LANGLEY — Members of the Langley City Council said at their meeting Wednesday they don’t think a public vote on Fairgrounds Road is necessary, but they have invited county commissioners to convince them otherwise.
City council members said county officials had not given them enough information about a proposed vote.
“It’s hard to react if no proposal is in front of us. Right now, I just don’t see the justification for a vote,” said Councilman Robert Gilman.
“We need to hear from the commissioners what exactly they are proposing and the logic behind it,” Mayor Neil Colburn said.
The council voted to send a letter to the commissioners asking for an explanation why the city should consider the proposal.
Langley wants to build a new city street across the fairgrounds to handle traffic from new homes being built in the city. City officials have maintained from the start that the county commissioners have the authority to grant or deny an easement across the fairgrounds, and that the fair board or voters in the South Whidbey School District don’t need to give their approval before the road can be built. County rules state a public vote must be held before the fairgrounds property can be sold to private interests.
County commissioners have a different view of the rules, however, and have said that the county code does not allow them to sell all or part of the fairground property without a vote of the people who live in the South Whidbey School District.
County commissioners recently suggested an advisory vote on the road. The idea for a vote came up after more than 18 months of failed negotiations between the city, the county and the Island County fair board over the route for Fairgrounds Road.
After repeated rejections, the city filed a condemnation suit to gain the right of way in October.
The Island County Code states that fairground property may not be sold or conveyed for private ownership and use without the consent of voters within the South Whidbey School District.
County and city officials have different interpretations of what the word “private” means in the county code.
At the council meeting this week, Councilwoman Rene Neff said she wasn’t comfortable with a public vote on the road. Still, she was hopeful things would move forward.
“We’d really like to see some movement on this and have the commissioners take some ownership,” she added.
Councilman Paul Samuelson said the commissioners need to make a case for the vote.
“If they can demonstrate a need for that, I don’t have a problem with that,” Samuelson said.
Samuelson added, however, that he not only believes wthat the vote requirement doesn’t apply, but also that the county code gives commissioners the authority to handle disputes concerning the fairgrounds without the consent of the fair board.
The county commissioners voted in late fall to defend the county fair property in the condemnation lawsuit. They haven’t publicly stated why they chose to fight a court battle instead of granting the easement to Langley.
The fair board has opposed the easement and the road from the start, citing safety issues, engineering concerns, the loss of space and lack of information about the plans.
The city has provided engineering plans to the fair board and has amended the road plans to address concerns raised by the fair board. Currently the county public works department is reviewing the latest plans for the road.
