The Eastsound Planning and Review Committee (EPRC) will host an Open House on Monday, May 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Senior Center.
This area, between the Outlook Inn and the Athletic Club, is roughly where the Mount Property lies. It was purchased by the county in 1994 for surface water runoff and stormwater treatment.
After deciding on their top priorities for the year, the Committee, composed of Mindy Kayl, retiring Chair, Gulliver Rankin, Chair, Bob Connell, Audrey Moreland, Patty Miller and Brian Ehrmantraut, has invited county officials and other agency representatives to inform the public as to the progress in advancing those priorities.
The Open House will include displays and representatives from County Public Works and Community Development and Planning Departments,Eastsound Water Users Association, Eastsound Sewer and Water District, Orcas Power and Light Cooperative, Land Bank, OPAL Housing and Land Trust, and others.
Madrona Point, closed by the Lummi Nation, after complaints of desecration of the tribal cemetery there.
The EPRC’s top priorities have been identified as:
— Pursuing the decision for using the Mount Property in the heart of Eastsound (between the Athletic Club and the Outlook Inn);
— Pursuing the restoration of public access to Madrona Point in conjunction with celebrating the 20-year anniversary of reclaiming it from a commercial development project;
— Developing plans for on-street parking, which may include development of a street scape plan;
— Developing a process to evaluate and enforce the part of the county code which requires that building owners who plan improvements that cost over $25,000 must put in curbs, gutters, and sidewalks, or pledge to do so in the future.
The new liquor store building on the corner of Prune Alley and Rose Streets, built with the sidewalks, curbs and gutters required in the streetscape plan.
Other priorities that will be examined at the Open House are:
— Affordable Housing
— Trails
— New Development
— Street Vending — can sidewalk vendors and “storefront” business owners co-exist?
— Sign Boards
“Come talk to with us and make your opinion count,” urges Rankin.
Because Eastsound is unincorporated, local tax dollars go to the county, which provides the services and regulation of local government. It has been said that for a municipality to be fiscally balanced, a population of 20,000 people is needed.
On May 15, the EPRC is scheduled to make a presentation to the Planning Commission on their work, and in June, they will speak to the County Council when it meets on Orcas Island.
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