Oak Harbor residents interested in the city’s future would be well advised to drag themselves away from TV tonight and attend the Comprehensive Plan Task Force meeting at 7 p.m. at the Public Works Department.

The task force is starting work on updating the city’s comprehensive plan and figuring the proper boundaries for growth.

This may sound technical and somewhat boring, but ideas adopted by the task force, with city council approval, will shape the growth of Oak Harbor for years to come.

The most contentious issue is likely to be whether the city’s urban growth area should be expanded to accommodate growth. Supporters for a larger area will say more room is needed to provide affordable housing, while opponents will likely point to extensive growth that is already happening near the edges of the existing boundary, and encourage more in-filling as a way to improve city services and protect rural areas from further urban incursions.

One in-built hazard of planning is that only people with a monetary stake in the outcome are likely to do the necessary amount of study and participation to follow the process to its conclusion. Examples might include a developer with an eye on 10-acres located just outside the existing urban growth area, or a property owner who wants to protect his or her rural property from impending urban encroachment.

One in-built bit of confusion in the such planning endeavors is the dependency on maps, which are complicated for the average citizen to read and understand.

Here’s one idea for city planners who are always urging more public participation on the process: Rent a bus some warm spring afternoon and lead a tour of the present urban growth area, point out where expansions are proposed, and describe development that has taken place in recent years.

Once citizens on the bus see what you’re talking about, attendance at future meetings might improve dramatically.