Updated Sept. 5 at 10 p.m.
By Margie Doyle
The Bayside now, abandoned and blocking the East Sound waterfront
Call them green, call them visionary, call them developers. A group of long-time Orcas Island residents with an interest in the livelihood of the Eastsound waterfront presented preliminary design plans for the site now occupied by the closed “Vern’s Bayside Restaurant” to the Eastsound Planning Review Committee(EPRC) last month.
The plans for “Bayside,” as the project is called, incorporate a mixed-use building that houses residential condominiums and one commercial retail space fronting on mainstreet. At the August 6 EPRC meeting, the plans included four waterview condominiums. Since then the developers, still pencilling out the numbers, are considering more residential units.
The preliminary design concept for The Bayside, where Vern’s Bayside Restaurant now sits closed. Looking west on Main Street, from North Beach Road towards the waterfront park.
Unique aspects of the project include parking provisions for “smart cars” that the planner say may be included in the price of the condominiums. They have struggled with parking considerations, among other major hurdles to developing the site.
The Bayside planners — Bob Maynard, Bob Shipstad, Gordon, coordinated by Mariah Buck, freely admit that any development will be at significant expense, given:
enlarging the existing water line;
shoreline protections;
and especially excavation, because the property, zoned Village Commercial, occupies Native American burial grounds.
At the August meeting, Bob Maynard, Orcas resident and experienced resort planner, said it was “very difficult to make the numbers work. I don’t think there’ll be any profit; I just think this project needs to be done rather than to let the property sit there year after year.”
The group estimated costs for the permitting process alone at a minimum of $50,000. Mariah Buck said that their research indicates the best form of foundation a six-inch pile pillar; “We need an archeological permit just to drill and see where the pillars can go.”
The Bayside group started meeting about a year ago to pencil out their vision and research the possibilities. They envision selling the condominiums to local buyers who may not want to maintain non-residential property and to who do want to live in the “urban” hamlet of Eastsound.
Later in August, Mariah Buck said, “In order to make the numbers work and make the project financially viable, we are increasing the total number of units. The good news is that this will reduce the retail sales price of the condos, hopefully making them more affordable to more people. We are also still having challenges with the parking, and may ultimately have to secure some off-site parking nearby. We are adamant about keeping commercial/retail space to tie the building in to the rest of down town. And, lastly, we are making the overall appearance of the building much more traditional to tie in to the other buildings in Eastsound.”
At the August 6 presentation to the EPRC, Gordon Walker, who has resided for over eight years on Orcas, described the challenge of developing the vacant site: How to reposition a piece of property that would not succeed well as a restaurant, to “bring living back into the village and to bring back to town “missing ‘eyes on the street’ that actually live there.”
Also, Walker and the others are dedicated to incorporating the “noble, contemporary and historic in the design esthetic.”
“What you see is a concept,” Walker emphasized. He asked for feedback as to design guidance and community input.
EPRC member and architect Fred Klein reviewed the development “dilemma” for Eastsound: “It’s commonly believed we have a unique character. When it became apparent after the Our House building [construction] that there was a potential for new construction to overwhelm the character of the village, I helped formulate simple architectural guidelines, in terms of lot coverage, scale,and landscaping.
“We recognized that Eastsound wasn’t a village that had an ‘intense architectural identity,’ such as an Italian hill towns, or a Cotswold village, but we had buildings that we were proud of, such as the Episcopal church. That led us to issues of scale and form and a limited material ‘vocabulary’ that would give architects sufficient guidance to minimize damage from [out-of-synch scale or materials].
Buck said that group had been planning in compliance with the Eastsound waterfront access plan and the Eastsound Sub-area Plan, and cross- referencing with village commercial uses.
EPRC member Rick Hughes said that conversation with County Senior Planner Colin Maycock may assist the group in developing a retail plan. Hughes said that marine-based retail activities would grant developers “100 percent rebuild.”
