Oak Harbor Officials to Hold Rare Joint Hearing on 80-Acre Annexation Proposal

Oak Harbor and Island County officials are set to convene a rare joint public hearing at 1 p.m. on March 19 in the Island County commissioners' hearing room to consider an interlocal agreement that would bring roughly 80 acres of undeveloped or underdeveloped land on the city's south side into Oak Harbor's boundaries.

The proposal, described as the first-ever large-scale annexation in the county governed by an interlocal agreement, targets property within urban growth areas south of Oak Harbor's current city limits. If approved, the annexation would increase the city's population capacity by an estimated 257 housing units.

The hearing is tied directly to Island County's ongoing comprehensive plan update, a multiyear planning effort intended to guide development and growth across the county for the next two decades. The draft update, produced after what planners describe as countless hours of meetings and analysis, is available for public review and comment at islandcounty2045.com.

Getting to this hearing has not been smooth. Both Oak Harbor city council members and Island County commissioners discussed the annexation proposal in recent weeks, and city and county staffs arranged a follow-up meeting between the two bodies to work through disagreements. The commissioners canceled that meeting, saying it was clear from the previous meeting that some of the Oak Harbor elected officials didn't understand the complex issues and that a meeting wouldn't accomplish much.

The intergovernmental friction has played out alongside a significant policy decision on population numbers. County officials ultimately decided the best path forward was to lower the population allocation for the region, a move that means the urban growth area will likely not be expanded and that a capital facilities plan for an expanded UGA is not needed. Under an ordinance the commissioners adopted, the county's 20-year population projection was cut from 102,639 to 99,202. Neff, whose title was not confirmed at publication time, said all of the reduction falls on Oak Harbor, which is still projected to absorb 55% of the county's total population growth over that period.

The March 19 hearing will give the public its first formal opportunity to weigh in on the interlocal agreement before city and county decision-makers. The Island County commissioners' hearing room location was partially truncated in available hearing notices and should be confirmed before attending.