ISLAND COUNTY: City may annex 80 acres as part of planning update
Jessie Stensland reports from the Island County Commissioners board meeting of Tue., Dec. 16, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
Summary by Perplexity AI
Oak Harbor and Island County are reshaping long-term growth plans through the Island County 2045 comprehensive plan update, which now includes a proposed interlocal agreement to annex 80 acres of urban growth area into the city, adding capacity for about 257 housing units. After disputes over who should extend infrastructure to expanded UGAs and where to locate workforce housing, county commissioners chose to lower Island County’s 20‑year population projection from 102,639 to 99,202, effectively shelving UGA expansion for now while keeping 55% of islandwide growth in the city. Officials frame the revised projections as an imperfect but practical compromise.
They Said It
Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson stressed that the comp plan process is an imperfect, aspiration exercise that can’t completely control development or population growth.
“The reality is, even with these plans, people are going to go where they are going to go,” she said.
