Editorial: Whidbey News-Times 9/23/06              Back 2 List

Planners ready for a full house--By Jessie Stensland

Oak Harbor planners expect a lot of folks to attend a planning commission meeting next Tuesday. The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be held at Parker Hall in Oak Harbor High School, which has plenty of room for hundreds of people.

On Sept. 26, the planning commission will tackle a couple of important issues — options for expanding the city’s commercially-zoned land and a separate proposal to transfer more review authority to the city’s hearing examiner.

Senior Planner Larry Cort said the primary focus of the first part of the meeting will be on the staff’s study of the city’s commercial land inventory. Since the amount of empty or available commercial land is somewhat low, planners will present ideas for creating more area for stores and restaurants of all sorts.

For example, he said staff will present options for spurring commercial development on Midway Boulevard — including tax incentives, raising height limits and relaxing setbacks. “It will allow for building to the full extend of lots,” he said.

The more controversial issue, of course, involves larger development. One controversial proposal is to designate a large parcel of land on the south end of the city for big-box stores. “We will discuss whether we want more large-scale development,” Cort said, “and if we do, where should it go?”

If there’s enough time, the commission may also allow additional public comments on sponsored amendments — the Fakkema Farm and the Pazooki development. No action will be taken on the these issues.

Next, the planning commission will conduct a public hearing to accept public testimony and deliberate on a proposal to transfer review authority for many land use applications — including preliminary plats, planned residential developments, planned industrial parks, planned business parks, manufactured home parks — from the planning commission to the Oak Harbor Hearing Examiner. Some people feel the proposal may mean less public discussion and participation.

According to the agenda item written by Oak Harbor City Attorney Phil Bleyhl, a hearing examiner system is recommended by most land-use specialists as better protection for the city from liability in land use matters. A hearing examiner is a lawyer hired by the city. The planning commission is a board of volunteers.
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