In 2025, the Kitsap County Department of Community Development (DCD) began updating the Rural Lands Element of its 2024 Comprehensive Plan. Recognizing the importance of this process, the Kitsap Community & Agricultural Alliance (KCAA) took the initiative to bring farmers together, explain the process in greater detail, and submit recommendations for county code updates - all before the DCD reached its 30% completion milestone in June.

Led by Scott Hall, Karissa Holcombe, and DCD’s Heather Cleveland, KCAA created a Toolkit to help participants dive deeper into rural planning issues and explore how Kitsap County can better support agriculture moving forward.

KCAA also wanted to ensure that agricultural landowners and leaseholders - those most directly impacted by the Comprehensive Plan and the County’s Agriculture Code - had a chance to speak up. In partnership with the DCD, KCAA hosted a series of community meetings where attendees could learn about the planning process, share feedback, and offer ideas for shaping future agricultural policy.

The Meetings:
• Saturday, May 10th | 6:00-8:30pm at the Village Green Community Center in Kingston with a virtual option to livestream, and an opportunity to ask Permitting Questions with Darren Gurnee, DCD.

• Wednesday, May 14th | 6:00-8:30pm at the Long Lake Community Building in Port Orchard. (In-Person only)

• Saturday, May 24th | 6:00-8:30pm at the Eagle’s Nest Community Building in Bremerton. (In-Person only). Darren Gurnee present!

All KCAA board members were present: Bob Geballe, Karissa Holcombe, Melody Shipman, Geno Holcombe, Scott Hall, and Jeremy Anunson, in addition to DCD’s Heather Cleveland and Darren Gurnee. Content was similar at all 3 meetings.