There is still the matter of Wright’s Crossing, the 1500 house proposal on 250 acres of farmland by the drive-in theater south of Oak Harbor. That matter is waiting its turn to be heard by the court of appeals. We get the impression that Island County is not defending itself very vigorously, coming up with some seriously lame arguments and sidestepping the real issues. Meanwhile, as of about 2 weeks ago, someone has been digging huge ditches on the property, one of them 11 ft deep and running the full length of the property. We inquired of Island County whether any permit was in place and they answered ‘no.’ Of course we were also notifying them of this activity. The result to date is pretty seriously disappointing. We have been told they cannot do a site visit without a formal written complaint, on their complaint form, and mailed via US mail. Meanwhile, of course, the ditches remain. We have now filed the complaint and are waiting for a response.

 We’re having other problems with Island County, related to the virus shut-down. One of the things we do is review development applications. We are forced to go through the official Public Records Request process. The last time I did that I got a response that people were working from home and it would be a month before they could get those records to me (mind you, they’re all electronic, and get posted via email). But most of those applications have very short review times, usually only 2 weeks. Which means that by the time I finally get the record and review it, its too late to make any comments. That is not how the system is supposed to work. We understand only too well that this is a most peculiar situation and people are for the most part doing the best they can. But if they are able to stretch the response time to a records request, they should also be able to stretch the comment period. I’ve been putting off writing the notice to Island County about this issue.

 On a larger scale, we’re trying to work with Island County on its review and update of the Shoreline Master Program to make sure the reality of sea level rise is taken into account in a substantive way. The reality on the ground is that we know its happening, but the county does not have any regulatory authority to deny a permit to someone who wants to build on the shoreline. That’s not the county’s fault. It actually lies with the 5th amendment to the Constitution: “. . . nor shall private property be taken for public purposes without just compensation.” People have a legal right to do some really stupid things, like building million dollar houses right on the shoreline. The problem is that we as a society end up paying to pick up the pieces from such stupid doings. And of course there are literal tons of infrastructure right along the shore which will all too soon be inundated and causing pollution. We want to help the county plan for what is being called “managed retreat”. And we’ve just gotten word that our legal intern has figured out a way to work for us while sheltered at home. We are sharing her with Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve for the summer. She will be working on that Shoreline Master Program review and update. And of course I’m getting no response from Island County as to the status of that review. It was supposed to have been finished by June 30, but then the legislature (or the governor) granted a 1 year extension. The county’s website is not much help and staff is not responding to phone messages or emails. 

 One not-so-small victory is that as of the 1st of this month the Navy no longer has a valid permit to do clandestine training in our shoreline state parks. The matter was supposed to be on the agenda of the State Parks Commission for its 3-12-20 meeting, but that was cancelled. The decision was to have been made at the commission’s 5-7-20 meeting, but that was cancelled too. The navy wrote to the State Parks director asking that their existing permit be extended. The director wrote back saying ‘no.’ That would not have happened without the 3500 or more petition signatures and comments we generated. All very timely too. Imagine, now that we’re finally able to get into the parks (well distanced), discovering that there was someone in camo with a very realistic looking big gun spying on you from the bushes. No doubt the navy will be back, but for now our parks are safe for people.

 And finally, I am delighted and relieved to report that – as you can see if you’re reading this – WEAN’s new website is finally up and running. Still needs lots more information, but its there and live. Many thanks are due to our web master, Richard Fagan (Whidbey Web Design), who is gentle but persistent.