Island County planners have heard it all before when it comes to growth in Freeland.

And that’s a good thing. County officials said no new issues have been raised that need examination as the environmental impact statement for Freeland’s growth plan is updated in the weeks ahead.

Earlier this month, the Island County planning department hosted a scoping meeting in Freeland to hear from residents. The county and the consultant that are updating the Freeland plan wanted input on whether the issues to be studied as part of the county’s environmental study should be expanded.

Jeff Tate, assistant director of the planning department, said that many of the issues presented during the meeting and after were essentially the same as the ones raised during an earlier scoping process.

“We heard a year ago from people what issues should be included in scoping; design of buildings is an example,” Tate said.

“Trails, mobility downtown, how you move through the community, landscaping and a variety of different issues are addressed in the EIS. We got that kind of feedback from people, especially from people who had been pretty active throughout the process in developing the Freeland Sub-Area Plan,” he said.

Residents again raised the issue of control of storm-water runoff, Tate added.

Tate said the county is picking up where work left off on the Freeland growth plan.

The first step was repeating the scoping process. The next step includes an examination of alternatives as the EIS is put together.

“What BHC Consultants will do is write into the statement essentially three, four or five alternatives and it is divided up by different subjects,” Tate said.

“So you will see one subject having to deal with surface water pollution. You’ll see another subject dealing with aesthetics and design. Under each one of those subjects, you will see a discussion of each of the alternatives that you can go with. At the end of that, you can decide which are the preferred alternatives; which ones work best for Freeland,” Tate explained.

“By the end of the summer, we’ll have the alternatives analysis completed and we’ll have a preferred alternative,” he said.

Still, Tate said some may find fault with the completed study.

“You can’t make every single person happy. Often times there are different sides and different opinions,” he said. “You try to harmonize those as much as possible but you don’t reach a consensus all the time.”

Completing the EIS, and adoption of the growth plan for Freeland, are essential steps that must be taken before the incorporation of Freeland can be put to a public vote. Supporters of cityhood for Freeland hope to put a proposal before voters early next year.

Tate said that other unincorporated areas such as Kingston in Kitsap County — while not sharing Freeland’s vision of design and aesthetics — have similar issues and can serve as a model for what to and what not to do with regard to the sub-area plan.

“We went to areas like Kitsap County that have done sub-area plans, like Kingston, where it is in a county and you face many of the same issues.” Tate said. “There is growth occurring; growth pressure. The community has obvious concerns about environmental quality and protection, trails, parks, open spaces, clean water, design of buildings, landscaping.”

“The issues you see from one community to another; there are different visions, but the issues are really quite similar from one place to another. There is lots that we can draw on,” he said.

The county is planning another meeting on the sub-area plan and the EIS in July.

“We felt there were some things that we couldn’t answer questions to very well in the first meeting, specifically with respect to some of the status issues with the sewer system, some of the status and detail issues of storm water conveyance,” Tate said.

“Over the course of the summer, with the feedback we get from people through the scoping process, which is one of the bigger picture general issues, the alternatives analysis will be developed and the EIS will be put out in a draft form,” he said.

The final version of the draft EIS would likely be published in August, followed by a 30-day public comment period.

“And we’ll probably be closer to October after you have taken in all the public comments, you incorporate them into the final and make changes,” said Tate.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Tate does not see any delays.

“I don’t think we are behind schedule at all. The schedule for completion in October is still on task,” he said. “We are moving through this and we are in a sort of structured environment for running an EIS. It is under a state law that the timelines and the steps you take are established. But really, as people see fit to comment, they should submit their letters. Having a written record is very important to us.”

Comments can be made by calling 321-5111, ext. 7344 or by e-mail at pamd@co.island.wa.us.