After countless hours of work including much community feedback, the Eastsound Subarea Plan Update is now in its final draft form.

“It’s a living document now,” said Clyde Duke, chairman of the Eastsound Planning and Review Committee. “The county now has the ability to do something, and it enables them to be more proactive.”

On June 5 a joint meeting was held by the Eastsound Planning and Review Committee and County Development and Planning to present the final draft of the Eastsound Subarea Plan to the public.

The plan was updated to help streamline, simplify and clarify regulations so development parameters can easily be determined. The most significant change is the addition of land use tables. The EPRC is still working on language for food trucks and kiosks in Eastsound.

At the meeting items of interest included how to deal with business that go through a “change of use” or an “expand of use.”

“We need to educate the public not police them,” said Teri Williams, EPRC member. “The county needs to be more user-friendly to help property owners find out what they need so that they do not get into trouble.”

Other topics of interest included the county-owned parcel, which was originally purchased for a Fern Street extension, between Prune Alley and North Beach Road. In the draft the parcel is called a transportation hub to support and promote non-motorized transportation. Possibilities for the hub include kiosks, picnic area, a community garden, bike racks and a shuttle stop off.

“There is a lot of potential,” said Fred Klein, an EPRC member.

He added that it may be premature to allocate the parcel to a transportation hub as it could “prejudice any future community conversation.”

Gulliver Rankin, also serving on the EPRC, said the name transportation hub was chosen to describe the parcel in the hopes of securing grant funding. He said to think of it as allocating the space to something other than a road and as a stepping stone to something the community can use in the future.

The public will have another chance to add comments to the plan at the Planning Commission and EPRC workshop at Eastsound Fire Station on Friday, June 20 at 8:55 a.m.

“It’s a long process,” said Duke. “But that’s what it takes.”