||| BY MATTHEW GILBERT, theORCASONIAN OP/ED REPORTER |||
It’s hard to pick just one story, since so many issues are intertwined. But as I look ahead, the nexus of many of our challenges will be found in Eastsound proper: Growth, rural character, vacation rentals, tourism, and housing. Eastsound is governed by a patchwork of regulations and codes administered by the County that are sometimes at odds with what the Comprehensive Plan seeks to support. At the same time, there is no “vision” for the village per se. The Eastsound Planning Review Commission (EPRC) attempted one several years ago with significant local input, but the process stalled. In the absence of more consistency both on how much and what kind of development, the future of Eastsound is vulnerable to market forces that have a narrower view of what is appropriate.
Speaking of the EPRC, while its role is essentially advisory, they have just welcomed two new members – Scott Lancaster (Ace Hardware) and Sarah Farish (Outlook Inn) – whose own personal visions will influence how the EPRC interacts with the county and what it will — or won’t — recommend. (There is one more position available.) Case in point: The expected removal of all the trees on the west side of North Beach Road on the stretch that runs along the Children’s House. It may be legal, but is it necessary? Without something like a local tree ordinance, for example, the EPRC becomes the forum of last resort. More public involvement will be critical in making sure that the commission remains sensitive to wider community concerns – which it showed with its unanimous approval for a moratorium on vacation rentals.
Whatever the issue, in Eastsound or countywide, the ongoing tug of war between accommodating growth and managing growth and between individual rights and community rights will continue.
https://theorcasonian.com/the-fate-or-future-of-eastsound-district-2-council-candidates-respond/
https://theorcasonian.com/growth-issues-get-real-in-eastsound-but-new-vr-regs-in-limbo/
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