DIA Review of Proposal to Alleviate Parking Congestion at the Decatur Island Ramp September 2025

 Background 

The Decatur County ramp on Davis Bay (the Ramp) is the only public access to Decatur Island. It is where residents launch their boats, travelers from the mainland are dropped off, and where construction vehicles and heavy equipment are loaded and unloaded. 

Although no records have been maintained, anecdotal evidence shows that use of the Ramp has increased significantly over the past 20 years. The people with homes near the Ramp have been impacted by the increased traffic and by the increased parking along the road adjacent to and near the Ramp. This increased parking along Davis Bay Road has reduced the effective width of the road and generally increased congestion in the area. 

Potential Solution(s) 

Four people on Decatur Island prepared a written proposal to address the parking congestion problem (the Proposal). They presented it to Jane Fuller, the 3rd District County Council representative (Ms. Fuller) on September 9th. The Proposal was prepared with input from some island residents who regularly use, or live near, the Ramp. 

The authors requested an on-site meeting with Ms. Fuller and San Juan County Public Works Director Colin Huntemer to review the Proposal. Before taking further action, Ms. Fuller sought input regarding the Proposal from additional island residents. As part of that effort, she asked representatives of the Decatur Island Alliance (DIA) to review the Proposal and provide feedback. DIA agreed and discussed the Proposal at its regularly-scheduled monthly meeting on September 21, 2025. 

The Proposal’s authors emailed the Proposal to the all-island email and posted it on the Decatur Island Facebook Page on September 19th, two days before the DIA meeting. 

Decatur Island Alliance 

DIA started in April 2025. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. All of its funding comes from donations. There are no membership fees. 

DIA’s mission is to improve the quality of life of all people who reside, visit or work on the Island. DIA achieves this goal by building and maintaining communication between residents and organizations that provide island services. 

All people who live, visit and work on Decatur Island are welcome to volunteer for DIA, attend meetings and/or send messages to DIA via email. All DIA notices and meeting notes are posted on its website. We aim to make decisions and operate as transparently as possible. For more information, please visit: www.decaturislandalliance.org. 

DIA believes that more communication is always better than less, and that all island projects should be subject to community input, and then be developed in accordance with that input - community first, not last. 

The information below reflects the discussion and conclusions from the DIA meeting. 

DIA Input 

The Proposal provides for angled parking within the existing right-of-way along the County road leading to the Ramp. Key concerns about the design include: 

Substantive Concerns 

• Parking of trucks with trailers not addressed (If parked at an angle, they would potentially stick out into the road or take up multiple angled spots, which would defeat the very purpose of the Proposal.). 

• Parking and accommodation of construction vehicles and heavy equipment not addressed (same problem as with trucks with trailers). 

• No enforcement mechanism. 

• The elimination of parking spaces closer to the Ramp (e.g. adjacent to the Zarate property and across from Andy Wood’s home). Given the demand and the need for equity among neighbors along the road, elimination of these spaces is inappropriate. 

• A cost analysis (How do the costs of the Proposal compare to other potential solutions?). 

Analysis 

It is not clear that the proposed angled parking can accommodate trucks with trailers or large, construction trucks and heavy equipment. Provision should be made in the Proposal for parallel parking for these vehicles (see also, discussion below regarding longer-term planning). 

It is inevitable that use of the Ramp will increase over time (As noted above, it is the only public access to Decatur.), and so angled parking should be considered part of a longer-term solution.

Over the next decade, the amount of angled parking provided in the Proposal will likely be insufficient to meet the increased demand. 

Accordingly, DIA recommends that Decatur Island residents, in collaboration with County government, begin planning now for additional parking within walking distance of the Ramp. 

A longer-term plan for additional parking, which would increase the scope of the Proposal, should rely on broader community input from the outset. The more engagement there is, the more likely good ideas will emerge. 

For example, community members may decide that additional parking should be in a nearby lot, they may favor more angled parking farther up the road, they may favor a combination of both, or they may come up with something else altogether. 

Conclusion 

There are 80-100 non-HOA Decatur residents who exclusively rely on the Ramp for Island access. These island residents should be allowed to participate in the planning process. 

The Proposal is a good first step. It should be supplemented with parking accommodation for trucks with trailers and for heavy construction vehicles. Planning should begin now for the parking needs that will likely increase over the next decade. Broad community engagement should be a starting point for any future planning process. 

DIA appreciated the opportunity to provide input on this project. We hope it’s helpful. We look forward to collaborating with San Juan County government on future Decatur Island projects. 

Please send any follow-up inquiries to: info@decaturislandalliance.org.