The Fir Crest development should never have appeared before you as proposed, and it definitely should have never appeared without an Environmental Impact Statement. The proponents propose to completely surround a major wetland with the buffers minimized and the number of homes maximized. The homes for Phase III will be built on a narrow ridge that is directly adjacent to the Community Forest and that is directly above Mitten Pond. The Mitten Pond’s viewscape will be destroyed, and its water quality will be compromised. The ridge will be blasted and a significant bald destroyed.

WHY DID THE CITY ISSUE A MITIGATED DETERMINATION OF NONSIGNIFICANCE!!!!

In 20 years, if we stay on the same course, we will behold that all these development projects with no significant impact will have needlessly destroyed a tremendous amount of Fidalgo Island’s natural beauty.

In light of where the path has led us tonight, Evergreen Islands requests that the City stringently enforce the few protections provided to our natural parks. And we ask that YOU, the people of Anacortes government help revise, adopt, and implement more protection. Protections like mandatory buffers, more stringent stormwater requirements, landscaping ordinances, lower housing densities on property adjacent to the parks.

Anacortes’s Natural Parks are invaluable community assets, and the community has been doing its share to protect them by giving their land, giving their time, and giving their hard-earned money. We ask the City to step up to the plate and do its share.