ENETAI, YOUR COMMUNITY, YOUR PLAN : The County Commissioners approved our efforts in support of  amending the Illahee Community Plan and pre-planning at the county will start in the last quarter of 2025. We are requesting additional portions of Enetai be added to the plan. Planning meetings will be ongoing in 2025 to AMEND the Illahee Community Plan. Please join us in shaping YOUR community for the future. Get involved by signing up to participate in a Community Advisory Group (CAG)

SAVE ENETAI went to trial Dec 2nd in the Kitsap County Superior Court. We are currently waiting on the judges decision. Although we are hopeful the judge will make a SEPA ruling in our favor based on the law, our expectations are tempered with the knowledge local judges are generally not inclined to rule against local municipalities. We have insured significant legal fees fighting this battle for over a year. Even if we win, the law doesn't allow for us to recover more than $1000 in attorney fees. This is how developers stack the deck against communities.  PLEASE support our efforts by donating to our legal defense fund!

SAVE ENETAI will have a 1/2 hour presentation on January 7th, 2025, 1:00PM as part of the Manette History Club meeting. It is held at the Manette Community Church (parking is available behind the church off Hayward Ave). Come join us for updates.

What and where is Enetai?  ENETAI - is a census designated place with a population of 2,497 residents located south of Illahee State Park stretching to Manette Park and lies within the Urban Growth Boundary of Bremerton.  Enetai Beach is a small private community along the shoreline accessed by a private road off the end of Jacobsen where the mouth of Enetai Creek is located. Enetai, was a town first called Port Orchard located at the mouth of Enetai Creek where the area saw its first Lumber Mill site (1852). It burnt to the ground in 1870. A spring via Enetai water system has provided water to the beach area and the Cheney Estate.

Who is SAVE ENETAI and what is their mission? Save Enetai first came together to develop a coalition of affected residents to defend our neighborhoods from a developer attempting to annex ENETAI into the City of Bremerton for the purpose of obtaining sewer to develop what is known as the old Cheney Estate (65 acres includes shoreline). The Enetai community overwhelming (10 voted yes 2.2% interested 10/460) REJECTED annexation into the City of Bremerton in 2022. SAVE ENETAI is opposing high-density development that it not compatible with our neighborhoods and that have the potential to deplete our already over-allocated water resources.

ENETAI is a WDFW designated PHS "wildlife patch" and part of the contiguous wildlife system that connects to the Illahee Forest Preserve and Illahee State Park. The value of Cheney Estate-Enetai Community is recognized in the Illahee Community Plan (ICP) and was incorporated into the 2008 Comprehensive Plan. A portion of ENETAI is already in the ICP. The county failed " in error" to recognize this during the area-wide rezoning in 2016 and to date refuses to acknowledge or correct the error in 2024. This is in direct conflict with their own Community Plan and OPEN SPACE designation.

This "wildlife patch"  is now IMMINENTLY threatened by a foreign-based investor proposing to clear-cut the forest to build 189 homes on 37 acres (Proposed Fisher Plat). How is this allowed to happen given its numerous designations?

As with the Illahee community, ENETAI recognizes the protection of fish and wildlife resources and habitat, including water resources within its borders is ultimately the responsibility of the ENETAI community. Through an alliance with the Illahee community and a coalition of surrounding neighborhoods, we are seeking to do this by amending the Illahee Community Plan to include additional portions of ENETAI.

CURRENT USE - OPEN SPACE TAX DESIGNATION

Due to the sensitive shoreline, forest and wildlife designations, the Cheney Estate applied and received a Current Use-OPEN SPACE Tax designation in 1994 which was continued by the new owner in 2018 upon sale. A significant tax reduction is enjoyed to keep the property in open space. The intent and purpose of this designation is to preserve, conserve and protect any land area,  in its present use.

This foreign-based developers, John & Shawna Fisher who have no ties to the area, have been enjoying huge tax reductions since 2019 while actively seeking to develop the property ignoring the sensitive ecosystem and wildlife designation.

WE ARE UNDER ASSAULT - COUNTY FAILING TO ENFORCE LAND USE CODES AND CURRENT USE-OPEN SPACE TAX AGREEMENT.

