Only a few years ago, it was inconceivable that one day soon we would be lamenting the loss of new car dealers in Oak Harbor.

Paul Brewer, a city councilman of the era, led an effort to try to convince the three downtown dealers to move to the outskirts of town so their large properties could be put to better and more attractive uses. But attitudes shifted quickly when the recession kicked in. The Ford dealership was closed and its cars moved to Anacortes. Not long after that, the Chevrolet / GM dealership closed. And just last week, the Volkswagen/Mazda dealership on the north end of town closed its doors. Nobody’s talking about too many car dealers anymore.

In the matter of a few short years, Oak Harbor lost three-fourths of its new car dealers. You can’t buy a new Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Chevrolet or Pontiac on the island any more. Fortunately, Oak Harbor Motors with its line of new Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products is still doing business on Pioneer Way. We wish them continued success. But the demise of 75 percent of its car dealers hurt the city badly in terms of sales tax losses and employment losses, and it hurt islanders because for most brands of automobiles, they now have no choice but to shop off the island. The city was also hurt aesthetically. The two big downtown auto lots filled with new and used cars looked a lot better than the vast empty parking lots they have become. If anyone has expressed serious interest in developing those lots, it hasn’t become public knowledge yet.

If there’s a lesson in all this, it’s that we should appreciate what we have and try to preserve existing businesses any way we can. Once they’re gone, there may not be much to replace them with.