Editor,

I write on behalf of many who have followed and participated in deliberations around the proposed “Wright’s Crossing” development of up to 1,500 homes off Monroe Landing Road south of Oak Harbor.

As the Whidbey News-Times reported, both the Growth Management Hearings Board and the Skagit County Superior Court have over the last weeks issued their final decisions tossing out the claims of the developer as spurious and lacking merit. This comes as no surprise to many of us, but it is welcome news nonetheless.

We write to express our thanks to the skillful work of Prosecutor Greg Banks’ team who repeatedly demonstrated disciplined advocacy in defense of the county’s decision. The WEAN intervenors also brought a similar focus and energy to the appeal. The welcome result was to accelerate the appeals processes considerably with the right outcomes.

We also write to thank our three commissioners for their underlying decision not to docket this proposal for the 2018 work plan, and for the members of the Island County Planning Commission for their same recommendation to the commissioners. This was the right thing to do on what is a deeply flawed proposal. Good work.

We should also express our appreciation for the able and timely reporting of this saga by the News-Times. It has enabled all to remain educated about the events surrounding this, regardless of perspective. Thank you.

While the developer has the right to mount yet another appeal of the board’s decision, we sincerely hope that cooler heads will prevail. This is a loser, plain and simple. Time to move on to more productive things.

William Stelle

Oak Harbor