Kitsap County, WA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

76 acres), Rural Historic Town Commercial (RHTC), and Rural Historic Town Waterfront (RHTW). 020, the county created this special planning and zoning designation after Port Gamble's 1967 National Register listing and Historic Landmark designation, recognizing its origin as a company town built around the Puget Mill Company/Pope & Talbot sawmill that ran continuously from 1853 until its 1995 closure, the oldest such operation in the nation. Adopted Town Development Objectives (TDOs) require new construction to be compatible with historic structures in mass, scale and character while remaining distinguishable as new work; ban repeating double-bay garage doors facing the street and tilt-up concrete or reflective-glass treatments; require homes to face the street with alley-accessed parking; and favor community open space over large private yards.

Reviewers apply the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation Projects (36 CFR 68) and the 1997 Historic American Engineering Record for Port Gamble as evaluation guides. 025, permitted uses and density, lot coverage, height and setback standards come from the LAMIRD use and dimensions tables in Appendix F. 030 requires the director of community development to route any conditional use permit or performance-based development (PBD) proposal to an architectural and site design committee or consultant, and requires a town master plan approved by the board of county commissioners for large-scale projects: subdivisions of five or more lots, five or more new homes, or commercial development over 5,000 square feet.