Thursday, January 5, 3 – 6 p.m., Eastsound Fire Station
— by Margie Doyle —
When the Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) meets this Thursday, it will address many issues that have been under discussion in recent months. The agendas have been so full during the past year, that the County Advisory Committee agreed to extend its meeting times to three hours.
EPRC members are Greg Ayers and Jeff Otis (co-chairs), Fred Klein, Bob Maynard, and Dan Vekved. The EPRC is recruiting new members, who will be selected by the County Council.
Following the public comment session, County Councilman Rick Hughes is scheduled to update the county advisory committee on council work.
Other topics on the agenda for the first EPRC meeting in 2017 are:
1. Community Development and Public Works update – with County Engineer Colin Huntemer; (30 minutes)
a. Prune Alley
At the last EPRC meeting on Dec. 1, 2016, the group, with the contributions of Paul Kamin and Charles Toxey, discussed the “View Easements” that had been negotiated in lieu of parking requirements in the 1990s. Some of these view easements were between buildings on Main Street, such as between Darvill’s and White Horse Pub, and between the pub and Emmanuel Episcopal Church, so that people who are walking and driving on Main Street can see the views. Several of these view easements have been blocked.
Kamin advocated a “gently worded letter to property owners reminding them of the easement” and asking to revisit the situation. Kamin said that such a letter would be better received if issued by the EPRC rather than by the County code compliance officer.
Toxey suggested the same approach may be made with Eastsound lighting and “the many instances of non-compliant lighting.”
EPRC members Greg Ayers and Dan Vekved agreed that the matter was “a community discussion, [that] would be better received coming from an individual first, rather than from the county.”
b. Road Standards in the Village Residential/Institutional District
This issue has been discussed with specific regard to two locations: the North Beach Road zoning as it pertains to the proposed OPAL housing development on the east side of North Beach Road past Enchanted Forest Road; and the split-zone designation at the northwest corner of the Mt. Baker Road and North Beach Road intersection, which is opposed by the Port of Orcas, owner of that parcel.
Revising the Crescent Beach Road connection between the core village of Eastsound and Country Corner has also been the subject of much discussion. With rising sea levels and the need to reinstall OPALCO infrastructure, several have proposed an alternate route further north, originating at Rose Street and Madrona Street around the County Land Bank Preserve north of Crescent Beach.
At the January 5 meeting there will be consideration of how the community might enter into a discussion about replacing this road. The discussion should include the transportation element of the Eastsound Subarea Plan, which includes Crescent Beach Road.
2. Eastsound Visioning Process – Jim Jonassen and Fred Klein (45 Minutes)
This process originated with EPRC member Bob Maynard, who brought along Jim Jonassen. A draft Visioning Plan was compiled and dispersed throughout the community with an accompanying survey. In October, community organizers Gretchen Krampf and Jared Lovejoy joined with the EPRC and Jonassen to hold a 50-50 multi-generational meeting.
Fred Klein has arranged for a four-session consensus workshop around the topic, scheduled for Saturday Jan, 7, Tuesday Jan. 10 Thursday, Jan. 12 and Saturday, Jan. 14.
Klein said, “The end product will be a consensus of hopes and dreams for the village of Eastsound in 20 years, a report that will feed in to subarea plan update; to be circulated to county dept and council.
New Business at the Jan. 5 meeting includes the Orcas Island School District Update – Eric Webb (20 Minutes)
Old Business:
1. Parking Study Update: Paul Kamin (15 minutes) (see orcasissues.com/kamin-offers-studies-eastsound-parking-eprc/ ).
At the December meeting, Kamin presented a further update on his work on Pparking in Eastsound. Klein said, “Your work confirms that our present standards are not egregious and tend to be on low side of comparables; an important piece of information.”
Kamin suggested that in 2017, the committee bring its recommendation to the county, regarding a “fee in lieu of parking” which was previously $5,000 and is calculated to cost $11,500. He also advised that the EPRC continue to investigate whether developments are incorporating the appropriate number of parking places; and to determine how many parking places are needed “when we go into next level of creating a parking plan.”
Additionally, Klein suggested that the committee “separate the notion of a walking village from a parking plan in the subarea. We have a placeholder parking plan and Paul has given us a very good update of information to flesh out the parking plan.”
2. 2017 EPRC Work Plan (15 minutes)
The EPRC is scheduled to develop a 2016-2017 Work Plan and report on that plan verbally to the County Council. The committee drafted a plan and suggested committee members to shepherd each item and give the county some guidance on staff support needed for the plan..
The draft work plan will be refined in this session of the Jan. 5 meeting.
Projects for Review: Gilliam Preliminary Short Subdivision (10 Minutes):
A second Public Access/Comment session will precede adjournment, currently scheduled for 6 p.m.
