Before he left for vacation, Kitsap Causus blog host Steve
Gardner put
Port Orchard “on
notice” again. “On notice,” a term and concept
blatantly pilfered from commentator/comedian Stephen Colbert,
means
“I’m watching you.”
Gardner writes, “Port Orchard gets on the board after
consecutive weeks
on it when this was a feature of the Bremerton Beat. It just feels
good
to put the city there again.”
And well you should be watching PO Mr.
also-Bremerton-Beat-reporter.
Sure B-town may have been the subject of a glowing
editorial in the
Kitsap Sun over the weekend for all its accomplishments …
condos,
tunnels … not without growing pains, it was noted. But Port
Orchard
has its own accomplishments, too.
Last week the PO City Council, ta da, completed the draft of
its
Downtown Overlay District plan, which has been a work in
progress
throughout the past year and then some. On a note that may or may
not
be relevant, it was completed not on Mayor Kim Abel’s watch (she
was on
vacation), but with Mayor Pro Tem Rick Wyatt at the helm. What
now?
Well, the draft goes on the council’s Aug. 27 agenda for public
discussion. Understand, this document has already been discussed
(and
sometimes just plain cussed) nearly to paralysis. But hopefully,
the
end is in sight. Once the plan is in place, property owners, who
have
been waiting to learn the rules can advance with major renovations
of
their buildings.
In the meantime, business and property owners and the city
itself have
not been idle. Storefronts have been spiffied up (see
especially
Morningside Bread Co., which recently underwent a major remodel
and
expansion). Flowers donated courtesy of the Port Orchard Bay
Street
Association have been kept up beautifully by the city’s Public
Works
Department and are in full bloom (see also the flowers in the
Port
Orchard Marina). The city is making renovations to the sidewalks
with
some attractive touches, and new trash cans add to the look.
(It’s
amazing what some really classy trash cans can do.)
I spoke with Robin Scott, owner of Pettirosso salon in downtown,
and
she affirmed that there is indeed a feeling of positive momentum
among
business owners in town. “It’s great,” she said.
Furthermore, the city isn’t just an empty showpiece. Over the
weekend
for example, classic car aficionados crowded downtown to show off
their
beautiful babies at
The Cruz, along with the POBSA’s Festival by the Bay.
So there Mr. Gardner, just because we don’t have a tunnel
doesn’t mean
we’re not worth continuing to watch. So you’d best keep an eye on
PO.
