Sam Fletcher reports from the Oak Harbor City Council’s meeting of Tue., Aug. 13, 2024 for the Whidbey News-Times.
In a 6-1 vote, the Oak Harbor council passed an ordinance that will loosen the restrictions on trading park land.
The council discussed ordinance 1999 for at least the fourth time during the regular meeting Tuesday night and passed a compromise version. The idea of changing the ordinance drew opposition from some residents as well as environmental groups who wanted to preserve a rule that requires a vote of the people before city parkland can change hands.
The ordinance will, however, allow for the swap of 2,600 square feet of Hal Ramaley Memorial Park on Bayshore Drive to a developer to build a much-anticipated Hilton hotel with conference rooms and renovate the park.
The sole nay voter was Councilmember Bryan Stucky, who said an objective analysis of community feedback over the course of several months shows overwhelming support for leaving the code alone.
They Said It
“If we change things, we as a council have to look at the majority of the people and say, ‘We heard you. We did the opposite,’” [Stucky] said.
Despite Stucky’s support of the project and general support of easing restrictions on the city, he felt the council should not change the code.
“With this amount of feedback, I think my opinion is a little more irrelevant,” he said. “I believe that doing anything other than leaving that vote of the people would be doing a disservice to the community and those that elected us to represent them.”
Voting against the will of the public builds distrust and sets a bad precedent for future decisions, he said.
In 1997, the council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring 60% of voters to approve any kind of parkland disposal, said former Councilmember Larry Eaton, who was one of those votes at the time.
“Here’s the problem that I have with you folks receding that, is how does it stop?” he asked. “If you do it now without the vote of the people, when do you do it again?”
According to Mayor Pro Tem Tara Hizon, every relevant consultant and study in recent history has concluded that a convention center would revitalize the city’s economy.
“I’m not up here to get re-elected,” she said. “I’m up here to make decisions that are in the best interest in the most people of the area. Not just city limits.”
With no action, the Hilton can be built without the conference rooms, and Hal Ramaley Memorial Park can remain the same, said Councilmember Jim Woessner, but if the city changed the code, the developer would pay to renovate the park, and there would be a public hearing involved in that proposal process.
Only Oak Harbor citizens would be able to vote, and many of the comments to the city regarding this issue are from out-of-towners, Woessner said.
At the meeting, Councilmember Christopher Wiegenstein tallied 28 written comments from those outside the city and 17 from within.
Despite these notes from her fellow council members, Hizon said that all comments were given equal weight no matter where they came from.
Voting for a compromise means the council has heard and responded to the public, said Councilmember Shane Hoffmire, a divergence from his input at a May meeting when he said democracy is “priceless” and that he would follow the will of the citizens.
A public vote doesn’t allow for debates, adjustments and compromises like public hearings do, said Councilmember Eric Marshall.
Wiegenstein agreed.
“I didn’t run to be sitting on this seat to just kick the can and not taking action, not redefining our ordinances in order to help the whole community,” Wiegenstein said.
Both Hizon and [Oak Harbor’s Senior Planner Ray] Lindenburg said they are unaware if the code requiring a vote to dispose of parkland has ever been applied.
Since 2021, Hizon said, the city has spent over half a million dollars on park maintenance, received an unprecedented $1.8 million urban forestry grant, hired an arborist, spent $14.5 million on park projects, continually added to park space and doubled park staff.
“I don’t think there is a universe in which anyone can say the city of Oak Harbor is not committed to our parks,” she said.
Hizon stood strong on her opinion.
“Come and talk to me in 10 years when Hal Ramaley Park still exists, and we have a thriving downtown and a hotel and convention center because that’s exactly what we needed,” she said. “I will eat my hat if Hal Ramaley Park doesn’t exist.”
After the vote, Hoffmire offered a fist bump to Stucky, who declined.
