South Whidbey residents are continuing to voice their concerns about a development moratorium in semi-urban areas of unincorporated Island County having a negative impact on businesses.

On Tuesday, July 8, county commissioners will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. on a replacement moratorium, which includes some exceptions for minor maintenance and emergency repairs to commercial properties.

The current moratorium has been in effect since April 15 and affects areas zoned as mixed-use Rural Areas of Intense Development, or RAIDs. The commissioners have stated the purpose of the one-year moratorium is to stop development in these areas while the county is in the process of updating its comprehensive plan.

At a Clinton Community Council meeting this week, members of the public expressed their frustration with the moratorium. Emily Neff, the assistant planning director for the county, acknowledged that moratoriums are never popular and difficult decisions. Commissioner Melanie Bacon, who represents South Whidbey, was invited but not present at the meeting Monday night.

Neff explained that the replacement moratorium does add provisions for commercial properties based on feedback heard from the community. This includes like-for-like rebuilding in the case of a natural disaster, such as a fire, and emergency repairs and like-for-like tenant improvements within the existing footprint of commercial structures will be allowed. Neff said the new exceptions should allow a new grocery store to open in Ken’s Korner, taking the place of the former Red Apple that closed last month.

Neff added that it’s likely new zoning in the 11 mixed-use areas will include some minimum density requirements to promote housing as part of commercial projects. The county health department is conducting a study to assess septic technologies that could support more density, which Neff cited as another reason for the pause on building in RAIDs.

Michelle Keeler and Mark Miller own a property within the Clinton RAID that has rural center zoning, where they had been planning to build a six-unit motel. Miller said they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in development just to be shut down; the couple was in the pre-application process for their project and in the middle of determining architectural design when they received a postcard in the mail alerting them to the moratorium.

“We just kind of put it all on pause,” Miller said in an interview this week. “We’d have to start it again.”

Keeler said staff from the county departments that they met with for the pre-application meeting last year were all very excited about their idea. Preliminary concept designs show six separate buildings, measuring about 16 by 24 feet each and containing one motel room and bathroom. A seventh building has a caretaker’s residence on the second floor and space for a business below it. The couple owns Miller Custom Construction, which would handle the building, and management company M-Squared Properties.

Clinton Community Council members discussed the possibility of sending a letter to the county commissioners ahead of the meeting July 8 asking for an exception for projects that have already completed the pre-application process, such as Keeler and Miller’s motel concept.

But Bacon said she had not yet received that letter Wednesday afternoon when contacted by the South Whidbey Record.

“I would encourage the property owner and anyone who’s concerned about this to provide public comment at the hearing,” she said.

Though she likes the idea of a motel in Clinton, she said that’s not the issue here. She declined to reveal how she plans to vote but said she is leaning towards supporting the moratorium. It was previously passed in a 2-1 vote, with her and Commissioner Jill Johnson in favor and Commissioner Janet St. Clair in opposition.