— from Marilyn Jonassen —
I attended the event for public comment on the recently crafted Vision Statement for Eastsound on Friday night and was reassured by the amount of citizen interest in the future quality of our Village.
A number of impassioned and thoughtful comments were made including those from longtime advocates for Eastsound, John Campbell and Joe Symons. Both of them demonstrate the value of long- term historic perspective as a part of the mix of views of stakeholders in “an intergenerational community” as the Vision statement describes it.
I was struck by Mr. Symons’ comment that a missing part of the Vision statement is the negative side that describes what Eastsound is not, and he cited Friday Harbor, Mount Vernon, and Seattle as examples of what he meant. While I don’t agree that the negative expression is appropriate for a Vision (aspiration) statement, I think that if we are going to discuss what Eastsound is not, we should add that it is not Mount Constitution, Mount Woolard or Turtleback. It is not Doe Bay, Grindstone Harbor, Deer Harbor or Cormorant Bay. It is not Crow Valley or Victorian Valley.
As the Vision statement says it is “our Island’s commercial and cultural center…”and we will “…create and maintain a compact, walkable village that preserves and maintains public open spaces and offers a balanced mix of commercial and residential structures in the Village Core.” It is the place where both by plan and by logic we hope to accommodate much of future residential growth to minimize suburbanization of the rest of the island. This is the most man-built environment on the island and our opportunity now is to influence it to be the best it can be and hopefully worthy of the natural setting it occupies.
The more of us that participate at this important point in the planning process the more the outcome will reflect our dreams.
Marilyn,
I appreciate your viewpoint on the future of Eastsound in keeping its qualities while developing it in a way to keep suburbs from taking over.
It is my hope that over time as the population increases on the island, smaller hubs of business such as Olga will grow to take pressure off of Eastsound growth.
Thank you, Grace Boscolo
Grace, that surely seems like the way of natural growth and hopefully this “vision” program will follow more natural lines and be less Disney Land…. Those of us who have spent the last 20 years driving 30 minutes each way to get a container of milk because Olga couldn’t support a small grocery store would love to save the time and gas. I think we need to pay more attention to saving/keeping the life-style (which includes taking care of elders in our neighborhood, stopping on the road when there is an accident or other need, knowing our neighbors and helping keep them safe and connected, volunteering to be fire fighters and EMTs and to fill all the other needs here on our Island) rather than fussing over the color of the buildings in Eastsound. Just sayin’ Merry
Thank you for your thoughtful guest editorial, Marilyn Jonassen; you bring good points to the discussion. Thank you all people who have already donated so much of your time, thought, and hard work to the Eastsound Vision thus far, and for accommodating young people into this hugely important discussion and work.
Thank you, Grace Boscolo and Merry Bush for understanding the whole bigger picture about both what’s happening with the faulty Urban Growth Area model, and how this prevents other areas like Olga and Deer Harbor from having the basic services such as a small store that would allow people well outside of Eastsound to avoid having to come there for every little thing. This is a complex issue and we should take our time with it and hear all sides of it. But it is my feeling that now, more than ever, is the time for impacted residents, (not just businesses or the tourism industry), now and in the future, to guide this conversation. We ought to be looking more and more to our youth for this guidance. Idealism and ideas of sustainability definitely have a much needed place at the table!
The only thing concerning me greatly is the urgency of time, if we will effect ANY protection of open space (un-developed space) in the Eastsound UGA, in time. We’ve been talking about this for the 36 years I’ve been here, while development marches on, without any checks and balances to ensure that other elements, besides economics, would constitute livability.
My greatest fear and concern is that by the time we get our Vision completed and incorporated into and the Comp Plan review – assuming the powers that be will allow it without derailing it ( to be completed in 2018).
How much more irreparable damage will be done to Eastsound by 2018 – and this doesn’t even include the amount of time it will take to effect regulations!
Eastsound watershed is a land mass 1 mile wide, at sea level, a forested wetland basin that is so degraded now it cannot possibly do the job of supporting the load it is being asked to carry, especially numbers projected for the future. How many more of our last forest stands (and windbreaks) will be cut down? How much more degradation to Eastsound Swale, downgraded from a huge category 2 forested wetland (the largest on the island, I believe!) to mere lots all slated for development because of wetland “non-significance,” due to change of the regs (“site-specific wetlands, meaning you don’t need to count your parcel as part of a whole much larger wetland!)
If we are finally asking the right questions (thanks to the interest and involvement of the young people) and talking about the right things – I am, for the first time in many years of saying these things repeatedly – heartened! These people are looking at Balance. Caution. The idea of doing no harm – or if you have to harm, Restore – not just “mitigate.” (“mitigation” is a slippery word I’d like to see eliminated from land use planning-speak!)
This is why I feel an urgency, why I feel time is short to grasp the immensity of this. I guess this makes me a “chicken little tree hugger,” but in understanding what ecosystems do, I can’t stop repeating the importance of re-distributing the load that Eastsound is asked to bear!
Eastsound isn’t for sure and never will be Deer Harbor, or Olga or Ferry Landing while the “pillars”, lofty as they seem are achievable, they seem to pass over the undeniable fact that Eastsound is the hub of Orcas Island and if for no other reason than survival, it must serve and provide. The reference here to what does and what doesn’t prevent Deer Harbor, and others, from having a “little store” of their own so the trip to Eastsound isn’t necessary is wrong. Those of us who live in Deer Harbor, and others, don’t want a little store. I think most of us want Eastsound to be better, bigger in a better way and always a few miles away. The drive is magic. The look, taste, smell and feel of Eastsound growth is vital. We applaud those who are working so hard to keep what have and build on it for the future.