On August 13, 2024, the Oak Harbor City Council voted against the will of the people to pass Ordinance 1999, which greatly impacts an election provision in the city code that previously gave the citizens of Oak Harbor the right to vote any time the City proposes to sell or transfer public park lands to a private entity. Ordinance 1999 took away this important right of the people, as an alleged “impediment” to a private developer’s proposal to pave over a significant portion of Hal Ramaley Memorial Park in downtown Oak Harbor, for use as a hotel parking lot. This lawsuit challenges the City’s passage of Ordinance 1999.

The City admits that in 1997 the City of Oak Harbor chose to adopt a law that required citizen approval in an election for disposal of developed park land under certain circumstances. As to the remaining allegations or inferences contained in the Complaint, the City denies the same.