I want to make the community aware of important upcoming San Juan County Council events related to the Eastsound Subarea Plan.
After several years of work revising and updating the format of the Plan by the Eastsound Planning and Review Committee, it is finally on the county council’s 2015 docket. EPRC provided council with the final draft 18 months ago. The planning commission has reviewed it, and the council has had an initial discussion of its contents.
An important date is coming up next week: the public hearing at 10:15 a.m. on Dec. 8 at the Eastsound Fire Station is a critical time for the community to keep council members Hughes, Jarman and Stephens on task. The community can provide input on the content of the plan, and can also send a strong message to council to keep their process moving forward. This plan is scheduled for council final action on Dec. 15. If it is not approved then, the plan will roll to the 2016 docket, inviting yet another year of delay. I look forward to joining a large community outpouring this coming week, as your support is critical to make sure that the project comes to fruition. The proposed ordinance can be found at www.sanjuanco.com/Council/PendingOrdinances.aspx.
On a similar but unrelated note, after three years, the Eastsound community has finally been provided with a detailed project plan from the county for the Prune Alley renovations. Fred Klein and others in the community have put in substantial work developing a new streetscape plan – along with gaining support from the affected property owners – so it is good to see the county begin to move it forward. It will be more satisfying for the community to see the project completed, hopefully in about three years. I recommend that you share your support for the project with council through the public comment process, either in writing or in person at the meeting.
Lastly, I want to remind you that EPRC meets on the first Thursday of each month at 3 p.m. at the Eastsound Fire Station. I encourage you to attend a meeting in the near future. I think you would find the topics of interest and relevance to you. Should you have any comments, questions or would like to receive the EPRC agenda electronically, please contact me at ayersmd@yahoo.com.
Greg Ayers
EPRC Chair
Editor’s note: San Juan County Council member Rick Hughes will host a Town Hall meeting at the Eastsound Fire Hall from 5-7 pm on Thursday, Dec. 3 to present and discuss changes to the proposed Eastsound Subarea Plan.
