ISLAND COUNTY: Sound Off: Conservation easements can inhibit affordable housing (WANDA GRONE/WNT)

Wanda Grone, former Island County Treasurer and current Langley Finance Director, wrote a Sound Off column for the Whidbey News-Times discussing the balance between land conservation and workforce housing. Grone’s column appeared in the paper’s Feb. 11, 2023 edition.

They Said It

More housing or protecting family farms? That is the question, Island County….

Ask your commissioners how the Conservation Futures tax revenue has been spent for the past few years and their plans for 2023 and forward. Has it taken away opportunities for housing development that could be utilized for workforce or housing that middle class families can afford? …

This question needs to be answered now for future planning purposes – otherwise Land Trust purchases now could inhibit future neighborhood and community projects and disrupt our local economic development of Whidbey Island for years to come. What is your priority? Tell your county commissioner.