REPORTER CENTRAL KITSAP
KITSAP WEEK: Port Orchard keeps the past alive
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 | Vol. 30, No. 16 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
Buffalo Wild Wings to employ 150
Future of Silverdale to be guided by revised county sub-area plan
New restaurant opens Feb. 9
Public comments are key to directing how Silverdale changes
BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
BY CHRIS TUCKER
dieback, clipping away the dead branches. Stephens is a member of the Evergreen Bonsai Club. They met Friday Jan. 16 at the Crossroads Neighborhood Church in Bremerton. About
SILVERDALE — Workers are putting the finishing touches on the new Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant at Kitsap Mall as they prepare for the store’s official opening on Monday, Feb. 9. “There is not much more to be done,” said Will Miller, operations general manager for the new restaurant. He said the staff of the restaurant would be trained over a 10-day period prior to opening. “We hired 150 people out of over 1,000 applications,” Miller said. “We have 11 other stores in Washington at the moment. There’s really nothing on this side of the water.” The military presence in Kitsap County was one reason for the store’s opening, he said. “Military people recognize our brand … we really support our troops. Silverdale is just a great place. I think (management) thought something like this would really do well here.” To celebrate its opening, the first 100 guests in line for the restaurant’s 10 a.m. opening will be awarded a coupon book with 52 vouchers for snack-sized wings -- one order for every week of the year. To receive free wings for a year, local wing fanatics are encouraged to arrive early and must remain present until the doors open to receive the prize. Buffalo Wild Wings is a popular lunch, happy hour,
SEE BONSAI, A9
SEE WILD WINGS, A9
CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
Imagining what Silverdale might look like in the year 2035 was on the minds of around 120 area citizens who met to ponder issues such as commercial and residential zoning, transportation and maximum building height. Those issues and more will be described in a sub-area plan which is due for a revision in 2016. “Whats your vision for Silverdale’s urban growth area looking over the next 20 years?,” asked David Greetham, senior planner with the Kitsap County Department of Community Development. Greetham said public comments were a key, influential factor in determining the answer to that question. Because Silverdale is not incorporated, the county is responsible for planning how it grows. The Silverdale sub-area plan is a smaller part of the overall Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan, a document that guides development, regulations and serves as a long-term road map for the future county-wide. It is structured around the state’s Growth Management Act. By law the county has to draft a plan that looks 20 years into the future. Several aspects of Silverdale are evaluated in the sub-area plan including land use, housing, sewer and other utilities, transportation, rural areas, economic development and more. The plan and
12 COMMUNIT Y DELIV ERED
Chris Tucker / staff photos
Ruth Jones of Bremerton belts out a song titled ‘I love Him’ with the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir at the fairgrounds on Jan. 19. Jones goes by the name Ruth Frances for her album ‘Now Unto Him!!!’ This map shows the different types of zoning in Silverdale. A more detailed map can be seen on the Web at compplan.kitsapgov.com.
Celebration commemorates MLK Jr.
the map, Greetham said, is not “set in stone” as it is regularly updated every eight years. A copy of the current comprehensive plan and the Silverdale sub-area plan are available on the Web at compplan. kitsapgov.com. Greetham said the goal of the comprehensive plan included working with Kitsap’s cities to concentrate growth in urban areas where the services such as water and sewer exist, and also to maintain rural character. Growth was expected in Silverdale, Greetham said. He said the county might expect its population to increase by 65,000 people over the next 20 years. Some audience members asked Greetham if Silverdale was planning for too much growth, thus leading to vacant buildings and too many com-
Over 300 people gathered to reflect on the life, work and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 21st annual Kitsap County MLK Jr. Day Celebration at the county fairgrounds. The event was held Jan. 19 and hosted by the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bremerton. Olympic College student Drayton Jackson told those assembled that King used education and wisdom to
SEE SUB AREA PLAN, A9
BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
SEE KING, A9
Lu-uk Joe-Lanham-McCloud, 17, Ah-Nika-Leesh Chiquiti, 12, Kate Ahvakana and Bobby Ray Pondelick, 7, with the Suquamish Tribe perform the warrior song during the event. They represent the Renewal Powwow Royalty.
Tiny trees are the focus of Bonsai Club BY PETER O’CAIN POCAIN@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Mark Stephens said he dabbles in bonsai. He’s been doing it for 25 years, but he only dabbles. Stephens, 56, sits before a juniper bonsai tree, or
“shimpaku.” It’s jagged and unkempt, the result of a season spent shaded by a wisteria plant. He has black framed glasses and a closely trimmed beard that runs red along jawline and fades into grey around his mouth. He runs his fingers along the branches, feeling for
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