The September Public Open House presentation and boards are posted under the September Open House section below.
Master Plan
The Airport is currently completing an Airport Master Plan that will guide development over the next 20 years. The master plan began in early September with an aeronautical survey to collect obstruction data and an inventory of the Airport’s existing facilities. The master plan is expected to conclude in March 2019.
The public will have multiple opportunities to attend public open houses and can submit comments at any point throughout the project. The next public open house is scheduled for September 19, 2018. More details are available below regarding the times and locations of the open house.
Public Involvement Plan
The public will have opportunities to participate throughout the Master Plan process. Postcards were sent to each household on the island at the beginning of the project in fall 2017. A Project Advisory Committee has been established with members of the Port, FAA, WSDOT, San Juan County, the EPRC, and other key tenants on the airfield to provide technical feedback and guidance throughout the project. The Advisory Committee will meet three times over the course of the project. Three public open houses with two times (afternoon and evening) will be held to allow the public to visit with the Project Team and learn about the project. Project communications will take place electronically through an email contact list. To sign up for the list please sign up below or contact the Project Team at orcasmasterplan@dowl.com. The Project Team will also work with local news sources to provide information and press releases regarding project information and meetings.
Comments are accepted throughout the project and can be submitted anytime to orcasmasterplan@dowl.com.
January Public Open House
The first Public Open House was held on Wednesday, January 10th, 2018 at the Orcas Island Fire & Rescue at 45 Lavender Lane, Eastsound, Wash. Project team members discussed the project with members of the public. A copy of the information provided during the meeting is available here: Public Open House 1 PresentationBoard.
June Public Open House
The second Public Open House was held Tuesday, June 5th at 1pm – 2pm and 5pm – 6:30pm at the Orcas Island Fire & Rescue 45 Lavender Lane, Eastsound, Wash. Project team members discussed the project, inventory, facility requirements, aviation forecast, and preliminary alternatives. All comments received by August 3 will be considered in the development of the preferred alternative.
September Public Open House
Please save the date for the September Public Open House. The meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 19th at 1pm – 2pm at Orcas Island Fire & Rescue 45 Lavender Lane, Eastsound, Washington or from 5pm – 8:30 pm at Orcas Center 917 Mt Baker Rd, Eastsound, Washington. Formal presentations will be given at 5:30pm and 7:30pm for 30 minutes. The two presentations will be identical and there will be 30 minutes for public questions immediately following the presentation. All open house materials, including the slides, will be posted on the Port of Orcas website by 8pm pst on September 5, 2018. Public comments will be accepted on the preferred alternative from September 5 to October 5, 2018. Please remember that public comments must be formally submitted by sending an email to orcasmasterplan@dowl.com or by calling Project Manager Leah Henderson at (425) 869-2670.
Public Open House # 3 Information for Review
ORS Alternatives Evaluation_table
Draft Preferred Development graphics:
Compressed versions:
To review the powerpoint presentation please visit this link:Orcas POH Meeting 3 Presentation_updated September 5 2018
Advisory Committee – The following is a list of parties invited to participate in the Advisory Committee for the Master Plan:
| Rick | Hughes | County Councilman – District 2 | San Juan County |
| Jackie | Hamilton | Owner, President & Director of Operations | Island Air, Inc. |
| Marc | Franklin | Vice President | Aero Services, Inc. |
| Phil | Peterson | Station Mgr | FedEx |
| Robert | Stansus | Chief Pilot | AirMed |
| Sarah | F | Customer Service Mgr | Kenmore Air |
| Jason | Douglas | Owner | San Juan Airlines |
| Jennifer | Kandel | Airport Planner | FAA |
| Paul | Kamin | Co Chair | EPRC |
| Eric | Johnson | Construction & Grants Program Manager | WSDOT |
| Malcolm | Goodfellow | represents self | General Aviation |
| Michael | Parnell | represents self | General Aviation |
| Greg | Kokorowski | Operations | Kenmore Air |
| Charles | Toxey | Owner | Kangaroo House B&B |
| Dan | Parrish | Chief | Empire Airlines |
The September 4th version of all comments received regarding the master plan is available for public review here: ORS Comments
Orcas Island Master Plan Alternatives
To review and download the alternatives please see links below. One single file in a reduced size or multiple pages at a larger size are available. Please also review the Public Meeting #1 boards for more information prior to reviewing the alternatives.
To review a brief description of each alternative and how each alternative meets (or does not meet) FAA design standards, potential impacts to wetlands and land uses please review the Alternatives evaluation criteria document: ALTEvaluation-HighRes-OH2
Please review the following documents to better understand the FAA standards/requirements and pros and cons of each alternative in more detail.
Facility Requirements – Summary Tables
Combined in one reduced file: Orcas Alternatives Combined reduced
If you would like to submit a comment, please comment below or send an email to orcasmasterplan@dowl.com.
Future communication for this project will be primarily electronic and we encourage you to sign up for our email list to stay up-to-date on the progress of the project.
If you would like to view the previous Master Plan Update, it is available here: 2008 Final Report
Project Contact:
Leah Henderson, Project Manager
425-869-2670