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11/18/2005: "Town Approves Athletic Fields For School"

(Michael Bertrand, Land Use Adminstrator for Town presents Staff Report)

Another hurdle was cleared last night (11-17-05) in the path leading to new public athletic fields for San Juan Island. (Story on previous hearing) By unanimous vote, the Town Council approved, with only one minor change and one addition, a Conditional Use Permit application by the SJI School District to develop a number of sports fields on property owned by the school district.

While the project has generated understandable concerns by some within the surrounding neighborhood as to what the impacts will be, and may be in the future, one could not help but get the feeling that the proponents and town staff had convinced many of them that their questions had been answered, and their fears allayed, by the conditions that town staff was recommending being imposed on the project.
At the start of the hearing there were nearly 80 people in attendance, (less than at the previous hearing -see link to story above), and after a five minute break was taken half way through the meeting, more than half of the audience took the opportunity to leave the hearing.

In the end, the town agreed to put controls on hours that heavy equipment would be used to work on the development of the fields, and to work on some language that would allow other community groups to build walking trails on the property.