To the editor:

Your article about commissioner candidate Angie Homola’s employment at the courthouse deserves a comment.

Readers may be surprised to know that the historic design review process for Ebey’s Landing has been in the county code for over 30 years. For most of that time historic design review has been a constructive land use tool for accommodating growth while protecting valuable community treasures.

I was manager of Ebey’s Reserve when the Historic Review Committee design guidelines were being updated. Since then I have moved to other employment and am writing this letter as a private citizen not affiliated with the reserve. These are the guidelines mentioned in your article.

The effort to update the guidelines was stalled out due, in large part, to a lack of support from the county commissioners and its administration. When Ms. Homola was assigned to support the Historic Review Committee things started getting done and the committee began to receive the professional support it needed to do a good job. The committee, with Ms. Homola’s support, produced a set of draft design review standards that are very similar to the currently adopted ordinance. They did a great job!

After Ms. Homola was reassigned to different duties, support for the Historic Review Committee has been sporadic. The current problems surrounding historic review, including potential lawsuits and mistakenly approved projects, are the result of a lack of county commitment to properly administer an important and long-standing part of its comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance.

While assigned to the Historic Review Committee, Ms. Homola provided enthusiastic and professional support that helped the committee do its job and prevented many of the problems we are currently having with this important county program.

Rob Harbour

Coupeville