Since Whidbey Island Naval Air Station was placed on a base closure list in 1991, Oak Harbor and Island County officials have enacted a range of planning measures to protect the base and its long-term viability.

But such past and future planning efforts could be undermined by Initiative 933, the sweeping property rights initiative that’s on the ballot next week.

“It would mean turning back the planning clock, and in my mind, we’ve done some really good planning,” Oak Harbor Mayor Patty Cohen said.

Cohen and Island County Commissioner Mac McDowell have both worked hard over the years, sometimes together, to protect Whidbey Island Naval Air Station from the encroachment of incompatible development, which is one of the main reasons nowadays that a base can end up on the Base Realignment and Closure list.

Yet Cohen and McDowell are at odds over I-933, which would force government to either compensate a property owner or waive development rules when regulations lowers the value of a piece of land. The initiative is retroactive to 10 years.

A University of Washington study finds that I-933 could cost Island County nearly $30 million from property owners with “critical areas.”

While Cohen is opposed to the initiative, McDowell is behind it.

“Hopefully it will send a message to the Legislature, that it has allowed the pendulum to swing a little too far against property rights,” he said.

While McDowell said he doesn’t think the initiative will pass, he hopes that significant voter support will force the legislators to reform the Growth Management Act. He’s not a fan of GMA, which he feels is too restrictive and has unintended consequences.

But Cohen doesn’t want to take chances with an initiative that could do so much real harm.

“It will prevent the city from planning to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens, as well as the environment,” she said.

Cohen would likely gain financially from the passage of I-933 since her family owns significant property on the island — and she appreciates the value of protecting property owners’ rights — but she said she’s most concerned about the larger picture and the welfare of the city.

Her biggest concern is protecting the Navy base from intrusive development. Both the city and county have long had noise zones around the Navy runways that restrict the intensity of development in noisy areas.

About six years ago, the city adjusted C-4 commercial zones to limit development in an effort to keep certain uses away from the base.

“The initiative would roll back land use decisions,” Cohen said, “and could lead to incompatible growth around the Navy base.”

A high-profile example of the impact I-933 could have on Whidbey Island involves the so-called Boyer property. The 17-acre parcel on Highway 20 in the north end of Oak Harbor was the focus of controversy after officials scuttled plans to build a shopping center on the property because it is in the “accident potential zone” off the end of a Navy runway.

In the end, the city passed an ordinance earlier this year that restricts development within an overlay zone that covers the Boyer land and surrounding property.

The ordinance likely lowered the value of the property.

“If someone can do less with a property, then typically it is worth less,” explained Oak Harbor resident Gregor Strohm, an accredited senior appraiser.

If I-933 passes, then theoretically the Boyer family could ask the city to either pay the loss of value on the property, or undo the ordinance.

Yet McDowell pointed out that local, state and federal officials are working together to purchase the property, recently appraised at nearly $2.5 million.

If everything works out — which isn’t a sure thing — then $1.5 million will come from the federal government, $800,000 from the state government, and the rest will be split between the county and city.

“We should use the state and federal programs for encroachment to buy the Boyer property, whether or not I-933 passes,” he said.

While purchasing the land with federal and state money may seem like an ideal solution, it’s obviously not possible for government to purchase every piece of property affected by zoning codes. Cohen also pointed out that it negatively affects city and county tax rolls every time government purchases property from a private landowner.

One thing Cohen and McDowell agree on is that it will take the courts many months, probably years, to interpret and resolve the initiative if it does pass.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.