Oak Harbor is a small town but rapidly growing out of control. I’ve watched things develop in Oak Harbor since 1967 when I arrived as an ensign. Navy housing was full and there were no houses to rent. We had to rent a house south of Coupeville. There were no stop lights between the ferry and the bridge. Traffic, neon, and giant asphalt parking lots were not problems. We had lots of grassy fields, milk cows, and lots of skinny, winding roads.

We had a great quality of life like you would expect on an island. We had a core of small town merchants who catered to the small town residents. They knew their customers, their kids went to local schools, and they made a modest profit while adding significantly to the fabric of a small town. They knew about you and they went out of their way to look after you.

Just one example is Broadway Appliance. Jim and his staff were there for us when things went bad. He happily made house calls and he knew what we needed. Jimmy Flowers held court in his shop and sold boat equipment to the guys who fished The Hole. Ace Hardware moved into the old Safeway building and began his legacy of friendly, knowledgable service with a smile that continues today. Cackle Corner was the entry to the town where verdant fields greeted you on the left and wetlands on the right as you gazed down Saratoga Passage. There were cows and horses on the left and right as you passed through the west edge of town toward Deception Pass.

The police blotter in Wally’s paper was a delight to read; stray cows and horses, chickens and ducks on the road, bad behavior at Oak Harbor Tavern, and rowdy sailors who got a free ride back to the base.

The first big box store was a grocery store. Safeway had an ideal spot on Pioneer Way with plenty of parking. They moved to their present spot where the first acreage of asphalt appeared. Grass and cows were removed and giant neon arrived. As time wore on, we got more and more asphalt, balloons, neon, stop lights, and fire engines.

It takes four times as much time to transit through town where the lights seem to be timed to make you pause and gaze at the stores where you might spend your money. Or not. If you can zoom up to 50 mph after the first light, you might be able to make two or three lights before you have to stop on a red.

Zoning is intended to prevent chaos in development. It is intended to prevent a slaughterhouse from being built in the middle of the town. Zoning is supposed to protect the residents. Our zoning seems intent on bastardizing the very thing that we love about our town. The fox is watching the hen house and the chickens are suffering.

Our Oak Harbor is changing and changing fast. Many familiar merchants are disappearing. I hate to see it. If I wanted to live in Bellevue, I would. I like Oak Harbor. It took care of my family when I was elsewhere. We need to support our local, homegrown businesses more than ever. They can’t compete with the mega stores unless we support them. With our wallets.

Granted, I go to the big guys when the little guys don’t have what I need, but I don’t want any more little guys going away. We have more than our share of big boxes. We have way more fast food joints than we need. Plant too many trees and they all fail to thrive.

I don’t own any Ace stock. All I know is, “Ace is the Place of the Friendly Hardware Man.” Even John Madden says it’s true. It’s proven every time I go there. Last Sunday was no exception. I got solid service with a sincere smile and lots of good advice. If I want Ace to compete and survive the intense competition, I have to support them. Ace is in the family of the remaining little guys like Broadview Appliance, Island Drug, Frontier Lumber, Oak Harbor Tavern, Mr. Music, Casual House, Van Cleve’s Opticians, the great gang at the post office, Midway Florist, Pot Belly Deli, and many, many other little guys who are slowly being strangled by “building the tax base.”

We have to help preserve our small town or we will become just another ugly town with nothing but tax base on our mind.

What homegrown merchant is at risk? Just about everyone who is not big box. Even the big box restaurants are moving in.

We need leadership who will hold the line and try to get back to where we were. No merchant, big or small, has to move out of town but they should be convinced to cooperate in making us the best small town we can be. It is not about the money all the time. Our quality of life is being frittered away and it’s time to stop it.

Paul, Jeff, Kevin: Run! Somebody step up and run for mayor, city council and county commissioner. We have to take back our Island, our Town, and our quality of life. It is being sold and I’m tired of it.

Bruce Wood, Captain, USN, Ret., lives in Oak Harbor.