INSIDE

Voters AGM set for March 13

By Meg Olson

New county council members Sharon Roy and Seth Fleetwood will be the featured speakers at the Point Roberts Registered Voters’ Association annual general meeting, but also the featured listeners.

“They want to introduce themselves and they want to have a better feel for Point Roberts – to know the people and the issues,” said association president Tom Hollett. New sheriff’s deputy Rich Emmons will also be on hand to introduce himself to the community. The meeting is scheduled for March 13 at the community center, starting at 7 p.m.

Hollett said association board members had been working on a number of issues they would bring before the membership.

The association’s efforts to keep local voters educated about community issues, such as a proposed sewer and the recently revised Point Roberts subarea plan, will be presented. “Our emphasis with this has been to educate people,” Hollett said. “We want everyone to know what the status is.” He added the board was also looking for direction on whether to continue public education meetings and on what topics they would be valuable.

Building on the aim of protecting property values while preserving public space, as codified in the transitional zoning proposed in the subarea plan, Hollett said the board had been looking into protecting view corridors.

The transitional zoning, now being considered by county council, allows property owners in certain areas of the Point to develop their property at a higher density if they cluster lots and leave open space areas undeveloped. Hollet is proposing to go further, establishing regulations that would prevent property owners from building structures that would interrupt a neighbor’s view. “What the voter’s association is saying is in 30 years we’d like to see all the houses that have been built have a view of the water,” if they’re in waterfront areas, he said. “Many cities in the state have legislation that prevents views from being blocked.” Hollett said they would take a poll at the annual meeting to determine if the association membership supported the board pursuing regulations to preserve views.

Hollett said the board is also looking for the go-ahead on a community events committee that would bring together all local organizations – voters, taxpayers, arts foundation, seniors, scouts, historical society, chamber, parks emergency services et cetera. The group would plan and organize a series of local events, ranging from theater on the beach in summer to a Christmas fair.

Finally, Hollett said, the annual general meeting is a time for association members to bring up their concerns and interest, helping the board steer the course for the coming year. Something Hollett hopes raises some discussion is the issue of representation of the organization on the local economic development committee, which he says has too few representatives from local groups and too much chamber of commerce influence.

“At their last meeting we said we wanted more than one representative for voters and taxpayers and they rejected it,” he said. The economic development committee, formed as follow-up to a Port of Bellingham development study, has one representative each from the character plan advisory committee, taxpayers and voters associations, chamber of commerce, county and local parks and four at-large members.

The annual meeting is also election time. There are two vacant positions on the board to be filled and George Wright is up for re-election. The entire community is invited to attend the meeting but only association members can vote. The ten dollar memberships are available at the meeting. .

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