Tag Archives: port orchard

Port Orchard preschool breaking ground on new building

stepping-stonesSouth Kitsap’s Stepping Stones Learning Center and Preschool will soon step into a new building.

The Christian education center announced plans last week to construct a 5,000-square-foot facility at 1914 Pottery Ave. in Port Orchard.

The building will include three classrooms, recreation space and offices. Plans call for 25 parking spaces and a fenced outdoor play area.

The city recently issued site development permits for the project, according to the news release. Port Orchard-based Pristine Homes is the contractor.

A groundbreaking celebration is scheduled for 3-4 p.m. Monday. The facility is expected to be ready by the start of the 2017-18 school year.

Jimmy John’s opens in Port Orchard

jjlogolargeA Jimmy John’s sandwich shop is now open at 1800 SE Mile Hill Dr. in Port Orchard, according to a Tuesday news release.

The 1,400-square-foot store features a drive-thru window, as well as indoor seating. Delivery and catering are available.

The Port Orchard franchise is owned by Angela Daniels and Mary Jo Smallman, who also own the Jimmy John’s in Bremerton.

They plan to open a Silverdale location in 2017.

PSE selling surplus land in Port Orchard

1604_102Puget Sound Energy is selling an undeveloped property off Mile Hill Drive where a substation was planned.

Realty Marketing/Northwest listed the 7.5-acre property in a fall auction catalog released last week, with sealed bids due by Nov. 15.

The sale includes portions of two long parcels stretching north off Mile Hill Drive and a smaller parcel connecting to Baby Doll Road (see inset image). The land is zoned commercial and could be developed as apartments or “entry level housing,” according to Realty Marketing/Northwest.

PSE spokesman Ray Lane said a substation was planned on the property 25 years ago.

“However, our electric load in that area is static,” Lane said. “We have no plans to construct a substation in the near future, and when we do, we don’t need that much land.”

PSE will hang onto 2 acres along Mile Hill Drive in case a substation is needed in the future.

Harrison Port Orchard Urgent Care cutting late night hours

20090113-181808-pic-839579123_5852379_ver1.0_640_480Harrison Port Orchard Urgent Care will reduce evening hours this fall in response to complaints regarding long wait times and understaffing.

The new clinic hours will be 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily, beginning Oct. 31, according to a letter sent to CHI Franciscan Health patients. The clinic is currently open 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

According to the letter: “This change will ensure that three providers are in clinic during all business hours, which will improve access to our providers and decrease the time patients spend in the waiting room.”

CHI Franciscan spokesman Scott Thompson said the clinic saw an average of 8 patients between the hours of 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.

“We are much busier during the day,” Thompson said.

South Kitsap patients needing care overnight will have to travel to an emergency department in Bremerton, Gig Harbor or Silverdale. CHI Franciscan Health also offers virtual urgent care 24 hours a day.

The Port Orchard clinic was originally open 24 hours a day. CHI Franciscan eliminated overnight hours at the urgent care in 2015.

The full letter to patients is posted below:

PO.urgent.hours by Tad Sooter on Scribd

U-Haul closes Port Orchard store

soh_uhaul_logoU-Haul closed its Port Orchard location on Sept. 8, just a few months after it opened.

The Olney Avenue U-Haul store shut down because the company was unable to obtain an extension on its contract to purchase the property and its lease ended, according to a news release.

The store had been providing truck and trailer rentals, as well as moving supplies.

South Kitsap residents won’t have to travel far to find U-Haul trucks. The moving and storage giant operates stores in Gorst and Bremerton, and works with several independent dealers in the area.

The county recently approved plans for a large U-Haul self storage center in Gorst.

Fifth marijuana grow approved in North Kitsap; retailer relocating

The state approved a fifth marijuana grow in North Kitsap this week.

The Liquor and Cannabis Board issued licenses to recreational marijuana producer and processor Americanna Naturals on Tuesday. The company will be located at 26420 Pioneer Way NW, near Twelve Trees Business Park.

Americanna Naturals is the 15th producer/processor licensed in the county. A grow was approved in Kingston just last week.

In other marijuana business news, a retail store that had been licensed in Port Orchard has successfully changed its location to East Bremerton.

Fillabong, which also operates a shop in Silverdale, was originally approved for 4978 Mile Hill Drive. The store will now be located at 3249 Perry Ave.

