— from San Juan County Communications —
The Department of Community Development will be hosting events to solicit public input on the County’s Comprehensive Plan vision, values, and priorities. The public is encouraged to attend our Pop-Up Studios and Community Workshops. Community input is vital to ensure that the Vision Statement reflects the aspirations of all the residents of San Juan County.
These events provide an opportunity for residents to participate in shaping the Comprehensive Plan Vision that will guide the county over the next twenty years. The events will be held at the following times and locations:
| San Juan Island Monday, October 2 |
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Pop-Up Studio: Market Place 515 Market Street, Friday Harbor |
| 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. | Community Workshop: Brickworks 150 Nichols Street, Friday Harbor |
|
| Orcas Island Tuesday, October 3 |
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Pop-Up Studio: Island Market 469 Market Street, Eastsound |
| 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. | Community Workshop: Orcas High School 715 School Road, Eastsound |
|
| Lopez Island Wednesday, October 4 |
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Pop-Up Studio: Lopez Village Market 162 Weeks Road, Lopez Village |
| 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. | Community Workshop: Lopez Center for Community and the Arts 2014 Village Road, Lopez Village |
We will be on hand at each event to engage in conversation with the public about the upcoming update to the Comprehensive Plan. The Pop-Ups will get the discussion started and the Community Workshops will continue the exchange of ideas with more depth. This dialog will provide indispensable information about how the community wants to face new opportunities and challenges in the coming years.
To find out more about this upcoming project please contact Adam Zack at 360-370-7580 or adamz@sanjuanco.com. Additional information about these three events can be found on the Department of Community Development website at www.sanjuanco.com/1306/Comprehensive-Plan-Elements.
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Here’s my input:
The Eastsound SubArea Plan was re-written and changed BEFORE the Comp Plan Review. Things were supposed to remaind protected according to the Comp Plan. Now that environmental protections for Eastsound Swale were gutted, and there will be no more required Conditional Use Permits in the UGA, therefore, no SEPA environmental reports required – Eastsound Swale is getting decimated, Victory Hill is up for condo development, and it’s kind of an insult that they want our “input” when, for 30 years, our local government and planners, except for a few individuals, have annihilated what was supposed to be protected for the people and wildlife of Eastsound. I fervently hope that people will speak up for us here in the UGA to STOP THE CARNAGE of our forests and wetlands!
I am concerned about our water resources. Here are my comments that I sent to our County on June 13, 2017
A Story About Water
My home is on the shoreline of Deer Harbor on Orcas Island. No early homesteader would have thought of making a home here because freshwater is scarce and the soil is thin.
During the 12 years that I have lived full time on Harborview Lane, there has been one well that has been closed because of saltwater intrusion. The family who used this well came from the East Coast, and they wanted to have a lush garden. Since an “exempt” well permits 5,000 gallons use per day, this may have led them to think they would be able to use a lot of water. After their original well became unusable, they drilled one 800-foot deep dry well followed by a well with a 2 gallon per minute pump test.
I understand my neighbor’s desire to plant water-requiring plants. I am a recovering Rhododendron enthusiast. I gave up my habit when I moved to this dry, rocky shoreline on the strongly rain-shadowed side of Orcas Island.
So far, 10 homes have been built on the 20 buildable parcels of the Harborview Lane subdivision. 14 of the 20 parcels are less than 5 acres and therefore “non-conforming” for this area that is zoned Rural Residential.
People move away and new people arrive. We cannot control how much water people decide to use. I am concerned that the aquifer recharge is significantly less than the current water withdrawals. And I am concerned about future “exempt” wells further impacting our shared aquifer.
I think that reverse osmosis is a bad idea because there is not strong mixing in the marine waters of Deer Harbor. That leaves rainwater catchment and water hauling when wells are not adequate or safe for drinking water. The family whose well had salt water intrusion has installed rainwater catchment and has water hauled in the summer to supplement their marginal well.
In the early 2000’s, in response to a survey by Health and Community Services, water haulers reported delivering a million gallons per year, all of it to the west side of Orcas.
Market forces have controlled past development. If we go forward with business as usual, the pressures on our shared water resources will continue to intensify. My mother lived in an area of Colorado where only household water use was permitted on parcels of less than 40 acres. I am not suggesting this as a solution, but we should think about the future of our
water resources in the drier areas of our islands.
We should not plan for just the next 20 years. Instead, we should plan for full build-out.
Management of our freshwater resources should be part of our public services that are ensured by Goal 12 of the Growth Management Act.
Goal 12 of the Growth Management Act: Public facilities and services:
“Ensure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy and use without decreasing current service levels below locally established minimum standards.”
We can change things if enough people show up in person at the County’s Comprehensive Plan Meetings and speak for what they care about. The next meeting on Orcas is October 3 from 6 to 8 PM at the public high school.
Keep showing up and keep speaking up.
Another proposed coal terminal has been denied a crucial permit by the WA State Department of Ecology. This happened because people spoke up and showed up and encouraged their friends and neighbors to do the same.
https://tdn.com/news/local/ecology-denies-coal-terminal-a-key-permit/article_0936300e-ea3b-5980-b3b4-874d7a784789.html