Western students move off-campus

At the Puget Neighborhood Association meeting on Nov., 18 Mayor Linville addressed the city’s concerns about the number of Western Washington University students living off-campus.
“The university can’t control what happens outside our campus,” said Paul Cocke, the Director of University Communications at WWU.
Sehome Neighborhood Association President Jean Hamilton said, “Garbage, parties and excess cars are all issues that get worse with overcrowding, and those have an adverse impact on the neighbors.”
73% of students live off-campus, according to Director of Residence Life at Western, Leonard Jones.
“University Residence builds to the needs of students. Financially we simply can’t build them [dorms],” said Leonard Jones.
There is also a concern for student safety when it comes to living off-campus, the York Neighborhood Association President Don-Hilty Jones said.
Students are paying $500 to $700 per month in rent for places that are not even minimally sanitary or safe, said Don-Hilty Jones.
“Students move off-campus because it is cheaper, they have to cut corners where they can,” according to Hamilton.
According to Don-Hilty Jones, problems with students tend to persist more when the landlords aren’t maintaining their properties properly.
“Landlords need to educate their renters more,” said Don-Hilty Jones.
“A large reason for our support for rental licensing in the city is our concern that students should have safe housing, since 50% of our housing is rental, and a large percentage of that is students,” said Hamilton.
Moving off-campus gives students a chance to further their independence without resident assistants and the other limitations dorms can pose, said Leonard Jones. Having your own space is “part of the developmental process,” Leonard Jones added.
As a way of communicating with the city, Western funds a part-time position for the Campus Community Coalition, an organization where students work with the city on issues regarding community relationships, according to Cocke.
“The kids are so fluid,” Don-Hilty Jones said referring to the CCC which he has worked with in the past.
The CCC has positively influenced neighborhood members’ opinions, eliminating some of the bias that neighbors have developed against students, said Don-Hilty Jones.
The CCC represents WWU’s students in a positive way and “sweetens the attitude” of Bellingham’s non-student community, said Don-Hilty Jones.
The university’s first concern is determining what is best for students. Building more on-campus housing would jeopardize students’ ability to afford their education, said Leonard Jones.
“Nationally there is great concern about the amount of student debt load students and families have, saddling them [students] for debt is not a good idea,” said Leonard Jones.
Even if the university did choose to build more housing, there is little demand for it, which would most-likely mean the dorms wouldn’t be filled and tuition for students would increase in order to pay for the expansion, according to Leonard Jones.
“If they aren’t filled they’d be a financial burden on us as well as on students,” said Cocke.
According to Cocke, Western’s enrollment has been constant, at about 15,000 total head count, for the past four years. The most motivating factor for the school to build more housing would be if there was a significant increase in total full-time enrollment, said Leonard Jones.
The skills that students learn while living on-campus give them the ability to work better within the community - dorms teach students how to problem-solve and how to build good, strong communities, according to Leonard Jones.
Don-Hilty Jones said that despite some occasional disruptions he enjoys his neighborhood and moved here for a reason, “It is a socially-mixed neighborhood and I enjoy that.”
University housing’s goal is to continue to be a safe and affordable option for students so that they can succeed to the best of their abilities, said Leonard Jones.

Carl Cozier Safe Routes to School Project

Carl Cozier Elementary received a federal grant making it possible for Bellingham Public Works to invest $175,000 in the Carl Cozier Safe Routes to School Safety Improvements project which will move into the construction phase this spring, according to the project manager Steve Day.

According to Day, the Carl Cozier Safe Routes to School project will add a sidewalk on Gladstone Street and install a flashing crosswalk and school zone light at the intersection of Potter Street and Lincoln Street.

Principal of Carl Cozier Elementary, Eric Paige, said that by creating safer walking routes the school has the ability to improve student health.

“Around the nation there is a lot of talk of child obesity, we are promoting a healthy lifestyle and reducing that number,” said Paige.

