Oak Harbor Parks Update:

The People Want To Keep Their Vote

Oak Harbor resident Kim Schaaf giving public comment

during the July 9 Oak Harbor City Council meeting

"The current vote requirement isn't the impediment to economic development; trying to subvert the democratic process (and the ensuing and wholly predictable backlash that followed) is."



— Oak Harbor resident Jeffrey Bauer, in their public comment to Oak Harbor City Council

Last Tuesday the Oak Harbor City Council met in a continued discussion around Ordinance 1999, which recommends the removal of a unique election provision from the city code that requires the city council to put a vote to the public before selling or disposing of any public parkland within city limits.

Due to the collective efforts of Oak Harbor community members, Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society, Oak Harbor Garden Club, and WEAN, the Oak Harbor City Council received 65 written public comments ahead of the July 9 city council meeting, 60 of which were explicitly against passing the ordinance and firmly in favor of keeping the election provision in the city code. The five other comments, submitted by members of the Oak Harbor Main Street Association, spoke in favor of the Hilton hotel project but did not directly address the ordinance. No written comments were directly in favor of passing the ordinance, which would remove the election provision.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to write such thoughtful comments, especially the Oak Harbor residents who wrote in, including the greater Oak Harbor residents who were labeled as “Island County” in their comments, and the 12 community members who spoke in person during the meeting at the podium.

Your voices were heard.

"I think, especially as a military town, the citizens of Oak Harbor highly value democracy and its corresponding responsibilities and privileges, which include the ability to vote for matters universally important to all of us, such as public parks."

— Oak Harbor resident River Crandell, in their public comment to Oak Harbor City Council

During a community presentation at the July 9 meeting, Chair Carrie Stucky relayed the Oak Harbor Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission's recommendation to pass Ordinance 1999, which would remove the election provision. The advisory commission, whose mission is to "enhance the existing parks system in Oak Harbor by providing community leadership and developing a public culture of stewardship," sees the election provision as an impediment to the city council's efficiency and exclusive to voters within the city limits of Oak Harbor.

In stark contrast, the overwhelming majority of public comments, 60 of the 65 submitted via email and nine of 12 in person, insisted Oak Harbor city residents keep their right to vote on the sale of public parkland.

According to Stucky's presentation, only six parks in Oak Harbor are currently protected by grant funding or deed of sale. These parks are:

Windjammer Park

Flintstone Park

Freund Marsh

Smith Park

Catalina Park

Ruth Cohen Memorial Park

That leaves 26 other parks currently listed on the city’s website open to development without direct input from the public if Ordinance 1999 passes by council vote.

During the meeting, Oak Harbor Senior Planner Ray Lindenburg told the council that he doesn’t believe this code change is subject directly to review under the State Environmental Policy Act, however, WEAN litigation coordinator Steve Erickson asserts that this proposed code change must fulfill SEPA requirements before any actions are taken.

City staff plans to present drafts of code language to the city council during their July 24 work session, which is open to the public but not to public comment. WEAN will have an update following this work session.

The Oak Harbor City Council is set to vote on Ordinance 1999 on August 13 and community members are invited to comment ahead of this meeting. The city council is especially interested in hearing from residents within the city limits of Oak Harbor.

WEAN strongly supports the will of the people of Oak Harbor and their right to vote on the future of their parkland. 

Protect the earth. Power to the people. 

Want to learn more about the issue before commenting?

Read the latest Whidbey News-Times article following the issue, watch the city council meeting, and review our fact sheet on the code change.

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