People eager to comment on the town of Coupeville’s Comprehensive Plan amendments will have to wait a couple of weeks after town officials canceled the public hearing set before the Planning Commission for last night.

The reason for the delay stems from Oh Oh Inc., a local watchdog group, appealing the environmental documents concerning a 33-acre parcel of land on the western edge of town known as Krueger Farm.

Mickey Gender, a Seattle-based attorney representing Oh Oh, claimed that the environmental documents submitted by the town do not adequately address water issues.

He also said that the high-density development the town proposes changes the rural character of the town and that such construction could impede individual property owners’ access to water connections.

Town officials said in a June 2 public workshop that the high-density development under consideration would be in the form of cottages and duplexes.

Gender questioned the definition of a cottage and added that triplexes could be included in the high-density areas.

There is a limited number of water connections in town and one developer buying a large number of them could prevent an individual lot owner from building a home, Gender argued.

Town officials are planning to change the current zoning of 120 medium density lots to a special planning area where the land would accommodate 108 units using a mix of low-, medium- and high-density housing and mixed-use development.

By consolidating the housing, a majority of the wooded lands would be preserved. In addition, moratoriums would be placed on specific areas to allow a community effort to raise money and buy the land from the current owner, Cecil Stuurmans.

Gender seemed skeptical of the town’s efforts to alter the housing within Krueger Farm.

“They’re proposing (12) units less than last year, but I don’t see much of a difference,” Gender said.

According to the appeal given to town officials, Oh Oh argues that the town’s proposal fails to take into account other factors that could limit development such as the town’s limited water supply.

That skepticism is bolstered from previous experience that happened last year when Oh Oh appealed the town’s original comprehensive plan amendments in November. At that time the town pulled the amendments and undertook a public education effort in the subsequent months to inform citizens about the comprehensive plan and process, water rights and the requirements of the state Growth Management Act.

Gender also questioned why the town is spending resources on an initiative that benefits a private land owner.

Oh Oh is also the group that filed a lawsuit against the town over the rezoning of the land in front of Big Rock on South Main. The land was rezoned commercial to allow construction for office space and a new home for Miriam’s Espresso.

Ken Pickard, a Coupeville attorney representing Oh Oh, argued that building in front of the glacial erratic would change the town’s historic landscape. Although the lawsuit was originally dismissed because of standing, the watchdog group recently convinced the judge to reconsider her opinion due to the negative traffic impacts relocating Miriam’s may have.

Coupeville Town Planner Larry Cort would not comment on Oh Oh’s most recent appeal because he had not gone through its paperwork yet. However, he did say that the group’s allegations were significant enough to cancel the Tuesday night meeting.

He said that the public hearing will take place during the Planning Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting July 1, 7 p.m. at Coupeville Rec Hall.