"After five years, new homes approved"

"The Port Orchard City Council has approved an amended, five-year-old plan by a developer to build 63 single-family homes on a lot bordered by Goldenrod Street, West and South Flower avenues and Fireweed Road.Submitted by former council member Chuck Childress, the original application called for rezoning a mish-mash of lots to accommodate single-family homes, duplexes and mobile homes.Backlash from neighbors in the Flower Meadows community squelched the request early. But an accord was reached following numerous Planning Commission meetings, discussions among council members and talks between neighbors and the developer spanning half a decade.From the start, neighbors were concerned about potential stormwater run-off and contamination of nearby Blackjack Creek from the proposed development, as well as potential safety hazards.Council members approved the plan on several conditions that include installing a picnic table, retaining wall and 4-foot chain-link fence at a park within the development. Other provisions included building an asphalt pathway to the park and installing sidewalks on the other side of a roadway that will be constructed as part of the project.With Childress' project approved, city officials still have two other projects on the drawing board to contend with.The Planning Commission has studied and approved two more proposed projects, but the council must first accept the planned developments before they get the go-ahead. The council is expected to discuss at an April 10 meeting, beginning at 7:35 p.m.:* An application by Yoder/Morrison partnership, a Port Orchard firm, to develop a professional plaza in the 1800 bloc of Pottery Avenue, between South Kitsap Boulevard and Lippert Road. That project includes constructing some 72,965 square feet of total building space. * A proposal by Gig Harbor resident Jerry Clark to build 30 single-family homes on nine acres. The land is at the northeast corner of Melcher Avenue and Pottery Avenue."

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