Seeking Silverdale and Central Kitsap

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I’m a Silverdale resident and frequent walker on the Clear Creek Trail. But I had no idea the trail actually extends from the mouth of Clear Creek on Bucklin Hill Road all the way into Old Town. It’s just disguised as a sidewalk for most of that journey.

Trail advocate and volunteer coordinator Tex Lewis says the group stenciled Clear Creek Trail logos on the sidewalks from the Silverdale Beach Hotel all the way into Old Town Silverdale several years ago.

According to Lewis, the goal has always been to work with property owners in Old Town to see if the route of the trail could be moved closer to the water so more people could experience the waterfront. Well, the trail just took a step in that direction.

The Port of Silverdale just contributed to the trail by allowing access to one of its commercial properties at the end of Lowell Street. That, combined with permission from property owner Ron Templeton, allowed the trail to run from the end of Byron Street up the waterfront to Lowell.
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A Boy Scout Troop looking for a project was put to work creating a crushed rock trail from the Templeton property to  the end of Lowell Street.

Lewis says that the trail follows the sidewalk on the waterfront along Bayshore Drive, then follows the walk in front of the building housing the Yacht Club Broiler. To link that point of the trail to the end of Lowell, however, will require other property owners to grant beach access to the trail.

On the other end, the plan calls for the trail to follow Bayshore, cut between the old Sandpiper Restaurant and the water, and link up to the waterfront walking path around the Silverdale Hotel, and finallly to the walking trail at Old Mill Park. Access to the area around the Sandpiper is pending redevelopment of the restaurant site, Lewis said.

— Jeff

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In 1992, as the county was trying to develop its first real comprehensive land use plan, the Kitsap Regional Planning Council hired consultant Anton Nelessen was hired to conduct a public “visioning” process. Nelessen’s firm took photographs of cities, neighborhoods, commercial areas and rural areas throughout Kitsap County. Then, in a Saturday presentation in President’s Hall at the Fairgrounds, he presented 240 slides showing different scenes from the county.

About 100 county residents who attended were asked to score the slides. Mirroring reactions Nelessen had received in similar presentations all across the country, Kitsap residents indicated a distaste for strip mall development and residential housing that offered garage doors as their public face. I remember sitting in the audience that day and seeing a slide showing my neighborhood on the Ridgetop. The scene received one of the lowest scores of all the slides.

It wasn’t too many years later that residents on Bainbridge Island decided to join with what was then the city of Winslow and incorporate the entire island into one city. For most of the people who voted to incorporate islandwide, it was an attempt to wrest control over local development rules from the county and put that control in local hands.

Scenes from Bainbridge Island’s commercial district and neighborhoods won high marks during the slide presentation that day in 1992. 

There was a strong sense among island residents that, in planning growth, neighborhoods should be preserved; development should be focused into specific areas; rural lands should be retained. All these values ended up in the city’s comprehensive planning.

That brings us to today. Bainbridge Island is the second largest city in Kitsap. It has grown more quickly than other parts of the county, despite the city’s reputation for putting more restrictions on development and for being a difficult place for developers to obtain permits. There have been many Bainbridge stories over the years of old trees being preserved, old houses being moved rather than demolished; and chain restaurants being kept off the island. Bainbridge would seem to be the last place where a historic home in an historic district would be endangered by a planned multi-use development.

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Sometimes all it takes is a stop by the waterfront in Silverdale to have a reminder of why we choose to live in this place.

I was out and about in Silverdale Thursday and enjoyed watching the layer of clouds rush by while still seeing some blue sky and a little bit of sun. It was especially nice after the period first of snow, and then of rain, that we’ve endured.

When I got to the park Thursday afternoon, a group of kids from an area nursery school was playing there.

But after they left, I had the park all to myself.

— Jeff