San Juan County officials held a meeting to review the county’s comprehensive plan on Friday May 20. This was in accordance with the Washington State Growth Management Act, which requires counties to periodically update their comprehensive plan in order to meet grant deadlines. The act requires the county must adopt a scope of work and a plan by June 30, 2016. The meeting was also an opportunity for citizens to share concerns about the plan.

The issues of worry to those in attendance seemed to be the status of Eastsound zoning. Fred Klein was one of the people to speak about this when public testimony was allowed. He was worried about the uncertainty of the vision for Eastsound, which isn’t an incorporated town with it’s own government. Instead the area falls under county jurisdiction, and Klein felt the future of the area needs to painted into a clearer picture to protect the culture and functionality or the area.

Another issue of concern was how urban versus rural development areas are classified. Kevin Peterson, an architect/city planner, is concerned that the proper infrastructure isn’t going to be applied to areas that are classified as rural that should be classified as urban. Peterson pointed to the area where he lives, Roche Harbor as an example. He said that housing developments in that area, which are classified as rural are going to experience issues with sewage and soil unless re-classified as urban.

Bike and pedestrian paths also came up, when Kyle Loring gave his testimony. He pointed out that the updated plan made no mention of bicycles or pedestrians, and that many islanders don’t feel that the roads are safe enough to ride on. While it wasn’t mentioned in the plan, Planning Manager Linda Kuller assured everyone that bicycles and pedestrians are being looked into by the Parks Department.

The current housing crisis closed the first half of the meeting. The consensus was that housing needs to be the first priority of the county’s comprehensive plan. Planning Commission Councilman Thomas Starr even suggested that 50 percent of the commissions resources need to be devoted to the housing crisis. Planning Commission Councilman Mike Starr also pointed out that the council needed to re-evaluate the regulations for property development, and the cost of developing county property.