Guest Opinion: Beyond the Eastsound Vision Survey

— by B. Sadie Bailey —

I just took the Eastsound Vision survey on Saturday, November 4, a day before the Nov. 5 deadline; primarily because, as a gardener, I had no large chunk of time or mental energy to devote to it until it snowed the other day. When I opened the survey, I realized that many of the multiple choice questions could not be adequately addressed in multiple-choice form, since there were so many “grey” areas and areas not fleshed-out. For most of the questions, I used the “other” category with the text box. I wanted to give this survey as much thought and commentary as it deserved. It’s clear the Visioners and survey team volunteered countless hours of hard work and discussion within their visioning groups, and I appreciate and thank them all. The maps and drawings were helpful and well done.

I was concerned when I heard that the survey took 1.5 hrs or more to complete. I wondered how many people in our working population, elders on fixed-income and maybe not so computer-savvy, and people living in Eastsound UGA and surround – the people directly impacted daily by all that we do here – would take the full survey while juggling time with family, work, and other time constraints.

It took me over four hours to complete the survey. I wonder how many people have that kind of time to give the thoughts, alternatives, clarifications, suggestions, and input that the survey was seeking. I appreciated the beginning questions, which will tell us how many of each income and housing category took the survey. Those statistics will be telling. I hope that we will use them to see where we have gaps in inclusion and involvement, and invite people into the discussions who may feel they have no voice, or are too busy doing what it takes to survive on Orcas Island to make the time to use their voice.

I feel heartened by the discussions we are having, and hope that this is just the beginning of real community-directed involvement and action, as concerns our town and what we want it to be; what it could be. We have the chance to lead by example, and model a way of life that respects our ecosystems and educates others on how to take care of the lands and waters that take care of us all. I hope we don’t throw this chance away.

A concern that may be missed by the survey, is how differently new people here may see Eastsound UGA from those of us who have seen the environmental degradations that many long-timers have seen. Newcomers think this place is “great” – and it is! But are we continuing to ignore and degrade the very things that attract people here?

Based on what I saw and experienced with the survey, I would like to ask that we gather ideas to garner further meaningful participation. Could some of these areas be presented as separate surveys? For instance: Human Services. Affordable housing. Preservation and open space. Expanding the UGA. Fern Street. A Street Terminus. Uses within and outside the UGA. Wetland restoration – it’s not on the survey, but it’s part of taking care of our wetlands and nearshore systems. ETC.

I think that the work already given by the Visioners, and how we move in the directions we want to go, are too important to not give this as much time and focus as we can. I know the visioning groups did this already, but I am asking for even more effort to involve the year-round working populace in these important decisions, so that people feel valued and a part of realizing the visions we set out long ago that are still pertinent today.

Something that was missing in the survey was how to invite and include local Indigenous Tribes and Bands to be part of this place again with their tribal and cultural visions for it. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a cultural center, similar to Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Discovery Park in Seattle, and locate it where Madrona Point Lodge used to be? It would be appropriate to have Indigenous caretakers living at Madrona Point again. Think of the possibilities. What if the tourism we invited could be educational in nature – something people can bring to their home communities to effect changes toward sustainability?

In my experience in my many years of living on Orcas Island, the environment has never had a fair shake in Eastsound and its surround, regarding planning or code enforcement; even before Eastsound was identified as our UGA. I write this this as I am still reeling from the shock of seeing on Halloween night, the very large completely bulldozed parcel that the Campbell/ Miller development project has clearcut on Haven Road. Almost all of the trees on the left of the road almost up to Odd Fellows Hall are gone, and an ugly silt fence is holding the bank. I don’t want to see this in daylight.

How much of this housing in the above-mentioned project will be affordable for median to low income people who rent? Is paying $2000 to rent a small house “affordable” to the average working person? What about the people living next to, or across from, projects like these? Will their rents or assessed values of their real estate go down if high-density development negatively impacts where they live, or causes stormwater or environmental issues? The only way stormwater from that development project can flow is downhill, toward Fishing Bay. It seems doubly important to protect our oceans from this kind of cumulative and exponential damage as we continue to grow in the UGA highest-density zones, which all happen to add to the danger of polluting Fishing Bay.

I’ve said this many times before, so excuse the redundancy: Eastsound sits on a narrow, 1-mile wide sea-level piece of land. In the event of a big earthquake, the soil will liquefy. The entire watershed basin IS a wetland and always has been – long before civilization it was forested. All of our infrastructure is here in this vulnerable place. We store bulk flammable fuels such as propane right next to our Eastsound Swale creek and wetland. There’s a transformer station, and our airport, all situated here. Eastsound UGA is also a severe wind tunnel. Gusts of 70 mph have been clocked in the summer; this will get worse as we cut down more forests and trees, creating a dusty, dirty town in summer and a stormwater-polluting flood zone in winter.

We have potential herring breeding grounds in Fishing Bay, where we are dumping all of our piped stormwater and runoff from cars on Horseshoe highway and all of the streets running perpendicular to it. Seattle Times recently had huge a front-page article about stormwater pollution killing coho salmon before they could spawn. (See Seattle Times, October 18; link:
seattletimes.com/stormwater-pollution-in-puget- sound-streams-killing-coho- before-they-can-spawn/)

If it is in our hands to steward these lands and waters that give us all so much, how are we failing so abysmally at stewardship and preservation? If we are honest with ourselves, we would ascertain that Eastsound is the worst place we could have picked for a UGA, in terms of geographic, geologic, and infrastructure vulnerability. This decision to sacrifice this particular wetland watershed to bear the brunt of our growth may haunt us for many generations to come.

I am horrified at what is happening to our forests in a village that was slated in the Comp Plan Vision to have “rural” character. Since many of these permits to clearcut the last acreages of forest, in and around the UGA, have already been given without any conditions that any percentage of the housing be affordable or for year-round residents or not become someone’s 2nd, 3rd, or 4th home or Air B &B, we will see more degradation. Our West gate, East gate, and North gate are all up for grabs or already built with high-density buildings and impervious surfaces. It’s too late to even save any of these forests.

How much of what is slated to be built is affordable housing for a year-round populace? How much effort has gone into preserving our last remaining windbreak forests, and encouraging development on already cleared parcels and fields? How much will end up being more vacation rentals? Where will they all park? What other forests and open space will be desecrated to make more parking for them? How could this have happened, given our Comp Plan vision to keep Eastsound rural and more of a “walking village,” preserve Eastsound Swale, Victory Hill, Lavender Farm Knoll, and the 3 Gates?

We have to do better with what remains; protection and preservation would be a start. Restoration would further show our commitment to beginning to repair the damage. If the Visioning was an invitation to us to find out whether we wanted to change our direction into something more sustainable for Eastsound, and if the overwhelming response shows that we do, then we must work on how we will achieve it.

We’re at a crossroads: We can keep going as we are and ruin this place; or we can change direction into something inspiring and worthy of all of our efforts. This needs as much time and thought as we can give it; it’s too important to rush through. We’re already behind on our Comp Plan review, and unfortunately, the regulations have never backed the Comp Plan’s vision in the first place. Until we get it right, the unwitting destruction will continue. We have to do better, for future generations and for the planet.

Thank you for this opportunity to comment, and looking forward to furthering this dialogue