The EPRC has been hijacked by development interests and Councilman Richard Fralick with adverse results affecting Eastsound and Orcas residents.
This lineup is heavily weighted in favor of development with little, if any, representation for environmental concerns, or neutral citizens with no monetary or philosophical agenda who are concerned about the evolution of Eastsound.
Let’s take an example of the kind of due diligence and review Mr. Fralick has exhibited as of late. In November of 2010 an application for a conditional use permit was submitted to the CD&P for a controversial development and land use issue in Eastsound. It is the responsibility of the EPRC to review and comment on all conditional use permit applications within Eastsound UGA (16. 55.060 C& D.2).
In December of 2010, Fralick promoted the appointment of Teri Williams as a new member of the EPRC. Ms. Williams’ “Permit Resource” portion of her real estate business advises/ consults for clients who want to build and develop in SJ County, more specifically on Orcas Island. The likelihood of Ms. Williams having conflicts of interests concerning issues that come before the EPRC is high, since “Permit Resources” is the only business of its kind on Orcas. In this case, Ms. Williams had been working for the applicant of this project that was scheduled to be reviewed by the EPRC. Less than two months later and literally weeks before the CUP application was to be reviewed by the EPRC, Teri Williams was appointed to the EPRC. Maybe Mr. Fralick would like to advise the public as to what process of due diligence he followed in this case. Why would Councilman Fralick appoint agents for the applicant to the actual committee that would have to review this CUP Application?
Three EPRC memberships are up for reappointment in April/May 2011. Do you want a balanced representation of philosophies on this committee? Do you want the EPRC members whose agenda is to weaken the Eastsound Subarea Plan and promote in appropriate development loopholes?
Please let your council members Fralick and Miller know your concerns as to the makeup of the EPRC.
Kathleen Speed
Orcas Island