Here’s an updated map of marijuana business licenses in Kitsap:

Plans filed for new Bruce Titus Ford dealership

titus.renderingPermit applications filed with the city this month give a first look at Bruce Titus Ford’s expansion plans in Port Orchard.

The Bay Street dealership recently purchased an adjacent lot where St. Vincent de Paul runs a thrift store. St. Vincent plans to open a new shop on Bethel Avenue later this year, and will continue operating on Bay Street until then.faith2_21706995_ver1.0_640_480

Bruce Titus Ford is proposing a two-story, 29,000-square-foot building on the site of the current thrift store.

For perspective, the existing showroom is about 12,000 square feet. The existing thrift store building is roughly 26,000 square feet.

Below is a preliminary site plan for the proposed Bruce Titus project (click here to view the full plan set):

Preliminary Civil Titus Ford p3

Port Orchard Community Development Director Nick Bond said the project will require a conditional use permit, shoreline development permit and shoreline variance.

The Bay Street Pedestrian Path will be extended along the shoreline of the property via an easement.

You can view the notice of application and SEPA determination of non significance for the dealership project here. Comments will be accepted through Aug. 12.

According to county documents, Titus paid $1.65 million for the St. Vincent parcel, which was owned by Port Orchard Shopping Center LP. The two waterfront properties total about 3.3 acres.

Business has been good lately for Port Orchard dealerships. New and used car dealers within the city reported higher gross sales in 2015 than in 2007, before the start of the recession, according to numbers from the state Department of Revenue. 

Kitsap Bank reports record-breaking first quarter

KBsm_CMYK_BlkT_logoKitsap Bank enjoyed the best first quarter in its 107-year history this year, according to a news release.

Holding company Olympic Bancorp reported a 55 percent year-over-year increase in earnings in the first three months of 2016. Net income totaled $2.64 million, compared with $1.70 in the same period of 2015.

Loans grew by 22 percent, from $485 million to $591 million. Deposits were up 13 percent, from $873 million to $989 million.

“Our performance continues to be robust in this economy, producing record results for the bank,” Kitsap Bank CEO Steve Politakis said in the release.

Port Orchard-based Kitsap Bank operates 21 locations in Western Washington. The bank topped $1 billion in assets for the first time last year.

Lender foreclosing on Stetson’s Heights development land

stetson.map
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A lender is foreclosing on more than 100 acres of Port Orchard land slated for residential development.

A notice of trustee’s sale was issued May 25 for the Stetson’s Heights property, which includes four parcels west of the Glenwood Road/Sedgwick Road intersection (see inset image).

According to the notice, Stetson Ridge Partners, LLC. of Tacoma owes more than $1.86 million in principal, interest and fees on a loan issued in 2013 by Fratelli’s LLC. of Auburn and Happypenguin.com.

The combined assessed value for the parcels is $1.67 million.

The sale is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 26 outside Givens Playfield at Tacoma Avenue and Sroufe Street in Port Orchard.

Previous owners of the property submitted a preliminary plat application to the city in 2007 but later requested officials hold off on approval. Stetson Ridge Partners acquired the land in 2013 and submitted a 362-lot, single-family subdivision.

Port Orchard Community Development Director Nick Bond said the city is currently reviewing a new application for the property.

Yet another pot store coming to Port Orchard

Po.pot.stores
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How many legal marijuana stores can one town support?

It sure looks like we’ll find out in Port Orchard.

The Liquor and Cannabis Board approved an eighth shop for the Port Orchard area last week (see inset image).

The latest licensee is 21+ Recreational Marijuana, located at 3598 Bethel Road SE.

The address appears to be across the road from Walmart and next door to Legal Marijuana Superstore, a retailer approved back in December. 

The state has issued 17 marijuana retail licenses in Kitsap, bringing the county closer to its allotted cap of 20. 

Two more licenses can be issued in the county at large, and one more can be issued on Bainbridge Island.

The city of Bremerton reached its cap of four retail licenses in April.

Grower approved in Hansville

The board also licensed a marijuana producer and processor in North Kitsap last week.

The Organic Weedman will be located at 7990 NE Ecology Drive near the Hansville transfer station.

Twelve producer/processors and one standalone processor have been licensed in the county thus far.