Allyson Ballard reports from the Town of Coupeville for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity.ai
Josh Pitts began as Coupeville’s community planning director on October 20, bringing extensive experience from Whidbey Island and a background in historic preservation. Passionate about Coupeville’s unique mix of legacy families and newcomers, Pitts aims to balance growth with the town’s strong historic identity. Formerly with Island County and Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, Pitts worked on development guidelines, preservation grants, and blending new builds with old structures. He foresees challenges such as adapting Front Street’s waterfront to rising sea levels and addressing affordable housing. Outside work, Pitts enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest with his wife and four sons, currently residing in Clinton.
They Said It
“I really do love the community,” he said. “The demographics from the legacy families to the new generation that’s just starting to move here — it’s unlike anywhere else.”
“I think overall everybody wants to maintain the sense of pride they have for the downtown historic area, some of the farm clusters out on the prairie, stuff like that,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re not Pike Place Market. We’re not Pioneer Square, where you’re just one block and you’re set within this time period, and you expect it to maintain a resemblance of that period of significance.”
