Letter to Whidbey New-Times: September 30, 2006 Back
They want to cover the island with cement!

Imagine returning with your grandchild one day. You have promised peace, quiet, scenic shores, and respite from the rat race. As you approach the island, via ferry, your grandchild asks, “When will we get to see the animals and the trees and lake?” “In a while,” you will say.

You travel up Highway 20 and you look at your spouse in wonder as everything looks different. You arrive at that favorite spot and your grandchild exclaims, “Grandma, where are the trees, animals, and the lake? “I guess the city council gave them away honey. I guess we will have to find another special place.”

Each passing month promises new losses to our community. Soon it will not be the Island you think it is. As your city and county leaders sacrifice more and more land to “progress,” (urban sprawl), this island we know is dying. Soon it will be little different from Kent, Redmond, and the other once beautiful places.

Please watch your paper for the next city council meeting, it will be announced. It will be in tiny print under proposed land use, we think! It should take place around Sept. 26. The Fakkama farm is the latest sacrifice to development. It is a farm with over 300 acres, West of Oak Harbor. Much of it is heavily treed. The loss of this land will close the north/south corridor for wildlife.

We need every concerned citizen to raise his or her voice at city meetings. You can make a difference. Please take a stand for the island life you love. Express your views on this initiative in a letter to this local paper or better yet let all papers in the state know what is happening on the island of Whidbey, and write your elected representatives. It is your island too!

Thomas and Julie Garrod, Oak Harbor
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