Town strives to keep it rural

By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Standing on a knoll overlooking hundreds of velvety green acres, developer Jon Rose says anytime there is talk about clearing land in Kingston -- especially large tracts -- opposition is bound to surface.

"We respect that. But this is our land," Rose says, pointing to his employer's land, partially hidden by a morning mist. "And we have a right to develop it and earn a return on our investment."

The investment, in this case, is 720 acres located about a mile southeast of Kingston's ferry dock. Olympic Resources Management, a subsidiary of Pope Resources, has proposed building 280 townhouses and 485 houses on previously logged land. Almost 500 acres would be left as open space.

Arborwood, as it is called, is one of three proposed housing projects in the Kingston area. If all three come to fruition, which is questionable, more than 1,000 new homes would be built in the next 10 to 15 years. That would more than double Kingston's population.

The potential for change is very real within this coastal township, which still enjoys the rhythms of its semi-rural setting in north Kitsap County.

The wilderness was logged and tamed long ago by companies such as Pope & Talbot Inc., the timber and land giant. Yet Kingston still has dense groves of fragrant second-growth trees, wetlands, meandering streams and rambling old farm houses.

To the west, the shark-toothed Olympics appear and disappear like apparitions hiding in the coastal weather fronts that sweep across Kingston.

Downtown Kingston, on the other hand, is not so breathtaking, though its view of Puget Sound is rewarding. Many ferry riders blast through downtown on their way to the Hood Canal Bridge or Olympic Peninsula.

It is a downtown that fails to capture the imagination of visitors, despite some neat little businesses, including Marsha Dohrendorf's unique gift shop and Jeff Groman's Kingston Classic Cycle.

Groman's bicycle shop is a good reason to visit Kingston. It's filled with bikes for sale and a fascinating collection of cycling memorabilia, including a bike ridden in 1935 by Frank Bartell, who set a world speed record of 80.5 mph.

Groman says Kingston is a wonderful place yet to be discovered fully. But its future is up in the air. "It could be an amazing place or it could be a mess," he says.

Continued:

• Community spirit is blossoming
• Residents split on whether growth is good