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.