“Buy land,” the investor’s imperative goes, “because they aren’t making any more of it.”

Never has that been more apparent than in the case of the Winslow ravine, a fair portion of which went on the market – very briefly – back in 1988. “For sale” signs appeared next to the gully near Winslow Way, attracting mention in the local newspaper and some speculation about public acquisition. But before the Winslow City Council could give much thought to the issue and the reported asking price of $65,000 (probably a good chunk of change for the pre-annexation city), the land was sold and the opportunity lost.

The ravine has come and gone from the news columns a few times since then, usually in the context of salmon restoration or feared encroachment by adjacent developments. While they pass over it routinely along Winslow Way, most islanders probably don’t even know how extensive it is; what was once known as “the canyon” crosses under the highway not once but twice, and its headwaters, we’re told, are somewhere up by New Brooklyn Road. Legally, the ravine “floor” is held by various private interests from Bainbridge and Bellevue, including a family trust.

With the possible exception of the Eagle Harbor waterfront, the ravine remains Winslow’s defining natural feature. And while it is the physical embodiment of a “passive” area – off limits to the public, and so densely thicketed that it’s nearly impenetrable anyway – the ravine maintains a formidable hold on the public consciousness.

The proposed narrowing of building setbacks to allow more intensive growth in Winslow, coupled with a 42-unit planned development overlooking its eastern slope, have again made the ravine a cause for preservationists. And interestingly, the greenbelt fired up the imagination of many architects and planners in the recent Winslow Tomorrow downtown design charrette – although they came at it from a much different bent. Ideas advanced in that seminar ranged from taming parts of the gully to make it a north-south pedestrian connection, to wholesale removal of the Winslow Way “fill” and construction of an actual bridge to and from town.

In the words of one participant, “The consensus was that it was wrong to preserve it as open space. It needed to be activated and engaged into the downtown plan. There was a consensus that it affords us a chance to have a real ‘central park’ that connects it down to the waterfront.”

We can’t say those dramatic ideas will ever take hold, and the property remains under private ownership in any event. Conversely, there remains some disagreement over whether the city’s various building setbacks and restrictions on steep-slope development will preclude degradation of the ravine and its stream by adjacent projects.

Either way, we’re not sure the community can afford to leave the ravine’s future to chance any longer. With so many conflicting ideas for its future – particularly as tomorrow’s downtown is mapped out, and much more “active” visions come to the fore – perhaps it’s time the city finds a strategy to bring the ravine, once and for all, into the public domain. From there, we could work toward a community consensus.

We missed our chance once.