Paige also added that the improvements to walking routes will reduce the amount of parents who drive their students to school every day, which in turn will decrease traffic in the area around the school.

“Some families don’t have cars so having a way to get here is important,” said Paige.

The project began as an idea back in 2011, recalled Paige, when a family who lived off of Lincoln Street wrote a letter to the school saying that they needed safety improvements to be done in order to feel comfortable sending their kids walking to and from school every day.

“More than students, it will impact their families, their parents,” said Paige.

According to Paige, one of the reasons walking is important to the school is because Bellingham has such an active-lifestyle culture.

“Students walking fits with our community and the values we have,” said Paige.

The choice to improve these two locations Day said was to fill in a “missing link.”

By working with the school district Day said the city took into consideration the pre-existing walking routes that the school had in place.

According to Day, other major walking routes to school were better equipped already, including Puget Street and the Toledo Court area, both of which have sidewalks.

The choice to put in a flashing lighted crosswalk and school zone sign at the intersection of Potter and Lincoln was of similar reasoning. Day said that this intersection seemed to be one of last heavily used in the area without such equipment.

Gaythia Weis, Puget Neighborhood Association President, explained that Carl Cozier Elementary has what they call a “walking school bus,” a program where parent volunteers walk students to and from school.

Weis said that two parents meet the children at a designated location every morning and walk them to school. In the afternoon parents take the children from class to the same location where they go their separate ways until they reach home.

The program will continue to go on after the improvements in other areas with a high number of student walkers, said Paige.

According to Day, before receiving the federal grant the school took a count of how many students walk to school in order to prove that the school was well deserving of the grant.

The same kind of count will occur after the project is completed which is projected to be after this coming summer, said Day.

Paige stressed that after the project is completed there will still be work to be done in educating parents and families about the benefits of having their children walk to school.

“We want to educate families about how this [walking] will work in their children’s best interest, as well as their own,” said Paige.

Weis also felt that the walks to school benefit students, saying that the children had fun on their way to school, playing the whole way there and back.

This type of federal grant does not extend towards buses, that money comes from a completely different place, says Day, who added that busing doesn’t have the same health impacts as walking.

“Studies show that walking promotes child wellness,” said Day.

According to Day, the project is currently in the design phase. After the design has been completed the city will put the project up for bid and hire the contractor who has the best bid then construction will quickly follow.

Day said they hope to begin construction as soon as kids are out of school for the summer and finish in about a month and a half, plenty of time before the new school year starts.

The project is managed by the public works department who has hired a consultant for the design process.

Planning Commission Public Hearing

On Dec.18, 2014 at 7 p.m. there will be a Bellingham Planning Commission public hearing held at the City Council Chambers, 210 Lottie St.

The hearing will focus on continuing to work toward the updated Bellingham City Comprehensive Plan that must be completed by June of 2016.

More specifically, the planning commission will introduce their proposed updated to the Subdivision Ordinance, title eighteen of the Bellingham Municipal Code.

Title eighteen is basically an outline of how to work with the city’s natural growth in order to avoid making it over-crowed or inefficient.

Additionally, the ordinance is there to help plan what kind of infrastructure will be built in the remaining vacant lots around the city, or if such lots should even be built on at all.

At the meeting there will be opportunity for the public to express their thoughts on the topic as well as ask any questions. Written comments that are submitted before Dec. 16 will be considered at this meeting, although comments after the meeting can still be submitted.

Comments can be submitted to Kathy Bell at the Bellingham Planning Commission by email, kbell@cob.org, or by phone at 360-778-8347.

 

 

 

Camus Crest Halts Construction

According to Gaythia Weis Puget Neighborhood Association President, it seems that the property off of Lincoln Street, which was planned for a complex called “The Grove” designed to house over five hundred students, has halted construction.

Campus Crest, the development company who purchased the land in 2013 announced major changes in company restructuring in a press release on Nov., 4.

“We will be discontinuing all construction and development to simplify the business model and focus on organic growth,” according to the company press release.

