Great Ideas from the 50-50 Visionaries

— by Margie Doyle —

“We could be the model for other islands and towns; let’s use that energy to make it cool”

At the 50-50 Vision for Eastsound last Wednesday evening, Oct. 26, Fred Klein spoke about the purpose of making a community vision, “The power to create the context for all vision changes that we can expect and hopefully guide; the topic of the evening is the vision.”

Rick Hughes spoke briefly on thinking about capital facilities needed to implement a vision for Eastsound.

And before letting the tables get down in the dirt, event organizer Gretchen Krampf got concrete, asking the 100 or so people who were arranged around 11 tables to “Define what is crucial to you to include in a vision for Eastsound.”

After lively and thoughtful discussions, the individual tables reported out their opinions:

Table 1

• “The natural environment should be a priority,” Development should be multi-generational with an environmentally conscious attitude
• Close Crescent Beach Road to vehicular traffic, add a bike path and promote “the beach culture”
• Prioritize low impact housing over growth for growth sake

Table 2

• “Whoever makes the decisions, would like them to be people who are here for the long haul”
• Promote design guidelines but “don’t want them to be cookie cutter, rather, designs to bring people together
• Increase affordable housing, in a place that won’t create a lot of traffic

Table 3

• Consider Eastsound as “the model for ecological sustainability, regenerative as filters for other decisions that we’re making”
• Reduce traffic, improve public transportation from different arms of island and implement more options in town
• Implement concepts of transition towns, permaculture, place-making, “We could be the model for other islands and towns; let’s use that energy to make it cool”

Table 4

• Make town more accessible with bike and walking paths, and parking outside of town to decrease the number of cars in town
• Preserve the “cozy” aesthetics of town, with more gathering places, and new buildings including courtyards, and gathering places
• Make the public restrooms more comfortable for “everyone who has to sit on those metal seats
• Collect trash in town before the receptacles overflow

Table 5

• Address parking issues to improve accessibility “to allow locals a place to participate in the summer instead of staying away from Eastsound”
• Accommodate the aging population in summer
• Minimize “light pollution,” with appropriately designed lighting
• Make walkable villages by developing more sidewalks, bike paths
• Encourage local amenities to help tourists leave their cars behind
• Create a shuttle bus from parking outside the village core
• Maintain trash collection and disposal
• Make the Village Green more welcoming
• Increase accessibility to the shore in Eastsound

Table 6

• Encourage people to carpool with free shuttles and retail vouchers for free shuttles
• Look at other communities that are tourist communities for ideas , Austin, Lopez and Winslow (the town of Bainbridge Island)
• Improve boat access into Eastsound “without creating a Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor atmosphere.”
• Keep Orcas funky
• Increase accessibility to the shore in Eastsound
• Make a shelter for the homeless

Table 7

• Continue to foster economic diversity to close income disparities that are detrimental to the tone of our community
• Capture year-round resident income, “a lot of money could circulate within the community a lot more
• Improve communication about island businesses, “more transparency about what it takes”
• Support “Equal opportunity stakeholdership,”

“We understand primary stakeholders are going to be business- and land-owners, but those that aren’t want to have a tangible hand in the ways that things play out beyond the dialog process.”

• Harness energy opportunities that are economically and systematically viable

Table 8

• Encourage sustainable development and decrease car usage, “less cars not more”
• “It’s the people in town that matter, not business and money and the rat race”
• Make Eastsound a place for people to slow down, that’s earth-centered
• Keep roof heights at 32 feet
• Spread out development more on the island, with more density in rural areas; “town shouldn’t have to bear all the burden of density”
• Consider sewage impacts as well as stormwater runoff; check out the North Beach outfall past the airport strip, take a tour of Eastsound sewage treatment plant, incentivize composting toilets, “Pipes are already leaking into the ground so look at that and plan for future”

Table 9

• Make sure the village and surrounding areas are tied into natural environment
• Make better use of alternative energy sources — solar, wind, composting
• Promote “vibrancy of village beyond 5 o’clock” through more gathering places, p-patches, playgrounds
• Implement effective watershed management practices
• Encourage the respect for diversity on Orcas

Table 10

• Complete paths connecting with outer regions of island, and with other hamlets “for ourselves and for visitors”
• Promote “eclectic look”
• Utilize current spaces for parking, i.e. school, community church
• Promote building owners “having polite conversations with each other so buildings are more pleasing”
• Increase “poetic and unique alley ways”
• Make more community space, meeting places where we can still enjoy the outdoors
• Conserve and access Madrona Point
• Avoid repeating the “Monkey Puzzle Tree” scenario in the Village Core where we “paved paradise and put in a parking lot”

Table 11

• Better use of Village Green, more use of Stage on the Green, more festivals and night performances;
• Consistent way to deliver emergency information
• Increase handicap accessibility, including beach access

Ten Workshop sign-up sheets, and email lists for future contact were then circulated.

Before the meeting adjourned, Krampf thanked “the EPRC that has done some heavy lifting to bring this work together,” and invited people to continue the conversation by” making a date to have coffee with someone you met tonight because we are the community.”