On May 21, 2024, heavy equipment entered the old growth forest and proceeded to rip apart the pristine forest floor WITHOUT A PERMIT under the guise of "geotechnical exploration". County DCD and the contractors claim they didn't disturb more than 1 acre and didn't need a permit. WE DISAGREE and have called for an investigation and accountability for allowing such a shameful act on known environmentally sensitive land and wildlife habitat. WHY IS THE COUNTY NOT PROTECTING THIS VALUABLE ASSET TO OUR COMMUNITY?

NEW: Two new PETITIONS submitted to Growth Management Hearings related to the Critical Area Ordinances. Port Gable S'kallam Tribe & Kitsap Environmental Coalition, et al.

UPDATE 1/2025: Save Enetai has just acquired the CALCULATION MAPS provided to the county by GeoResources whom performed the geotechnical exploration. We only just received them through numerous public records requests. It's clear why they have been withholding them from us. Code violation reports indicate the DCD enforcement officer failed to do her job accurately (3 initial estimates made by her were wrong). We also discovered, she was a former employee of Team4 Engineers, the developers lead on the project. Devyn Newcombe met with GeoResources on site (after the fact) to calculate the amount of acreage disturbed AFTER claiming no more than one acre had been disturbed on the entire job. Emails obtained show communications to GeoResources how she laid out instructions to create maps that would meet the criteria that did not require a permit.  Interestingly, the maps shows one parcel with .98 acreage disturbed. 1 acre is the cut-off to require a permit. The geologist whom created the map states his estimates are "conservative".

ENETAI CREEK: PRESERVE, PROTECT & RESTORE: Further enforcement reports filed by by DCD employee, Devyn Newcombe as they relate to wetlands and creek destruction at Sylvan Way show a pattern of retaliation towards Save Enetai and an effort by her to undermine our creek restoration efforts in the community. Critical Area code violation complaints have been closed stating no violations. Devyn Newcombe states the creek is a ditch when in fact DCDs own Natural Resource Manager has communicated to her and the DCD Director this is a creek. 2021 Wetland CO report and KPHD maps document the creeks existence! There is even a new sign on Sylvan Way that designates the creek.  DCD Enforcement is now targeting the reporters of violations, NOT the violators who are destroying critical areas such as our streams and wetlands. Why is this employee allowed to target us and block our efforts to protect an important watershed and headwaters stream?

UPDATE 11/2024: County DCD has been promising a map that calculates how much land was disturbed however after multiple requests and promises to provide, it has NOT been provided. DCD Director David Lyman verbally told us on 8/5/24 that since the Fisher Plat is two (2) parcels, DCD has now interpreted that to mean two (2) acres total can be disturbed. Thats what we call "fuzzy math"!

UPDATE: As of Nov 1st, 2024, after many promises, no maps have been provided that document disturbance of vegetation on the Fisher Plat area. Kitsap County Assessor office has refused to enforce the Open Space Tax Agreement that has been in place since 1993 that restricts ANY vegetation from being disturbed. The foreign investor continues to enjoy low taxes based on OPEN SPACE tax agreement , while collecting income by advertising the shoreline property as an AirBNB. Open Space tax agreement requires 7 years back taxes collected when parcel is taken out of OPEN SPACE. Disturbing the land, documented by Save Enetai, requires these parcels to be removed from OPEN SPACE and 7 years back taxes collected.  Why does Kitsap County Assessor office refuse to do this?  Why does the State of Washington Department of Revenue insist on ignoring our request to collection of taxes AND why does the State of Washington Auditor's Department not enforce state law?

Sept 2024 County DCD has re-issued a NOA (Notice of Application) for a proposed development adjacent to Illahee State Park due to failure to notify the State Park AND for incorrectly determining it was SEPA exempt. The Illahee-Enetai Community submitted its joint SEPA comments on September 12th.  This area along the shoreline, south to the old Cheney property (now Fisher) has documented LARGE catastrophic landslides, stormwater runoff and septic failures due to the topography. It is not suitable for development.