The question then, said Dick Conoboy the Samish Neighborhood Advisory representative, is will this mean that Campus Crest stops all projects, even those already in progress?

“Where they are at right now is they’ve gone in there and they’ve got permits to get the project moving, they’ve spent money but not all of it,” said Conoboy.

Conoboy said he had been trying to contact the company which is based out of Charlotte, North Carolina since the release had come out but had yet to have luck with confirming anything as of now.

“It’d be a couple weeks before they know what they are doing,” said Conoboy.

Additionally, according to the press release, the company’s CEO Ted Rollins stepped down from his position with Richard Kahlbaugh replacing him as the CEO to lead the company through its “repositioning.”

“The student housing part of the Lincoln Street development projects are at least on hold for now,” said Weis on the Puget neighborhood website.

Initially when Campus Crest bought the property there was a lot of concern about potential traffic problems. Since the complex would be right across from the mobile home park, there would be potential for traffic issues with the major increase of people merging onto Lakeway Street, according to the Traffic Impact Analysis.

Similar issues had come up when the University Ridge development, according to the Puget Neighborhood Association.

Located off of Puget Street, not far from the Campus Crest Property, University Ridge was also designed to house college students from Western Washington University.  

According the City of Bellingham website, University Ridge would have held 164 units.

According to the Traffic Impact Analysis which was written up in 2013 due to the concerns brought up by University Ridge, “The project [University Ridge] would increase traffic volumes in the study area and contribute to increases in intersection delay.”

Eventually construction also stopped on the University Ridge project, according to the City of Bellingham Planning and Community Development Department.

Brian Smart who works in the Bellingham Planning and Community Development Department, said “I’ve heard some rumblings but nothing definitive yet,” when referring to the possibility of Campus Crest stopping construction all together.

According to Campus Crest’s website it already has multiple locations in Washington including Pullman, Cheney and Ellensburg.

The company’s message is, “fully loaded college living.” The apartments come with a number of amenities like a fitness center, game room, indoor-tanning, library, high-speed internet, pool, sport courts, etc.

Annette Quarre, a sophomore at Western Washington University who lives off campus said her amenities include, “natural light, bay view, locked building and laundry onsite.”

According to Quarre, finding a home in college is all about the “general functional ability” of the apartment or house.

“There’s already a gym on campus, and I already pay tuition for that, I wouldn’t use a gym in my own building,” said Quarre. 

According to “The Grove” at Bellingham website, the complex would have both two bedroom, two bathroom units and three bedroom, three bathroom units.

“Location, location, location,” Quarre stressed, as she added that her place is about a ten minute walk from campus.

When asked about what she looks for in a home of campus Quarre said, “I feel like I have pretty basic demands and if those are met and then exceeded I’d be way more willing to live somewhere.”

 

 

 

 

 

Sehome Soccer

 

The Sehome High School varsity girls’ soccer team faces Bellingham High School on Nov., 6, a game which will determine if the Mariners or the Red Raiders move onto state. The loser of the Bellingham-Sehome game will not advance any further.

After the girls’ loss to Shorecrest on Nov., 1 the girls needed their recent win against the Cedarcrest High School Red Wolves this past Tuesday.

According to the Northwest Conference bracket, the winner of the upcoming game with get third place in districts and will move onto state. The first state rounds will be Nov. 10-12 at a location that has yet to be determined.

Bellingham High moved onto this game after losing to Squalicum High 2-1 on Nov., 6 at Civic Stadium.

Admission to the Sehome-Bellingham game will be $7 for students or adults without ASB, $5for students with ASB and $5 for children and seniors.

