Community Meeting, October 20, 2015

This is a huge shout out and thank you to all of the people who came to yesterday’s meeting at the schoolhouse – all 100+ SRO of you! And also to all those who wrote best wishes and good thoughts and laments that they couldn’t be there to express themselves, in person, to the Commissioner’s. Such a show of support for Oysterville! If I were the teary sort, I would tear up. Oh! Wait! I am… and I am!

Pacific County Commissioners

The County Commissioners made it clear that Ordinance 162 Section 20 will remain in place for the foreseeable future, giving our community time to work toward improving the policies and the processes that it contains. Chairman Steve Rogers freely admitted that their suggestion to rescind the ordinance (made in August) was a mistake. Oysterville has been given the gift of further time to amend the existing ordinance or craft a new one that will better serve us in the future.

Jostled View of Standing Room Only

Many people spoke and almost all of them expressed some version of, “Please continue to protect the historic character of Oysterville through the County regulatory process.” Some residents alluded to the fact that the process does not always go smoothly and several property owners pointed out that “If you buy property in the Oysterville Historic District, you do so knowing there are design guidelines that must be followed should you decide to alter an existing structure or build a new one.” There were only one or two jarring notes during the two hour meeting – all coming from disgruntled property owners who took the opportunity to express their personal negative biases toward county process.

Overall, though, the spirit of the day was one of concern for Oysterville’s status and a clear message to the County officials that the Historic District needs to be protected and preserved. Chairman Steve Rogers, expressed thanks that so many residents from Oysterville and the greater community had turned out for the meeting and that their remarks and suggestions had been offered in a positive and pleasant manner. Indeed… it was a community meeting to remember!