After years of research and public discussion, the San Juan County Council is preparing to update the County’s environmental regulations, beginning with codes covering the upland wetlands and fish and wildlife habitat areas, followed by marine shoreline regulations. The issues are important to the future of environmental protection and the rights of property owners.

The San Juan County Council is interested in the community’s questions and ideas about these updated regulations, and will be holding a series of field trips and public meetings. These will be held on Lopez Island on Nov. 5, San Juan Island on Nov. 9 and Orcas Island on Nov. 12. The Field trips will start at 11:30 a.m. with public meetings at 5:30 p.m. The 5:30 p.m. meetings will be held at Woodmen Hall on Lopez, Mullis Senior Center on San Juan, and the Orcas Senior Center on Orcas. Field trip meeting locations will be announced soon.

The public meetings will be an opportunity to hear about the proposed regulations from County staff, scientists and the community members that have been involved in the discussion over the last several years; to ask questions and to provide input. Participation at the public meeting and field trips will help shape how the issues are addressed by the County Planning Commission and Council.

The field trips at 11:30 a.m. preceding each of the public meetings will be a chance to see wetlands, streams and marine shorelines and talk with experts on how the regulations will apply. It is an opportunity at various wetland and shoreline areas to better understand their value and how property owners will be affected.

The County wants to gauge interest in these planned field trips so that it can plan for transportation and other logistical needs. People interested in participating in a field trip should contact Jeff Hanson at jeffh@sanjuanco.com.

More information on the new proposed regulations is available at http://www.sanjuanco.com/cao. A paper summarizing the issues will also be available on the website on Oct. 23. For questions on the proposed ordinances call Shireene Hale at 360-370-7569 or Jim Kramer at 206 841-2145. For information on the field trips or meetings contact Jeff Hanson at jeffh@sanjuanco.com.