprehensive Plan while technically complete, contains very little in the
way of an overarching vision which reflects citizen goals for the future of the city. In addition,
the city has grown considerably through annexations since 2008 and the city's newest
residents' goals may not be reflected in the existing plan. As such, the city has determined
that a visioning process is needed as a precursor to the 2016 Comprehensive Plan update.
Due to the city's limited staff resources, the city has contracted with the University of
Washington to kick-off the 2016 Comprehensive Plan update process and to conduct a
thorough visioning process. The University is responsible for facilitating public workshops,
focus group meetings, and other methods of public outreach related to developing the city's
vision and draft comprehensive plan elements. In accordance with their contract, the University
is responsible for the following deliverables:
• Draft Public Participation Program
• Initial Conditions Report
• Draft Urban Growth Boundary Map
• Draft lntroductionNision Chapter 1
• Draft Land Use Chapter 2
• Draft Housing Chapter 3
• Draft Transportation Chapter 8 (Bicycle and Pedestrian Portion Only)
Department of Community Development (DCD) staff will be responsible for drafting the
remaining comprehensive plan elements and will coordinate with the Public Works Department
and its consultants as necessary. DCD will handle the task of noticing public hearings and
documenting to and responding to public comments.
IV. AUDIENCES
There are several audiences-individuals and agencies-that will participate in the 2016 Port
Orchard Comprehensive Plan Update, and each will become engaged in the process in
different ways:
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• General Public: Port Orchard residents, property owners, and business owners.
• Elected and Appointed Officials: City Councilmembers, Planning Commissioners,
Design Review Board Members.
• Non-City Service Providers: Special districts such as Water and Sewer District, Fire
District, Kitsap Transit, etc.
• Non-governmental Organizations: Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Port Orchard
and other service clubs, the Port Orchard Bay Street Association (POBSA), Kitsap
Alliance of Property Owners (KAPO), Futurewise, etc.
• State, Regional, and Other Local Governments: Puget Sound Regional Council, Kitsap
County, Kitsap Regional Council, The Suquamish Tribe, and the cities of Bremerton,
Gig Harbor, Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island, WSDOT, the Department of Commerce, the
Department of Ecology, the Port of Bremerton, and the Department of Natural
Resources.
V. ROLE OF DECISION MAKERS
City Council: The City Council will provide policy guidance and is the final decision maker for
the Comprehensive Plan update. Council members will be notified of public workshops and
are invited to participate early on in the planning process. All public workshops will be noticed
appropriately so that all Council members are able to fully participate in these events in the
event of a quorum. The Council will receive periodic briefings on the update and will review the
Planning Commission recommendations on the periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan.
Council will hold a public hearing on the final draft periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan
prior to taking final action.
Planning Commission: The Planning Commission will provide policy recommendations for
the periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan and ensure that the public is involved
throughout the process. The Planning Commission will review the draft update on a chapter by
chapter basis, providing opportunities for public comments while providing feedback and
recommendations to the administration. All public workshops will be noticed appropriately so
that all Planning Commission members are able to fully participate in these events in the event
of a quorum. The Planning Commission shall forward its final recommendation to the City
Council for the periodic update no later than March 31, 2016.
Administration: The Administration will oversee staff and consultant work on the periodic
update. They will facilitate public meetings and present draft materials to the Planning
Commission and City Council for review. They will revise documents as needed and provide
all materials to Planning Commissioners and City Council members in a timely manner.
VI. ROLE OF THE PUBLIC
The Comprehensive Plan is primarily written for and with guidance from the public. It contains
their preferences, ideas, and policy objectives. During the update is important to retain the
public's interest by making citizen participation as accessible as possible. The process is
driven by the community and guided by the University of Washington team and city's
professional staff, so it is vital to involve public participation. This will be accomplished through
advertising, outreach, stakeholder involvement, and numerous public events.
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Goal 11 of the GMA requires citizen participation and coordination: "Encourage the
involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure coordination between communities
and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts." The Washington State Department of Commerce lists
benefits of including citizens in the process:
• Enhances the quality of planning by incorporating a wide variety of information and
perspectives.
• Allows communities to make decisions based on shared values.
• Engage citizens in the ownership of local land use challenges and solutions.
• Educates and empowers citizens.
• Supports swift and efficient project implementation.
• Ensures that good plans remain relevant over time.
• Fosters a sense of community, and trust in government.
VII. METHODS AND TOOLS
Techniques for public participation vary in scale, technology, structure, and timing. The primary
means of participation will be the traditional public meeting at several key points during the
update process. Because not all interested citizens can attend public meetings, it is essential
to provide alternate means of communication. Port Orchard has a historical lack of citizen·
interest, so it essential to encourage involvement from as wide an audience as early as
possible.
The following tools will be employed to achieve widespread and ongoing citizen involvement:
• Public open houses and meetings
o Background presentations, educational lectures, workshops, roundtables, one-
on-one interviews, activities, games, etc.
o Encouragement of participation by attendees
o Effective notice
• Underrepresented groups will be specifically targeted for outreach
• The date, time, and location of events will be published early enough and
widely enough for all interested citizens to be notified
• Notice will be published in the Port Orchard Independent (official
newspaper of record) and possibly also the Kitsap Sun
• Regular press releases will be published ahead of public meetings, and
city staff will be available for interested reporters and media outlets
• Postings in public spaces, social media updates, and email subscription
lists
• Focus events
o Small scale focus groups with underrepresented members of the community (at
schools, businesses, neighborhood centers, etc.
o Presentations and workshops with community organizations and neighboring
jurisdictions
• Opportunities for open discussion
o Speaking sessions and roundtables at meetings
o Additional public comment periods at Planning Commission, Council, and sub-
committee meetings
• Written comments
o Online public feedback
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o Comment forms available at public meetings
• Surveys
o Online, phone, and paper surveys will be conducted to collect public opinion on a
wide range of topics and from a diverse and representative sample
• Distribution of background information
o The current Comprehensive Plan and other relevant documents will be easily
accessible on the City website and available at the local library
o Information will be shared with the Planning Commission, city departments, and
regional agencies as needed
• Public hearings
o The Planning Commission will conduct public hearings on the draft plan elements
and on the final draft plan prior to making a recommendation to the City Council.
Written and oral testimony will be accepted at public hearings.
o The City Council will conduct a public hearing on the final draft plan prior to
adoption. Written and oral testimony will be accepted at this public hearing.
• SEPA
o The city's environmental process will include opportunities for the public to
provide comments on the proposed plan and its possible adverse impacts.
• Interested Parties List
o The city will build and maintain an interested party's notification list and provided
notice to interested parties when opportunities to participate in public workshops
or to provide testimony exist.
XIII. SCHEDULE AND OPPORTUNNITIES FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
(See Appendix A attached)
IX. CONCLUSION
A public hearing on this Public Participation Program was held on April 21, 2014 by the Port
Orchard Planning Commission at which time the plan was recommended for approval by the
City Council. The Port Orchard City Council adopted the program at its regular meeting on
May 27, 2014. This program may be updated administratively as conditions change or
additional resources to support outreach activities become available. A current copy of the
program shall be available for viewing at the front counter of the Department of Community
Development and on the city's website.
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