Friday June 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eastsound Fire Station


— from the Eagle Forum —

Presentation with Discussion to follow.

The state legislature has passed [GMA repeal legislation] and it has been signed into law that counties, with less than 20,000 residents in one of the past 5 years, can opt out of the GMA. Given that fact that estimates run as high as a half million dollars in costs a year for San Juan County, and the fact that neighbor has been pitted against neighbor in this ongoing battle over property rights, this is a big deal. There are a few other provisions that need to be looked at, which are being investigated by legal representatives right now.

Can San Juan County opt out and how? Eagle Forum is presenting a meeting and inviting William Wright to speak about our options.

Mr. Wright has lived on San Juan Island 18 years. He has selflessly stayed active in the San Juan County regulatory process and is an expert on the current Critical Area Ordinance and the Growth Management Act. William H. Wright retired with a permanent rank of LtCol, after 23 years in USAF; his last duty station was the Joint Chief of Staff Pentagon. He moved to Seattle and worked at Boeing as a Software Engineering Manager on many defense programs. After retiring from the Air Force he has actively supported private property rights starting in 1992 (GMAHB 92-3-0006) as the second challenger to the GMHB ever brought in the State of Washington.

William (Bill) has prepared a presentation on the reasons San Juan County should opt out of the GMA as provided for in the just passed amendments to the GMA 36.70 RCW and signed into law by Governor Inslee. This new law allows small Counties with populations under 20,000 to opt out of the GMA allowing them to plan based on State and Federal laws and local needs.

Please attend this meeting to find out what we can do to opt out.

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