— by Margie Doyle —
San Juan County Councilman Rick Hughes commented on government matters that impact Orcas Islanders recently. So many active projects “are coming to the front of the queue,” he says. Still, housing issues dominate his concerns for the county.
Hughes commended the work of a task force coordinated by County Health Department Director Mark Tompkins; Orcas residents who serve on the task force are Janet Brownell, Lisa Byers, Jason and Jacob Linnes. County Councilman Bob Jarman also serves on the task force, as well as representatives from Lopez and San Juan Islands. Hughes describes the group, which has met several times, as “a volunteer group of concerned citizens whose task is to come up quickly with ideas to figure out short-term and future solutions” to the chronic housing problem that becomes critical during the summer season. “They won’t be forming a comprehensive or strategic plan, necessarily, but seeing what can we do to help folks,” Hughes said.
With 40-70 potential units proposed in the Eastsound Urban Growth Area (UGA), some considerations that he can foresee in a “multi-pronged solution,” include business-owned housing for employees, temporary mobile parks in designated spaces, and private-public partnerships for housing in land zoned for rural general or service light industrial use.
He hopes the housing task force will “come up with recommendations and options to use existing land or to purchase land for public and private housing uses.” The County Lodging Tax master plan provides a grant for construction of temporary seasonal rental housing, Hughes says.
Soon Orcas Islanders will see work begin on many of the county road projects that have been scheduled through the County Public Works Department, under the direction of Brian Vincent.
The Prune Alley project, that is on a three-year timeline to install curbs, gutters and sidewalks to accommodate parking and stormwater drainage, is now in the phase to determine and secure setbacks and right of way from affected property owners. County Engineer Colin Huntemer, who has been point man on this project for the last year, said at the June EPRC meeting that doing the project right is a priority over adhering to a strict schedule.
Also in the lineup this summer is work at Orcas Landing’s Washington State Ferry (WSF) terminal. Modifications will be made to County offices at the former Russell building. The small ferry buildings at the head of the landing, below the stairs to the parking lot, will be removed in order to make a traffic pull-out.The park-and-ride facility above the current parking lot, on property leased from WSF, will relieve parking on the Orcas Road at the landing, and also provide parking space for ferry walk-on passengers to park their cars. Electric vehicles will also benefit from a recharging station at the site. Washington State has awarded a $760,000 grant to fund this project. County Public Works has set spring of 2017 for completion of the Park and Ride at Orcas Landing.
After a lengthy public process, construction will begin on the Deer Harbor bridge.The March call for bids estimated the cost at $2,200,000.Nine bids for the work were opened in April; the bids ranged from $1,757,000 to $2,757,000.
On the other end of the island, funding has been allocated for to redirect Cascade Creek at the Buck Bay Bridge, in order to protect the stream’s environment. Work on this project was halted due to weather conditions, and Public Works plans to complete the work by November of this year
Hughes commended the Public Works staff who recently completed the chip sealing on Dolphin Bay Road. “They had all hands on deck; they worked in a courteous, professional, efficient manner — everyone’s working really hard.”
Earlier this month, Hughes also scouted possible kayaking and marine input/output locations that would accommodate boaters to stay in island hotels and eat in restaurants; “It would be a great use of Lodging Tax funds,” Hughes said.
International air flights
He met recently with Canadian public officials to seek an exemption to allow direct charter and private flights to and from Canada to land at Friday Harbor airport. The meeting between government ministers from Sidney, Victoria and Tofino, B.C; and their counterparts from Federal, county and the town of Friday Harbor, the group reached tentative approval for the international flights. Hughes said, “Such flights are important to us; it’s only a 10-minute flight from Sidney to Friday Harbor.
“We need to work together to find a local solution for us, for Customs and Border Protection to have a safe facility.” He identified a building near the Friday Harbor airport, that with some “minor tweak” could be used for those purposes. With a slight remodel, the county could “have a door open fro direct flights” in 2017. Port Director Barnes, Duncan Wilson of Friday Harbor and the Friday Harbor Port board have been “good partners,” Hughes says, and this is a good way to begin other things in partnership.”
Mainland bus transportation
The County is also working with Skagit Transit, which serves a five-county region. to obtain a grant to stage a bus at the Anacortes ferry terminal that will connect with arriving ferries. From the Anacortes terminal, Skagit Transit will take island residents to stops in Anacortes and along Highway 20 to connecting points in Burlington and Mt. Vernon, north to Bellingham and south to Seattle. Hughes met with representatives from Skagit Transit and the county’s Ferry Advisory Committee, now headed by Jim Corenman.
Hughes works on transportation issues with the “Farmhouse Gang,” also known as the North Sound Connecting Communities, a coalition of concerned citizens, elected officials and professional staff of transportation agencies from Washington’s five northwestern-most counties: Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan and northern Snohomish. The Farmhouse Gang strives to develop better ways for people to move through the region by using all available modes in an effective and smoothly functioning network that does not rely solely on the automobile. (from the website wcog.org/boards-committees/farmhouse/ )
Hughes’ schedule is “completely different every week, but the fundamental pillars of where I have to be” are meetings, from the County Council and other county organizations on which he serves as liaison such as the Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) and the Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC), to the Economic Opportunity Council in Bellingham. His “regular” office hours on Orcas Island are on Wednesdays at the Orcas Senior Center on Henry Road. He can be reached via email at rickh@sanjuanco.comt. He reports to the Orcas community at the monthly EPRC meetings, usually held at the Fire Hall from 3 to 5 on the first Thursday of each month, although the July meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Fire Hall.
I’m not sure why we cannot solve a whole lot of our housing availability problem by simply following some of the California cities who have solved the problem by requiring rentals to transients (ie tourists) be for a minimum of one month. That automatically puts a huge number of mostly empty houses here back into the long-term rental market. Not many tourists are interested in renting for a whole month so many folks who have pulled their houses out of long term rental and put it into the tourist market so they can grab some of the money will put them back into long term rental. That was the long term result in California. Of course, they also had a drop in tourist money. But, do we so desperately need that money that we are willing to sacrifice our Islands?
My second question, if we are going to try to put more kayaking and marine input/output locations, where are we going to put “facilities” or will we just continue to encourage them to use private beaches as bathrooms? Several friends tell me that they have had serious problems after having been “designated” to kayak renters as available bathroom beaches… If we really need or even just want more and more and more money, we are going to have to deal with the problems instead of just continuing to ignore them!
Merry
Restricting vacation home rentals to a minimum of a month will not necessarily force vacation homeowners to put their homes into the long-term rental pool. In my neighborhood, for example, sixty percent of the homes have vacation rental permits but only ten percent are used as short-term (less than 30 days) rentals, ten percent are long-term rentals, fifty percent are owner-occupied, and twenty percent are second homes for off-island residents. Many hold vacation rental permits but don’t rent out their homes.
It’s a logical leap to attribute the low-income housing shortage to the popularity of vacation rentals. The absence of sufficient low-income housing is partially attributed to the economic character of the local economy, with the islands’ concomitant development as a vacation destination.
I am grateful that Rick Hughes and his citizen task force are exploring creative solutions, as opposed to the tired and noproductive ranting against vacation home rental permit holders and tourists which has characterized recent articles on this site. Tourism is a vital economic engine for the San Juans, its diminution would be missed by many who live here year-round.
Every restriction that you put on what someone can do with their private property ultimately raises the cost of housing. The lack of low income housing in the islands is a direct result of increased regulations and restrictions (guest houses, CAO, etc).