| Outside the Lines: Ferry Tales XXXVI Automatically Autocratic The good news, Skagit County finally went to work on the gravel parking lot on the Anacortes side of the Guemes Ferry terminal. The craters that were deep enough to swallow a VW Bug, were filled and brand new asphalt poured. This creates a “mall-like” parking lot. All this and, according to Steve Cox, ferry manager, the lot will be open on December 18. This is just in time for the holiday rush. There will be no painted stripes in this lot. People can park their cars as they did before the improvements occurred. Taken at face value it is a win /win situation. Tom Lindsey is to be applauded for tracking down the parking lot plan and bringing the information to the forefront. Although confusing to the layman, Tom (an architect) deciphered them. He contacted Public Works, talked to the ferry manager and most importantly counted the proposed parking spaces. We would otherwise be unaware of a pedestrian walkway, lighting, turn around lanes etc. the current drawings propose. All of which reduces significantly the number of parking spaces. Thanks, Tom. No public hearing had been held before the plan was drawn up. No notices posted about the proposed plan. No contact information to answer questions about said plan. No input from the citizens of 6th street in Anacortes who are impacted by the numbers of vehicles parked on their street. Not to mention the comings and goings of those vehicles from morning through the extended weeknight hour of 10 pm. No posting to the pedestrian or vehicle passengers of the Guemes Ferry. Implementation of the current plan could drastically reduce the number of parking spaces. The county will not stripe the new asphalt until spring of 2007. For now the number of parking spaces will be comparable to what they were when the lot was gravel. We should not become complacent, Spring will come and our parking spaces will go. As usual the people affected the most are the last to know what Skagit County has planned. Public input evidently is not a top priority for the county, even when taxpaying citizens are adversely affected. Public servants that don’t give a hoot about the public seems to be the policy. Commentary by MJ Andrak [12.14.6]
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