Community Articles
General News · 3rd June 2024
sadhu aufochs johnston
Please join us for a townhall meeting to discuss the upgrades to the airstrip.
Monday, June 3rd, 2024 at Mansons Hall, 7-9 PM.
Many changes are taking place at the private airstrip on the southern tip of Cortes. Communications to date from the land-owners representatives indicate that “minimal work” is taking place and that the runway isn’t being expanded, so, it appears that no community consultation is required.
However, hundreds of trucks have come to the island to support this upgrade, which has been confirmed to include the runway being paved with chip-seal in the months ahead and a large hangar.
Many people across the island are concerned about the implications of these upgrades, not because one person will be using it for landing their helicopter, but because the upgrades will make it much easier for private aircrafts to land here and the landowner as well as the individual who contracted these changes do not live here or appear to have our communities’ best interests in mind.
A newly paved runway allows for irreversible, exclusive, ongoing access, and could facilitate many more people using Cortes as a periodic vacation spot rather than investing time and energy to make this community a diverse and healthy place.
Looking at other coastal communities like Orcas Island we can see downstream effects (when Oprah landed her jet there at the newly upgraded airport, many of her peers followed).
There are considerable concerns about Cortes houses no longer being used by Cortes residents but instead being used a few weeks a year by people without emotional investment in our community.
What can we do about it? Let’s get together as a community to voice our concerns and strategize the best way to move forward.
Sadhu Johnston, Cortes Housing Society
Monday, June 3rd, 2024 at Mansons Hall, 7-9 PM.
Many changes are taking place at the private airstrip on the southern tip of Cortes. Communications to date from the land-owners representatives indicate that “minimal work” is taking place and that the runway isn’t being expanded, so, it appears that no community consultation is required.
However, hundreds of trucks have come to the island to support this upgrade, which has been confirmed to include the runway being paved with chip-seal in the months ahead and a large hangar.
Many people across the island are concerned about the implications of these upgrades, not because one person will be using it for landing their helicopter, but because the upgrades will make it much easier for private aircrafts to land here and the landowner as well as the individual who contracted these changes do not live here or appear to have our communities’ best interests in mind.
A newly paved runway allows for irreversible, exclusive, ongoing access, and could facilitate many more people using Cortes as a periodic vacation spot rather than investing time and energy to make this community a diverse and healthy place.
Looking at other coastal communities like Orcas Island we can see downstream effects (when Oprah landed her jet there at the newly upgraded airport, many of her peers followed).
There are considerable concerns about Cortes houses no longer being used by Cortes residents but instead being used a few weeks a year by people without emotional investment in our community.
What can we do about it? Let’s get together as a community to voice our concerns and strategize the best way to move forward.
Sadhu Johnston, Cortes Housing Society