Wednesday, July 5, 7:30 p.m., Eastsound Fire Station
— Donny Galt, Inter-Island Propane —
This is Donny from Inter Island Propane in Friday Harbor. I just wanted you to know that I have personally read every one of your concerns about the new propane facility and hear you loud and clear.
I reached out to some of the neighbors last week with an informal meeting and was able to hear their concerns first hand. Molly Roberts has asked me to come back. She has reserved the Eastsound Fire Hall this Wednesday the 5th of July at 7:30 p.m. (Read her comment to the post on Orcasissues.com.) I invite you to come meet me in person.
Again, for those of you that might not know me, I have been an islander for over 35 years, grew up here, raised a family here and would never in any way want any bad feelings between my island friends and neighbors. If you cannot attend, feel free to call me 360-317-5854 or email me with any questions you may have.
Thank you and Happy 4th of July.
Thanks Donny for being so available to the Orcas folks.
See you Wednesday.
Donny Galt is legit.Comes from a wonderful family of well educated,thoughtful hard workers.
This issue has nothing to do with how wonderful he may be, it has to do with the safety and value of my neighborhood. Would any of you want this site across the street from your family home.
There are family homes on three sides, and apartments on the other side of this site.
It has been said that there are no other sites to be purchased, but there are other lots for sell, they can ask the County for a Conditional Use Permit for any lot.
I own a home across the street & will have to live in fear of something happening at this site everyday for the rest of my life.
If the County wanted to crush your dreams, what would any of you do.
Dee
As a resident and homeowner in this area, I would argue that the risk to the area is already present – and likely greater from existing facilities.
A block from my home there is a facility 3x the size of this one. San Juan County just put in a similarly sized facility in front of their shop which arguably contains a more hazardous substance and which receives 10x the traffic that the proposed facility.
The assertion that a CUP could be applied for for “any lot” is incorrect. The zoning for this type of facility is narrowly allowed on the island, even by CUP, and either through their wisdom – or lack there-of, San Juan County decided that this is the appropriate location for this type of industry.
Arguing that this is the wrong location for this type of facility means that we need to argue that the zoning for the Eastsound sub-area is incorrect and needs to be redefined. I don’t necessarily disagree with that, but until then, we will need to accept that development will happen according to the plan that has been approved.
Is this the ideal spot for this facility? No. Is it where the County says it should go? Yes. Is a business owner correct in following the County’s wishes? Yes. Are we correct in asking that all safety measures and standards are followed? Yes.
Should we be asking the county to develop a more appropriate plan for allowing businesses and residential growth to develop (employee housing, rural industrial…) on the island through reasonable and considered zoning that allows for safe, sustainable economic growth, instead of the metro based development regulations that we adopted? Definitely.