Whether you are new to Gamblewood or a long-time resident just looking for a handy place to find information, this page might make your life easier.
Dues
Annual Gamblewood HOA dues are a low $75, bills are mailed out during the 2nd half of May. Your dues primarily support the maintenance of and improvements to our common properties (parks), pay for our liability insurance and a few shared utilities. Only members in good standing are eligible to vote at the Annual Members Meeting where priorities are set for the coming year and major expenditures are approved, and only members in good standing are eligible to request a key to the park’s drive-thru gate. You can pay your dues or submit questions about your balance here.
Senior citizens (65 and older) in our community are eligible for a $25 discount on dues, please include birthdate information or a copy of your drivers license with submission of your reduced payment (only necessary once).
Every property owner in the Gamblewood HOA implicitly agreed to pay annual HOA dues when they bought here. The board is happy to work with those who are behind in dues but wanting to catch up by negotiating a reasonable payment plan. Those members who continue to ignore their obligation will become subject to having a lien placed on their property.
Our Parks & Gate Keys
Both our waterfront park and the play park on Border Way are there and maintained for your enjoyment — please be courteous to other members and neighbors by accommodating others, keeping your volume down, picking up after yourselves and following posted park rules.
Our private waterfront park’s entrance is at the corner of NE Gamblewood and Serene (map). The park is open to members on foot from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM by way of the walk-through entrance at the gate. The gate is locked at all times, however…if you, for whatever reason (health, distance, boat, etc.) need to drive into the park to use it, we will be happy to issue a key upon request to owners in good standing (up-to-date with your Gamblewood HOA dues). If you are a renter in Gamblewood, a key request has to be made on your behalf by the property owner. Vehicles must be out of the park by dusk (before dark). Call our message phone at (360) 362-0148 to request a key and sign a Key Agreement. Use of the shelters and BBQs is first come first served, we ask that you remember that the parks belong to all members and not monopolize their use. Our garbage is limited in capacity and is picked up once a week so if you have an organized gathering there please be courteous and pack your garbage out with you. Some residents do enjoy swimming or cooling off in the bay during the summer months, but enjoying the water is done at your own risk, we have no lifeguards — please keep an especially close eye on your kids near the water and remember that sharp oysters shells, barnacles and other items cover the bottom.
HOA Board Meetings
The Board generally meets once each month at 7:00 PM, the day is changed periodically to allow accommodation of board member schedules. During the summer months the Board meets at the waterfront park, during the colder/wetter/darker months of the year it has been the Board’s preference to meet at one of our local tap rooms. Members are welcome at meetings and are allowed to make a short statement/ask a question or propose an item for New Business on the agenda. Agenda items can also be emailed prior to a meeting to gamblewood.cc@gmail.com.
Annual Member Meeting and BBQ
Our Annual Member Meeting is held on a Saturday in June at the Gamblewood Waterfront Park, the meeting starts at 2pm. The 2024 Member Meeting will be held Saturday, June 15. It is a good place/time to ask questions and make suggestions regarding the priorities of the HOA for the coming year, voting in the meeting is restricted to members current in HOA dues. The meeting is preceded by a BBQ open to all Gamblewood residents that starts at 1:00.
HOA Covenants
The Gamblewood HOA is pretty old as HOAs go, having been established in 1967 by the Serene Development Corporation from property that had been in the holdings of Pope Resources. The covenants that were written for us by the developers were written in a way that has made them very difficult to change (and written without an enforcement mechanism), and as a result they are rather outdated—in almost every case the regulations of Kitsap County are stricter and supersede our own rules (and the County has the power to enforce their rules, so it is worth your time to check with them in the case of a problem/complaint regarding another HOA member). What our HOA covenants DO provide however is the legal grounds for one property owner to sue another in court if a violation of HOA covenants is damaging their use or the value of their own property (hopefully a last resort). Gamblewood HOA Covenants, Bylaws and other useful documents can be found here. Search Kitsap County Code here.
Over the years the regulations on unincorporated Kitsap County have become, in many cases, more restrictive than the HOA covenants—if you are looking for enforcement this can be viewed as a good thing because the County has the authority to enforce rules that the HOA does not. Below are some contacts at the County that could be helpful:
- KITSAP COUNTY DEPT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: call 360-337-5777, ext 3134. For issues of property abandonment, collected junk vehicles.
- KITSAP COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH: call 360-728-2235. For issues of solid waste (rubbish, trashed furnishings left outside, excess compost, problems of pestilence).
Annual Community Garage Sale
Our community wide garage sale is scheduled for August 3rd this year (2024), from 9AM to 3PM. Residents may have garage sales at any time but it is a good idea to take advantage of the community wide sale as it can have more draw. The sale is advertised online and in local newspapers.
Utilities
Phone & DSL: CenturyLink
Residential installation and service 1-800-201-4099
Repair service reporting 6-1-1 or 1-800-824-2877
8102 Skansie Ave., Gig Harbor, 98332
Electric: Puget Sound Energy 1-888-225-5773
Garbage: Waste Management 1 800 592-9995
Water: PUD No. 1 Kitsap Co. 360-779-7656 (Poulsbo)
Cable TV & Internet: Comcast 1-888-266-2278
Buried utilities location 1-800-424-5555
Licensing
Drivers license: Washington DOL 360-779-5535
Suite 140 Plaza 305, Poulsbo
Vehicle plates: Licensing agent 360-697-4337 (Poulsbo)
Voter registration: Kitsap County 360-337-7128 or Secretary of State 1-800-448-4881
Pet registration: Kitsap County 360-692-6977
Hunting & fishing: Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife: 360-902-2200 (Olympia)
Taxes
Kitsap County Residence Treasury Office: 360-337-7135
Libraries
Kitsap Regional Library, Kingston: 360-297-3330
Kitsap Regional Library, Little Boston: 360-297-2670
Refuse & Recycling
The North Kitsap transfer station and recycling center are located on Ecology Drive off of the Hansville Road, about a quarter mile north of the Point No Point Casino on the left and is open 6 days a week (closed Tuesdays) until 3:30 PM.