OAK HARBOR: Park to keep south parking lot, flagstaff unchanged

Jessie Stensland reports from the Oak Harbor City Council meeting of Tue., Mar. 18, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.

Oak Harbor’s elected officials decided to save the parking lot next to the newly installed sculpture on the waterfront and leave a flagstaff alone, following apparent community sentiment but breaking with recommendations from two volunteer committees.

At a council meeting last week, city Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith presented two options to the council for reconfiguring Flintstone Park. He said there have been 16 public meetings and discussions of the reconfiguration.

In Option 1, the entire parkway roundabout and the south parking lot would be torn out and converted to turf. In Option 2, only the east side of the parkway roundabout would be replaced with grass, leaving the south parking lot in place.

They Said It

Smith said the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and the Arts Commission preferred Option 1 since it’s more aesthetically pleasing and adds more green space for park activities. The Arts Commission… also voted to relocate the flag poles [which flew the flag at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island for 45 years and was donated to the city in 1991].

Yet Smith said that the city received a lot of public comment about the issue, with about two-thirds of the people preferring Option 2.

Likewise, the council members said the majority of citizens they heard from want the parking lot and flagstaff to remain.

Councilmember Tara Hizon said she’s normally hesitant to go against the recommendations of volunteer boards and that she would personally prefer Option 1 because of the green space. Yet she said she would follow what citizens want.

“This community is really into parking and eating their lunch,” she said. “It’s kind of what we do. I do it too.”

Councilmember Bryan Stucky said an online survey he conducted backed this up, as did public comments to the commission and the council.