Building Moratorium in Sequim!! Nevermind, False Alarm

The local builders/real estate lobby sure does move quickly. No wonder they had such an easy time trouncing that initiative for saving farmland several years ago.

A rumor went out that the Sequim City Council was going to establish a building moratorium. The e-mails went flying. General Quarters! Man your battle stations! Every contractor and real estate agent in a ten-mile radius answered the call and appeared at the next City Council meeting.

Gotta admire that kind of mass communication and coordination. Environmentalists and slow-growthers could use a little bit of it.

Everyone sat there for two hours while the city council plodded through their agenda. Then Louie Torres, development consultant for Wayne Enterprises, stepped forward and told them to cut to the chase about a moratorium: “Everyone's been very polite” while waiting for the council to address the m-word. “But I don't have that kind of time.”

After a few minutes, Torres again told the council that he’d appreciate “a straight answer” about whether a building moratorium was being planned. He was followed by former councilman Don Hall, who said “These people are waiting for an answer.”

It turned out there isn’t a building moratorium being planned.

But this city council meeting certainly provided some useful information. I had no idea that when you go to a city council meeting and the council members are tending to an agenda that you aren’t interested in — all you have to do is stand up and tell them that you want “a straight answer” NOW. Remind them that you “don’t have this kind of time.”

Here I was thinking that when you attend a meeting of the city council or planning commission — or any other local government agency — you have to just sit there and wait for them to plod through their agenda.

Can everybody go to a city council meeting and just tell them to cut to the chase, “answer my question NOW”? Or does the building/real estate lobby get special treatment?

Juan de Fuca Festival 2008

This Memorial Day Weekend will be the 15th annual Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts. The festival, as always, will be at the Vern Burton Center between Peabody, Lincoln, Fourth and Fifth Streets in Port Angeles.

The Festival starts tomorrow at noon and closes on Memorial Day at 7:30 p.m.

Click here for a complete listing of all the performers, the schedules and ticket price information. If you’d like to order a four-day pass online, click here.

It’s starting to feel like summer in Port Angeles (well, in every way but the temperature).

Huge New Development on Sequim Bay

There might be a massive resort built on Sequim Bay, near Johnson Creek and the John Wayne Marina. The resort would be built on land owned by the Wayne family of Newport Beach, CA.

The proposed resort would consist of five subdivisions, a hotel with 74 units, 24 vacation cabins and a commercial strip.

With this area getting more crowded (especially Sequim) and home ownership being out of reach for more and more people, do we need a huge luxury resort? Without knowing a lot about this particular development (other than what was in today’s paper), it seems to me that this development will only exacerbate local crowding, traffic and gentrification, without solving any of those problems.

What say you?

Passport To Health Fair — Port Angeles

This Saturday, May 17th, will be the first annual Passport To Health fair. It’s all about alternative medicine, and there will be free presentations and demonstrations at 22 locations in Port Angeles.

According to today’s online PDN poll, more than a third of respondents said they use alternative health methods and products. Whether or not you’re into any alternative medical practices, Saturday’s fair should have something to offer.

Ann Fritts, a Port Angeles acupuncturist, said: “I think people will gain a better understanding of their options with regards to natural health, and a better familiarity with natural health. This is something people can come to, and if they haven't tried massage before or they haven't tried acupuncture before, they can come, ask questions and find out more without any pressure.”

The main location for the Passport to Health fair will be at the Port Angeles Farmers’ Market (Clallam County Courthouse parking lot), 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are also 21 other locations throughout Port Angeles. These sites are listed here.

A New Artists’ Studio on Railroad Avenue?

That boarded-up On The Boardwalk restaurant across the street from the ferry terminal — between Dairy Queen and Necessities and Temptations — might finally be getting put to use.

Bob Stokes and glass-blower Paul LaBrie are hoping to lease the building from the city. If the city approves the lease, the building will have a glass-blowing studio, metal-working studio and some retail space.

I didn’t even know the city owned that building. It’s uncertain whether the city will approve the lease, but Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Russ Veenema is in favor of it, so maybe that’ll give it some momentum.

Port Angeles is becoming known as a city that supports the arts. And we need to keep moving further in that direction.

Port Angeles Technology Levy

Another levy is on the ballot for the Port Angeles School District. If passed by voters, this levy will raise money for upgrading computer equipment in the school district.

Without having followed the issue very closely, I'm leaning against it. I can't help thinking that a shrinking school district shouldn't keep needing more money.

And based on casual observations, it seems like every teenager/twenty-something is already far more computer/technology-literate than I'll ever be.

And maybe it's just me, but it seems like almost every letter published by the Peninsula Daily News is in favor of the levy. Is Port Angeles public opinion really that lopsided in favor of the levy? Or might the PDN be trying to promote the levy by printing more letters in favor of the levy than against?

Do you think the technology levy is a good idea, or do you think Port Angeles taxpayers have already been soaked enough?