RECORD SOUTH WHIDBEY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 5 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
EARLY SNOWSTORM PUMMELS ISLAND
Bigger storm expected to hit today
INSIDE: Back on track, Sports, A7
NEW DEVELOPMENT PLANNED NEAR MARINA
TUESDAY’S STORM BY THE NUMBERS: Clinton: 4 inches Scatchet Head: 5 inches Langley: 5-plus inches Freeland: 3 inches Coupeville: 6-plus inches
Jesse Portillo photo
It was a snow day for Sugar, a golden retriever in Clinton, too. South Whidbey was pummeled with between 3 and 6 inches of snow Tuesday morning, and can expect more today. BY BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
A sucker-punch snowstorm smacked South Whidbey Tuesday, the day before a storm of historic proportions was expected to wallop the Puget Sound area. As much as six inches of snow fell Tuesday, which made the weekend’s smattering of snow seem like a love tap. The wicked winter weather treated local school children with kid gloves, however, as youngsters enjoyed an unexpected extension to their threeday, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The snow piled up quickly Tuesday morning, and officials in the South Whidbey School District canceled classes and extra-curricular activities. Businesses on the South End shut down early, and government meetings — including Tuesday’s Langley City Council meeting — were called off. Langley City Hall was also shut down early, and employees were sent home. The snowstorm hit Central Whidbey the hardest. More than 6 inches of snow was reported in Coupeville by noon Jan. 17. Greenbank had nearly as much,
Kris Barker photo
Maddie Barker of Freeland stands next to George, a snowman she made after Tuesday’s snowstorm on South Whidbey, during a break in the storm earlier this week. while Freeland had 3 inches near the library. More than 5 inches of snow was reported in downtown Langley, while Scatchet Head got 5 inches. Roughly 4 inches of snow was reported in Clinton before noon Tuesday.
By about 10 a.m. Tuesday, when the storm began to hit the hardest, Island Transit canceled service on all its routes after trying to make do through SEE SNOW, A6
Brian Kelly / The Record
Developers want to build a new four-story residential/ commercial project near the Langley Marina; the first phase is shown above.
Mixed-use project may include funicular BY BRIAN KELLY South Whidbey Record
LANGLEY — What goes up, must come down. Just the opposite may be happening in Langley. A proposed funicular at the marina — an idea that plummeted in popularity with the city council last year — is on the rise again, mainly due to a fresh proposal for a development project along Wharf Street. Novawest, a boutique real-estate developer that built the Langley Garden Bungalows, has submitted an application to build a four-story mixed-use building on the Drake’s Landing property. The proposed development, called Wharf Street Landing, would include office space, a 60-seat restaurant and bar, residential units and public space. Langley Planning Director Jeff Arango said the city has talked with the proponents of the project, and there’s the possibility of incorporating a funicular — a tram-like vehicle that would take people up and down the steep bluff between the marina and Cascade Avenue — into the
design. Langley hopes to apply for grant funding to pay for the funicular, expected to cost roughly $550,000, and shift money to the project from the abandoned plan to reroute Wharf Street. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a public/ private partnership,” Arango said. The bottom end of the funicular would be built into the back of the new building. “They have plans to put the funicular landing on the second floor of their building,” Arango said. The city recently adopted changes to height limits on Wharf Street, and the new project would use the height modification allowance. There would be public space in the building and along the street frontage, Arango said. A corridor through the building, and stairs leading to Wharf Street, would be open for public use. “There would be some areas to take advantage of the views,” Arango said. “It would be primarily for SEE DEVELOPMENT, A3