The newly approved Harbor Station development on Highway 20 at the old Copeland Lumber location is a good example of how growth should take place in Oak Harbor.

It wasn’t easy putting this package together. The developers had to stitch together several different pieces of property and convince the city to abandon a road, but the end result will be 61,000 square feet of new businesses for the commercial area.

No doubt it would have been easier and cheaper for the developers to build on rural property outside of town by getting the city to expand its urban growth area. Perhaps the fact that another developer had recently tried this and failed convinced these developers that the more complex urban project was the better choice. As a result, a few old eyesore buildings will be torn down and Oak Harbor residents will have several new businesses to enjoy in the highway corridor.

This is exactly how the Growth Management Act was designed to work. Protect the rural areas outside of the city and focus growth in already developed areas. If the City Council has the patience and courage to stick to this commitment, development will happen downtown. There will be lots of complaints from developers who want to take the cheaper, easier route, but if there’s no choice they will build in the proper business areas. Oak Harbor will have more businesses and more housing, while the surrounding areas are protected to the fullest extent possible. Patience and determination are the keys to making Oak Harbor a more livable city and a future gem of Whidbey Island.