Port Orchard seems to be struggling with its moratoria.
First came a tour de force performance for the city council on Feb. 22 from the attorney representing Gig Harbor-based Gotcha Covered media, whose application to construct eight huge billboards within the city limits was denied on grounds it didn’t include enough information and because it violated a city ban on outdoor advertising passed after the permit application was received.
“You need to pull your head out and stop wasting my client’s money,” said William J. Crittenden, who’d evidently checked his lawyerly decorum at the door.
The counselor’s boorish behavior prompted Mayor Lary Coppola to storm out of the hearing, but not before accusing Crittenden of behaving like spoiled child.
As if that weren’t theater enough, city officials were informed this week a medical marijuana dispensary planned to open up shop on Bay Street after assuming the existing lease of a departing tenant.
This after the council had put a six-month hold on permits to operate such facilities anywhere in the city on the same night as Crittenden’s pyrotechnics.
Taken individually, the prospect of outdoor advertising seems much less odious than having a Marjuana R Us in the heart of Port Orchard’s business core, and we’d encourage the city to pursue a ban on the latter with at least as much zeal as the former.
That said, while reasonable people — a description we  wouldn’t apply to Mr. Crittenden, Esq. — can disagree on the merits of this project or that, it’s gratifying at least to know the council is taking a keen interest in preserving/improving the community’s character by taking a hard look at developments that could affect it adversely.
Heavy-handed beats asleep at the switch any day, at least where the city’s best interests are concerned.
Vive la moratoria.