The
INSIDE
Spotlight on Seniors Contributed photo / Noel McKeehan
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Spring sports
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WSF chief quits
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VOLUME 37, NUMBER 12 • MARCH 25, 2014
Lopez gets its own planning review committee By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Lopez Village and Eastsound now have another thing in common, a plan-
ning review committee. At a Tuesday meeting at the community center on Lopez Island, March 18, the San Juan County Council formally abolished
The only Symphony Orchestra in the San Juans!
ISLAND SINFONIA Founded in 1984 • Musicians from San Juan, Lopez, Orcas and Shaw Presents a concert of beautiful and beloved orchestral works Sunday, April 6, 3pm at Grace Church Free Admission And Plenty oF PArking For more inFo CAll: 468-4422 donAtions WelCome • tAx-deduCtible
the prior ad-hoc village planning committee and established a full-scale seven-member planning review committee, much like the seven-member Eastsound Planning Review Committee on Orcas Island. The ad-hoc committee was formed in 2009 to begin the planning process for Lopez Village, the island’s commercial center, but according to the Village Resiliency Project (lopezvillageresilencyproject.wordpress.com) report, planning for Lopez Village has been ongoing since the 1970s. The new Lopez Planning Review Committee is now accepting membership applications. Councilman Jamie Stephens expects the committee will be formed
in three weeks and will be working for 12 to 18 months to produce a sub-area plan. That plan will be reviewed and amended by the county planning department before being added to the county comprehensive plan and becoming part of the building code. Like its sister planning committee in Eastsound, the Lopez panel will have a broad charter. They will consider matters such as lighting, landscaping, parking, bicycle and pedestrian access, building standards, stormwater management and density, and views and aesthetics. Linda Kuller, a planner in the Community Development and Planning department, will staff the Lopez planning commit-
Journal reporter
Grass roots opposition to noise from EA 18G “Growlers” is spreading to the San Juan Islands. The noise from thousands of engine tests and training runs by new EA 18G “Growlers” and other planes at Naval Air Station Whidbey and Outlying Landing Field Coupeville has generated two recent community meetings on Lopez and San Juan islands, and another meeting at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, at the Grange in Friday Harbor. At the meeting on Lopez last month,
Live in Concert
Sunday, April 6th, 7:30pm
about 70 islanders complained that increased noise and the number of missions impact their quality of life and property values. Leaders of Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve presented additional information about multiple health and hearing problems caused by the planes. Ebey’s Reserve is the location of OLF Coupeville. COER encouraged Lopezians to join their movement to have the “touchand-go” training runs by the Growlers moved to other, less populated areas – such as the 1.1 million acre China Lake, Calif., naval weapons station in the Mojave Desert.
LOPEZ COMMUNITY LAND TRUST PRESENTS
We are the Ones!
& short Annual Meeting at 1pm
Unleash our Creativity!
Concert is made possible, in part, from:
Tickets: $20/adult, $10 youth at lopezcenter.org, PSR, Lopez Book Shop, Blossom & LCCA. 468-2203
Free Demonstration Workshop 2-3pm more info at lopezcenter.org
Friday Harbor, the subject was not on the agenda for Lopez Island - until a Navy Growler roared nearby during the meeting, temporarily silencing the meeting until Stephens quipped, “That’s what a jet sounds like when it goes over Lopez Island.” Stephens noted that he is arranging for a site visit for concerned Lopezians to NAS Whidbey in the coming weeks, after which the council may invite NAS Whidbey leadership to a town hall or council meeting at a future date. Any Lopezian interested in serving on the Lopez P.R.C. should submit an application, which can be found at sanjuanco.com/council/ CommitteeVacancies.aspx.
Dissent climbs over jet noise By Steve Wehrly
Lopez Center
tee, with input from the Department of Public Works. Her first task, she says, will be to review what has been accomplished so far, and to guide the committee through a scoping process to produce a work plan. The Eastsound sub-area plan already includes many of the same considerations. The Eastsound Planning Review Committee is currently considering amendments to village development rules, like how much retail extension will be permitted in the airport area and what kind of street food kiosks and drive through coffee establishments will be permitted. Having briefly discussed Growler jet noise at its Monday meeting in
Saturday, March 29th 9:30-4 Community Center All welcome, $10, rsvp for free childcare Soup and drinks provided Tickets at Blossom and LCLT office
The response from Lopez: send emails and phone calls to senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and Representative Rick Larsen. San Juan County Councilman Jamie Stephens, who participated in the Lopez meeting, said he has been in touch with the commanding officer of NAS Whidbey, and he has been invited to bring a delegation of Lopez residents to the air station to talk about the problem. COER leaders Michael Monson and Richard Abraham came to the Brickworks on San Juan Island, SEE JET, PAGE 5
Home & Garden April 2014 Providing a full schedule of activites and events plus, informative feature stories. This special section of The Journal, The Sounder, & The Weekly will be distributed to over 7500 readers throughout San Juan County and also online in our new Green Editions!
Copy & Sales Deadline: Monday, March 31, 2014, 12 pm Publication Dates: Week of April 15, 2014 For more information call Cali Bagby at the Islands’ Weekly 376-4500