Kitsap County staff presented three reclassification requests that were carried forward into the Year of the Rural process. Each request asks to change the rural zoning designation for a parcel or parcels; staff used Kitsap County Code 21.08.070 review criteria to analyze the requests.

Summary of staff recommendations and notable details:
- Request A: Staff recommended approval to change from rural to rural commercial (staff noted the property was developed pre‑GMA and that surrounding uses include timber industry and a golf course). Staff recommended approval conditional on findings documented in the staff report.
- Request B: Request to rezone from rural residential to rural industrial; staff offered no recommendation in the packet and wrote that deliberation will require commission discussion. Staff flagged the parcel’s position on a state highway, ownership by the same party as adjacent parcels, creation of a potential zoning “island” to the north and an open code‑enforcement case on the adjacent land as factors requiring further scrutiny.
- Request C: Multi‑parcel request to change from rural protection to rural commercial. Staff proposed conditional approval that would exclude portions encumbered by critical areas and advised aggregation of parcels where possible to preserve buildable land; the northeastern parcel appears encumbered by critical areas.

Why it matters: Reclassification changes the set of allowed uses and can affect traffic, critical-area protections, and community character. Staff emphasized the need for the commission to deliberate carefully and noted that some applications may raise code‑enforcement and critical‑area issues that could affect outcome or be contested in appeals.

Process: Staff said the three requests were among 17 the county carried forward from the comprehensive-plan process and that earlier requests related to upzoning were removed in June. Staff said reclassification reports include maps, land-use context, and findings of fact in accordance with county code. The commission will deliberate on these requests during a scheduled October session.