Last week a crowd of more than 100 islanders attended a meeting to provide feedback on some elements of the Community Service Area Plan, currently being drafted.

King County’s Bradley Clark has been working with a group of islanders to create the plan, and he led last Thursday’s meeting, which drew more than double the number of people expected.

“I was really, really pleased with all the interest that was expressed,” he said afterward.

In the course of the evening, those who attended discussed questions related to affordable housing and climate change. In particular, islanders were asked to weigh in on whether the county should “upzone” some or all of the non-commercial areas in town to allow for more multi-family housing, to decide if they would prefer that expansion of the town be east to west or north to south and if accessory dwelling units should be allowed. Regarding climate change, islanders were asked to provide some specific ideas about alternative energy and disaster preparedness specific to Vashon, particularly regarding the anticipated rise of sea level.

All of the conversations happened in 10 small groups, and county officials are now reviewing and compiling the information, which will likely be completed in a few weeks. Once that process is done, Clark said they will post the plan, adjusted to reflect the feedback, on the website, kingcounty.gov/permits. People who are interested in the progress of the plan can contact Clark at 477-2449 or Bradley.clark@kingcounty.gov to be put on the email list. Another public meeting is slated for March.