OPG

Couple questions OPG motives

I have read with great interest about the various plans Jon Rose and OPG have for Kitsap County. I believe Rose’s vision is based only on the profitability of his corporation, not the well being of the residents of Kitsap County, nor the long term economic viability of the Native Americans that depend upon the health of the environment.

OPG’s proposal to install a dock in Port Gamble Bay, which has the potential of destroying one of the only bays in Washington clean enough for shellfish harvesting, demonstrates a lack of concern for the health of the community and the environment. Jon Rose does not dispute the shellfish closures and recognizes the implications the dock has on the tribe’s ability to continue to harvest shellfish.

The high density housing and timber management program is another OPG proposal that has many questioning what has happened to the Rural Open Space and Growth Management Act. OPG is selling this proposal with the idea of building a “string of pearls” that would connect all the beautiful wild life areas. However, as Mr. Rose stated at a public meeting, OPG’s intention is to retain the right to log the land surrounding the trails. Wild life trails through clear cut land?

Frank and Barb Fox,

Hansville

Eglon

Eglon, not Hansville

Various groups in Hansville are making decisions and taking actions that are upsetting to the Eglon community. The majority of Eglon residents were not informed nor were they asked to give their input about these actions.

The actions taken by these Hansville groups are: Firstly, calling Eglon the Greater Hansville Area. Eglon does not want to be labeled the Greater Hansville Area. If the Hansville groups would refer to the 1990 Community Planning document for the Eglon Community under policies, it is stated, “The Eglon community is to be considered as a separate community.” The citizens of Eglon continue to feel this way. Eglon’s history began in 1864. Eglon’s citizens pride themselves on this long history, the community’s unique qualities, and their determination to remain a distinctive community.

The second issue causing Eglon residents to be extremely upset is the decision by the Hansville groups to place a sign at the Eglon Corner that states – Welcome to the Greater Hansville Area. The majority of Eglon residents were not aware of this plan for a sign and upon hearing of it were, as stated above, deeply upset and angry. The Hansville Sign Committee was urged to put the sign placement on hold until the Eglon community was polled and the results passed on to the proper authorities. It appears the Sign Committee is ignoring this request by Eglon residents.

A way to resolve these issues would be to eliminate/remove Eglon from the Greater Hansville Area label/designation and to place the controversial sign at NE 360th Street, Eglon’s northern border, or elsewhere.

A more intensely determined effort to improve communications in our communities is in order. Citizens need to be fully informed and their input obtained before decisions are made.

Marion Kling,

Eglon

Lowe’s

Big box stores

don’t equal growth

Hearing the announcement of yet another big box retailer planned for Silverdale, namely Lowe’s, which already has a megastore just a few miles down the highway on Wheaton Way, I am reminded of a routine by comedian Lewis Black. He says he realized he had come to the end of the universe, when leaving a Starbucks one day, he sees directly across the street on the very next corner, another Starbucks. In a sane universe, this of course makes no sense whatsoever, and leads him to his conclusion.

I’m all for economic development. Who isn’t? But big box saturation is not economic development. The sales generated by the new Lowe’s in Silverdale will just be money that would have been spent at the Wheaton Way Lowe’s, or the Silverdale Home Depot, or any number of other smaller hardware stores. This is not new money.

Supporters cite convenience, more choices and jobs as justification. Unless one is confined to a wheelchair or has a tricycle as their only means of transportation, driving a few minutes down the highway in one of the large SUV’s or pickup trucks that dominate Kitsap’s roadways is NOT an inconvenience.

More choices? The square footage of retail space per person in the country has risen exponentially since 1960, and I don’t recall anyone back then complaining about not enough places to shop. If I need new faucets for the bathroom or kitchen, do I really need 200 different styles to choose from? And when I grocery shop, do I need 20 different kinds of mustard to choose from to put on a hot dog. Give me a choice between yellow and Grey Poupon and I’m a happy camper.

Jobs? Sure, they’re respectable jobs, but unless you’re in management, they don’t pay much, not enough to get even a decent apartment in Kitsap with today’s prices.

Even Wal-Mart and Starbucks have scaled back their growth plans, realizing that infinite growth in a finite world is not going to work. County leaders have been saying they don’t want Silverdale to be known as just a place people go to shop. So why another Lowe’s with one already nearby? Isn’t this a contradiction?

With two Home Depots less than ten minutes from my doorstep, my mind reels with confusion at the absurdity of it, and like Lewis Black, I too, feel that I have surely reached the end of the universe.

Michael McDermott

Poulsbo