At the EPRC meeting, members in general expressed approval for the general design. Rick Hughes said, “I applaud you doing it, and bringing life back into the community.” He added that his main concern was the parking.
County Council Chair Patty Miller, who formerly served on the EPRC, said that she would want the residential elements to be for permanent, rather than vacation, housing.
A preliminary timeline suggests that the project may be completed in 2015, although development and construction costs and restrictions of land itself present significant known challenges; “One of the reasons the property has sat vacant is there’s no way to nail down variables until you start excavations, you have to deal with guaranteed unknowns,” said Buck.
She said the group has tried to deal with the parking concerns in a progressive way that mitigates the stress of parking in town, and with the retail zoning, in order to “avoid competition with a business that’s already good and strong.”
The Bayside group plans to meet with Bill Trogdon, member of the Eastsound Design Review Committee (EDRC), whose experience with the Bayside project includes designing Vern’s Bayside Restaurant, and instructing architect Gordon Walker in architecture in the 1960s. They have already met with Eastsound Water Users Association and Eastsound Sewer and Water District. They have yet to meet with the County Department of Development and Planning (CD&P).
Great, such a key spot, hate to see that vacant. Who are the members of the Bayside group? I assume that the current plans include upgrades so that sewage will no longer end up pumped into the cove, yes?
I love the idea of developing that beautiful waterfront property into something useful and beneficial to our lovely town, but I have to say that the illustration of what is currently envisioned for that site looks just like Irvine, CA…not quaint, friendly Eastsound, WA. I hope the design might be reconsidered.
A number of months ago or longer someone threw out the idea of the Land Bank buying this site and making it into a restful place to sit and enjoy the view. That is the highest and best use of this site. If we as a community could support the purchase of Turtleback Mountain we should be able to get this done. I would be willing to contribute to this effort. I don’t mean $25.00 or $50.00 either. A building would be a disaster, cost so much that the condo’s or summer rentals or whatever would be extremely expensive. Money does not have to be made on everything.
i hope our new “neighbors,” whoever the lucky people get to be, are amenable to town life and the noise of over 50% of the population having to live our lives here in Eastsound UGA. in other words, i hope they don’t call the police every time Oddfellows has a dance or the Lower Tavern has music or there is outdoor music in the summer time. if you opt to live in town, know that town is noisy – with Life. please respect the workers’ rights to have weddings, graduation parties, dances, and other celebratory events! and yes to what susan malins said. do something about the outflow pipes into Fishing Bay!
kudos to gordon walker who realizes that eastsound village, without residents, is not really a village, rather a bunch of retail spaces. we want our village back.
harvey – i just now read your comment. well said!
sorry to keep commenting but… how can anyone even consider building anything on native burial grounds? is that even legal? have the tribes and bands been notified?
The architectural sketch for a proposed building replacing Vern’s Bayside is out of scale not something I want to see in Eastsound. I thought Eastsound had architectural guidelines; where are they?
If this project goes ahead, an archaeologist should be on site during site preparation.
The project should allow public access to the shore.
I would like to say from being a long time resident of Orcas (1993) I recall the building has always been a restaurant from when the the 2 ladies owned it, and when it was the Bungelo and now a vacant verns Bayside, I would like to see the building stay and be used as a restaurant and retail space so all the islanders can enjoy the property. I dont understand that in a time of wanting to recycle and to be “green” the first thing that we talk about is tearing something down to rebuild it?? I think the building should stay and the issue with the building should be fixed.
As for the parking issues that the building has I am pretty sure that the beach front was traded for public access for “ghost parking spots” through out town 25 spots to be exact. That might have happened when it was sold from Brand family to the owners now.
And I agree with Sadie, in that I hope that if there should be residential living in that building that the people that reside there understand that there will be noise in down town Eastsound at night. The restaurants and bars on the island will be trying to make the most business they can during the islands high season, so they can survive through the winter and spring months up here.