“If there is one thing Mike Shelton knows for certain about Freeland’s future, it’s that the little town will never be a city and and will never have a large business district unless it builds a sewer system.With dozens of Freeland business people hanging on his every word, the Island County commissioner gave a state-of-the-hamlet address of sorts Thursday night at the Freeland Chamber of Commerce quarterly dinner meeting. Shelton’s talk at the Useless Bay Golf and Country Club focused exclusively on the future growth of Freeland.While he spoke, the Freeland sub-area planning committee was working up the highway at Trinity Lutheran Church to adjust to a reduced Freeland growth area. Early this week, the Island County planning department began shrinking the boundaries of the Rural Area of more Intense Development (RAID) surrounding the town after being ordered to do so by the state Growth Management Hearings Board. The adjustment rules out further commercial development on the south side of Highway 525 and reduces the amount of land available for high-density housing.That is, unless Freeland has a sewer.Shelton said the RAID boundary reduction will force Freeland into building a sewer if it wants to grow. RAID boundaries, Shelton said, cannot be changed under state law. Now saddled with a much smaller RAID than it had when the county passed its plan in 1998, Freeland’s only hope for growth is to be re-designated as an Urban Growth Area (UGA) — a quasi-political unit that allows high-density development, as in a RAID, and that carries annexation powers. But to become a UGA, Freeland must have a working sewer and water infrastructure.There’s not really a lot of magic to it, Shelton said, answering a chamber member’s question about how Freeland could earn UGA status.Ironically, the RAID reduction not only limits Freeland’s growth, but cuts it off from an established sewer system in the Holmes Harbor area that could well have served Freeland. The Holmes Harbor Golf and Country Club housing development was part of the Freeland RAID before this week’s boundary adjustment. Now, it is a RAID unto itself.However, the RAID change will not stop some development plans for south Freeland. More than anything, Chamber members wanted to know the status of several development projects proposed prior to the RAID change. Shelton said two projects at least — a proposed gas station and convenience store at the intersection of Highway 525 and a proposed mini-storage facility near Woodard Road — will not be affected by the downsized Freeland RAID. Both projects were vested with the county’s planning department before the June 30 deadline.Shelton acknowledged that a vocal segment of the South Whidbey community has opposed the proposed projects since their permit applications were posted. But at this point, Shelton said, only environmental issues might prove to be a stumbling block for the projects’ proponents at the planning counter.Whether those projects will ever come into being or not, I can’t say, he said.Island County will not be financing a sewer in Freeland. The only way the town will get one, Shelton said, is if downtown businesses pool their money and install one themselves. One development that could lead the way in building a sewer is a proposed assisted living facility sited for Newman Road. Shelton said the project developer could use an on-site, self-contained sewer system for waste disposal. But it would be better in the long run to develop a town-wide system.Shelton said he places a great deal of trust in Freeland’s sub-area planning group. Even though Freeland’s ability to grow was changed this week, he said, the group still has to plan for a rapidly rising population. From a planning standpoint, Shelton said he wishes growth would stop for a while.It would be wonderful if things would quiet down in Island County, he said. But people keep moving here.Freeland’s business district will be the subject of at least one upcoming hearing in Coupeville. On June 15, the Island County hearings examiner will hear arguments on whether or not to allow the proposal for the Fish Road/525 gas station to continue toward approval. The hearing starts at 10:30 a.m. in the commissioner’s meeting room at the Island County Courthouse.Shelton said Freeland residents who want their opinions heard on this proposal and other growth issues should put their thoughts into the public record, either by speaking at hearings or by submitting letters to the planning department.”