Community Garden

As the fall comes upon us, gardeners at the Lakeway Community Garden must wrap-up their planting for this season. The season for renters of these 10 feet by 20 feet plots runs from May 1 to Oct. 31.  In order to reserve your plot for next season, contact the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Office. If you already have a plot and are looking to renew your lease you’ll need to do so by Dec. 31. If you are a new-comer or want an additional or different plot, your deadline is Jan. 2.  Professor of finance at Western Washington University, Earl Benson, has been coming to the Lakeway Community Garden for 35 years, he said, while cleaning up some bulbs before planting them. Benson said that the plots are desirable in Bellingham because of the small lot sizes of most of the homes here, which don’t allow enough room for these large gardens.  Benson’s garden is made up of mostly veggies: kale, turnips, tomatoes, to name a few. Lakeway Community Garden is one of three in Bellingham, in addition there are the Happy Valley and Fairhaven Community Gardens. Happy Valley and Fairhaven operate year-round if you can’t wait until May to get some dirt under your fingernails.

 

Dewey Griffin Plans to Expand

Dewey Griffin Automotive dealership has “out grown” their current building, says sales manager Allen Meyer, and plans to expand on the land behind their dealership at 1800 Iowa St., halting the city’s plan to buy the land and create more Greenway space.

“We have customers saying we’ve out grown it,” says Meyer.  The additional space would be made into more lot space as well as a retention pond to create a barrier between the dealership and Whatcom Creek.

“We would be looking at putting a new building not to close to creek,” says Meyer.

According to Tim Wahl, Greenway program coordinator, the city has approached the owners of the property to see if they are willing to sell without much luck.

“It’s in a good place, it has some good uses,” Wahl says, referring to the Dewey Griffin property that boarders Whatcom Creek.

Wahl says both Bellingham Parks and Recreation and Dewey Griffin have been trying to determine what to do with the land.

“On that property there isn’t a clear staff agreement,” says Wahl.

Although adding that, “We won’t buy unless there is a very compelling need for it, there is a need for north-south trail” to connect the Roosevelt neighborhood Boys and Girls Club with Whatcom Creek Greenway, Wahl says.

The city doesn’t necessarily want to purchase the entire plot that the dealership owns, the north-south trail seems to be the best “bang for the buck,” according to Wahl who says such a trail would only require section the land owned by Dewey Griffin.

According to the Greenway Strategic Plan, $331,000 is identified for this particular area, however Wahl explains that “money tends to get directed and redirected based on opportunity and willingness of the owner to sell.”

“Things are not locked down, projects can be defined very broadly” Wahl states.

Bellingham City Council Member Michael Lilliquist says in an email, “Many of our purchases are opportunistic, waiting for a good piece of land in the right location to become available at a good price.”

When the Whatcom Creek Trail Railroad Avenue Bridge burned on Nov., 23 2012 about $50,000 was taken from the $331,000 identified for the Whatcom Creek Greenway connection and was redirected towards rebuilding the bridge, according to Wahl.

“The truth is that the Greenways committee always has their eye on a few properties,” says Lilliquist.

Meyers says that the dealership simply cannot find a way to make the late 1960’s building work for the companies needs and therefore they plan to “move forward with the addition very soon.”

“We are very aware of the Greenway,” says Meyer, emphasizing that the dealership plans to make the new addition and retention pond “blend with the environment.”

“We’ll make sure we have a dog park back there with the pond,” Meyer adds.

Recently, Dewey Griffin has spoken to the city about the restrictions and rules around how far the additional lot space needs to be from the creek in order to keep it healthy, says Meyer.

“We’ve been forth coming with the city about all of our plans,” Meyer says.

According to Wahl, the retention pond that Dewey Griffin plans to build on the property could function well as a private Greenway.

When referring to private Greenways Wahl says, “There’s value there.”

A private Greenway can benefit the environment in the some of the same functions as a public space in that it acts as a habitat for animals and a barrier between nature and populated areas, according to Wahl.

Plus, Wahl adds, “The city doesn’t have to maintain something.”

As far as future plans, Wahl says the opportunities lie more at the downtown bridge site, with little on the horizon for the Whatcom Creek-Roosevelt connection.

“The vision in the Greenway Strategic Plan is sometimes ahead of the reality. You can have a very good vision and you find you’re the only one supporting it,” Wahl says.