Today is the deadline to submit comments and suggestions to the County Council on Critical Areas regulations. Why is this important? Because the council will makeenvironmental policy that will affect us all in the short and long term.

Right now, Eastsound is an unincorporated Urban Growth Area (UGA). What this means is that we have a Subarea Plan which is separate from County Codes (AKA the UDC – Unified Development Codes). Being separate allows us to have our own AirportOverlay District, as well as to protect our largest Category 2 Regulated Wetland,Eastsound Swale, from further degradation. The citizens of Lopez Village, which is also an unincorporated UGA, are trying to implement their own Subarea Plan. They know the value of autonomy and protecting their Critical Areas within UGA boundaries. They also have a large Category 2 Regulated Wetland to consider.

Did you know that it’s required by state and federal law to protect our Critical Areasbefore any other elements in our Comp Plan can be balanced? Protecting our Critical Areas is the hub from which all other spokes of the wheel radiate.

Did you know that all parcels of less than an acre are exempt from wetland buffersand setbacks in our current UDC, and that most, if not all, of these parcels are in our UGAs – often abutting the very wetlands and near-shore habitat that we are requiredto protect?

Council intends to incorporate the Eastsound Subarea Plan into the UDC. Why? The reason given is simplification, but exactly how will it simplify? I fear that allowing thisincorporation will remove our power to effect a future tailored to Eastsound and itsCritical Areas. This could mean relaxing environmental protections, and possibly doingaway with the Conservancy Overlay District altogether – the only thing besides theAirport Overlay District protecting Eastsound Swale from more poorly planned, if notillegal, development and tree/wetland destruction.

I urge you to submit your comments asking Council to eliminate all exemptions for parcels under an acre, and to keep our Subarea Plans separate and sovereign. Comments can be sent to Janice Biletnikoff. Her email address is: janiceb@co.san-juan.wa.us

B. Sadie Bailey

Eastsound