ISLAND COUNTY: A Message from Commissioner Bacon [Sep. 12, 2025]

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Sep. 12, 2025.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 37^th week of 2025.

• Regular Session.  The agenda and recording for the Tuesday September 9^th Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners is here.
  • We received one public comment, from a representative of the Whidbey Environmental Action Network (WEAN) who wished to clarify their stance on forest stewardship for the benefit of the Board.
  • We gladly announced that the Board has hired Mark Sibon as our new Facilities Director. Mark, a Coupeville native, will join the County in October.
  • We approved the purchase of a property on Camano Island to be used as the South Pit for the Camano Road Shop, 00:15:28 in the video recording.
  • The next regular session will occur at 10 am on Tuesday, September 16^th, The agenda for that meeting is here. On that agenda: two public hearings shown below.
• Tentative Upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearings (held during Tuesday board meetings, beginning at 10 am):
  • September 16:     Transportation Improvement Plan
  • September 16:     Capital Improvement Plan
  • October 21:          Planning Permit Fee Schedule
  • December 1:        2026 Budget
• Work Session. The agenda for the Wednesday, September 10^thwork session is here; the recording is here.
  • We had a very interesting conversation with Public Health, Planning, and Public Works on code enforcement associated with housing, with a strong focus on people living illegally in RVs and failing to comply with septic system requirements. Mark 0:08:58 in the recording; documents begin on page 37 in the agenda.
  • Planning brought two Public Benefits Rating System (PBRS) applications. Both applications involve parcels containing conservation easements donated by the owners to the Whidbey Camano Land Trust. The Board has previously stated that we won’t approve PBRS applications on parcels when the owners have received payment for conservation easements—but we do recognize that easement donations are different. However, we remain unsure about the public benefit of allowing properties to receive PBRS tax relief when the property is already protected from development. We asked Planning to work with the Assessor’s Office to resolve these questions and then bring the applications back to us for consideration at a future meeting. For those of you wondering what’s the big deal and why don’t we just go ahead and approve these: when we give any property a tax relief, surrounding properties have to pick up the cost (the government always gets our dime one way or the other). So we have to be convinced that there’s a public benefit before we will shift one person’s tax burden to other people’s shoulders. Mark 1:07:12 in the recording; begins on page 43 in the agenda.
  • The longest discussion of the day was with Long Range Planning, who brought a Comprehensive Plan presentation on land use code updates, mark 1:22:29 in the recording, beginning on page 197 in the agenda. Most of the discussion was on accessory dwelling units (ADUs), co-living housing, and RVs used as temporary residences.
  • Planning has not increased their permit fees in a long time and consequently we face a deficit in funds needed to staff the office next year. We are therefore considering a significant permit fee increase of 40% in 2026, 20% in 2027, and CPI (around 3%) in years following. We will hold a public hearing on this on Tuesday, October 21^st. Mark 2:37:31 in the recording, page 217 in the agenda.
  • The next work session will be held Wednesday, September 17^th. The agenda. On that agenda: discussion of House Bill 2015 and use of the 0.1% Safety Sales and Use Tax and next steps; discussion of Joint Tourism Board monthly invoice process; the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee 2026 2% Hotel-Motel Tax Grant Recommendations; discussion of 2026 Commissioner-designated holiday; Planning staff will brief the Board on the Planning Commission’s discussion on Forestry Practices and PBRS, and the concerns raised from the public regarding the County’s forestry practices more broadly; Public Works will bring the Board-requested conversation on implementing testing protocol requirements for franchise agreements; and we’ll discuss a comparison of current speed limits with the consultant/engineer’s recommended speed limits, and a draft of the proposed final speed limits.
• There were no budget discussions this week. Our next budget meeting will be in the afternoon of Wednesday, September 17, when we will talk about the Clean Water Utility (agenda on page 101 of work session agenda above).
• Planning Commission and the Comprehensive Plan Update: This is a link to the Planning Commission page. You can find details on their meetings and minutes, including Zoom info, here. The agendas are published at least a week in advance. The Planning Commission usually meets at 6 pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month in the Commissioners Hearing Room in Coupeville.
  • Next Wednesday, September 17^th, agenda here. On the agenda: a workshop on draft code changes for the Mixed-use LAMIRDs (Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development, formerly called RAIDS).
• LIHI Community Meeting on the Harbor Inn housing project in Freeland: the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) will hold a community meeting on Thursday, September 25^th from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at Trinity Lutheran Church. Their development and architect team will present on the status of the Harbor Inn Permanent Supporting Housing units and will share shelter outcomes from this last year.
• I will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Generations Place in Langley next Tuesday September 16 at 4:30 pm (link). Island County is a funding partner of this important affordable housing initiative and we’re delighted to see it moving forward.
• On Monday, September 15^that 3 pm I will meet with interested citizens at the WiFire Community Space in Freeland.

Melanie 

Next Wednesday is Constitution Day, which commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men on September 17, 1787.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The Preamble