Most of the community wants it. Even those who are unhappy about certain aspects believe the services it will provide the Deer Harbor community are both wanted and needed. Yet, on Jan. 7, when the fire department went for its Conditional Use Permit Hearing, a number of residents went to Friday Harbor to be heard, on what they see as problems with the new fire station on Channel Road ext to the existing station.

Deer Harbor residents have had an opportunity to speak publicly about the new fire station before. The OIFD held three public meetings, and the project has been on the agenda at OIFD Fire Commissioners’ meetings since 2007.

Many who attended the meeting, were neighbors of the new station. In addition, the former fire department tenant, Karla Rieg, presented a petition signed by fifty residents in opposition and Meg Connor, who had offered to sell the Fire Department a piece of property on Deer Harbor Road, attended.

Location

“The Fire Department owned one piece of land that offered a good location for the fire station,” said Teri Williams, of Permit Resources, who was hired by the OIFD to assist with the permit preparation and submittal.

“No one from the community stepped up to offer to buy the property at a fair price, which would have allowed the fire department to consider purchasing another piece of property. The fire department has public money they have been hanging onto for this project and purchasing new land was not feasible.”

Rieg admits that she never contacted the fire department to say she wanted to buy the property. She did not think she had to.

Rieg says, “Years ago when Harris first came to Orcas I wrote him a letter telling him I wanted to buy the property, if it ever became available. I have the money in the bank. I had a value on it from the county assessor’s office and I would have bought the property.”

The fire department ran ads seeking property to purchase. The Connors responded offering property on Deer Harbor Road in front of the Community Club that they say has great visibility. According to Williams and OIFD Chief Mike Harris, the Fire Department looked at the feasibility and economics of the property but ultimately rejected it.

Deer Harbor resident Michael Durland has several issues with the new station, but all could be solved with a different location. He says the sight distance from the driveways, the traffic on Channel Road and the status of the bridge are all things that could be solved by a different location.

“I have spoken to the owner of a piece of property around the Community Club and south of the Deer Harbor Inn fronting Deer Harbor Road,” Durland said. “It’s the perfect property. It’s right on the main road and has no visibility problems. The owner says he wants to sell to someone who would develop it for the good of the community. The fire department did not talk to the one person who had property available to sell them.”

Durland has a solution for the bridge issue. The Connors have an easement that could be purchased to develop a road to provide access to western Deer Harbor without using the bridge.

Neither Durland, nor the property owner, ever contacted the fire department to tell them about the property.

Channel Road Bridge

Should the Channel Road Bridge become unavailable, residents of western Deer Harbor would be unreachable by fire and emergency vehicles or anyone else. However, everyone agree, the problem exists for a station on either Deer Harbor or Channel Road locations.

The Connors, who want the new fire station and the medical and fire services it will provide, say they have heard that the bridge which services the most populated part of Deer Harbor is in trouble.

“The bridge is at the end of its life span,” Meg said. “It was incorrectly put in. The county road department has told us it could fail without notice at any point. The fire department have just dismissed it as a concern.”

Harris says hecalled the county roads department before he started the fire station project and asked them if there were any plans to change, move or repair the bridge. He was told there were no plans.

“The county has a responsibility to tell everyone, but specifically the fire department who uses heavy equipment, if there is a problem with the bridge,” Harris said. “They have not indicated to us at any time, that the bridge is a problem.”

Durland said that he has also contacted public works department to ask about load limits but has not heard back from them.

County Engineer, John Van Lund, said he contacted the Washington Department of Transportation and had them do a load rating on the Channel Road Bridge.

“They reported the bridge is satisfactory to carry the design loads for which it was intended, and that includes the fire department’s equipment,” Van Lund said. “I estimate the bridge will need to be replaced within 10 years. We will build the new bridge next to the old bridge.”

Size and Landscaping

Residents are concerned about the size of the building and the landscaping. Some think the building is too big and that unsightly dumpsters, propane tanks and generators will clutter the area.

To concerns about the size of the building, Williams said that the Deer Harbor Hamlet Plan allows for buildings of up to 5,000 square feet. The fire station will be no larger than any residential building on the same site would be.

At the hearing Williams stated, “If this were a residential building, the Deer Harbor Hamlet Plan would restrict aesthetics and would not require screening.

“This would allow the owner to put as many dumpsters and propane tanks in the front yard as they wanted. The fire department is required to be more sensitive to the impact to the neighborhood, than any residential builder without the buffer requirements would have to be. They will provide landscaping and fencing as solid buffers, so that to neighbors looking into and from adjacent properties the propane tank, dumpster and generator will be hidden.”

“At some point, you finally have to draw a line in the sand and move forward,” said Williams.

According to Williams, the Hearing Examiner has since concurred with county staff and recommends approval in his Findings, Conclusions and Decision dated Jan. 16, 2009.