Setting out some priorities to help Silverdale reach its potential
Centrally located within one of the most picturesque counties in the nation, Silverdale is an island of untapped potential. This unincorporated urban expanse is underutilized and ripe for redevelopment. While all the pragmatic pieces are in place, such as shopping centers, big box stores, hospital and medical services, restaurants, YMCA, and a wide array of retail services, it will need to be much more than that to accommodate the inevitable population surge anticipated for Kitsap County within the next 20 years. Silverdale has the ideal location and available space to host imaginative mixed-use development that would meet residential, retail, office, and civic needs.
Silverdale is not a town or a city, but, rather an unincorporated community of about 20,000 people. Over the past ten years, this community has experienced significant population growth and the cost of housing has increased dramatically, but today downtown Silverdale could be described as urban sprawl, with no definable identity. It is a classic auto-centric community, characterized by congestion, excessive asphalt, and low-rise commercial strips. With a few notable exceptions, the preponderance of space within this retail core is inhospitable to walkers and bikers. The architecture is pedestrian, street plantings are scarce and there are virtually no public spaces.
Silverdale has all the natural attributes, from saltwater access, mountain views and urban forests to wildlife habitats and wetlands. It should be a magnet for intelligent development, both public and private, in which older shopping centers are reimagined, affordable housing is aligned along the edges of wasted parking, a central park and town square is provided for public events and passive recreation, a coordinated trail system links all major points of interest, access to the saltwater shoreline is vastly enhanced, and an aggressive street landscape program is initiated.
If the current rate of grown continues for Kitsap County, it could almost double its population within the next 30 years. The area known as Silverdale should become the central urban neighborhood, with more people living and working in midrise condos, townhouses, apartments, and offices. To achieve this goal, it is imperative to launch a public/private initiative that coordinates public and private investment much like what transpired on the Bremerton downtown waterfront. New housing, restaurants, parks, and public spaces transformed this downtown space into a vibrant urban community.
Clearly, both the public and private sectors are needed to achieve the kind of change that is possible in Silverdale. Once a countywide leadership group is established to examine the future of Silverdale, we recommend that immediate consideration be given to the following actions:
1. Evaluate a change in government, in which Silverdale is either incorporated and given control over its own destiny or a charter amendment process is initiated that would elect seven to nine commissioners at large who would be elected at large.
2. Develop a viable sub area plan for Old Town that would emphasize an eclectic mix of housing, office, retail and dining. Emphasis would be placed on establishing a walkable community, with view corridors, charming streetscapes, and enhanced access to the waterfront. This would be Silverdale’s version of Old Poulsbo, Old Main in Bellevue, Old Scottsdale, or the Fairhaven district in Bellingham.
3. Embark on a land banking initiative that would focus on saltwater access, a central park for community gatherings and celebrations, and whatever additional right of way needed to create a pedestrian friendly downtown.
4. Create a master plan for the Silverdale Mall that fully utilizes the acres of wasted asphalt into an imaginative mixed -use development that incorporates affordable housing, retail, office, and public spaces. You need to look no further than the University Village in Seattle, Totem Lake in Kirkland, or Crossroads in Bellevue to see how impactful it can be to intelligently convert older malls into vital community spaces.
This should be a clarion call for leadership and vision to tackle a premier opportunity in Kitsap County. To delay will be to sanction the type of uncoordinated urban sprawl that currently exists. Silverdale can and should be the beating heart of this magnificent county. The opportunity is now and the choice is yours.
Cary Bozeman is a Port of Bremerton commissioner and former mayor of Bremerton and Bellevue. Lee Springgate is an author and the former Parks Director for the City of Bellevue, and lives in Port Ludlow.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Priorities to help Silverdale reach its potential
