HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning May 10 20051
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Planning and Development Committee
May 10, 2005
Committee Chair Seth Fleetwood called the meeting to order at 3:04 p.m. in
the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
Present: Absent:
Barbara Brenner None
Dan McShane
Also Present:
None
OTHER BUSINESS
Fleetwood stated Troy Holbrook from the Planning Department wants to give
the committee an update on urban growth area (UGA) planning. He will propose to
bring the update back to this committee for a formal presentation at a later date.
Mr. Holbrook will present a general update today.
Brenner stated a lot of people will be interested in that presentation.
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL
1. RESOLUTION APPROVING BIRCH BAY WATER AND SEWER
DISTRICT'S COMPREHENSIVE SEWER SYSTEM PLAN, AMENDMENT
NO. 2 (AB2005 -198)
Matt Aamot, Senior Planner, stated the district submitted an amendment to
the Comprehensive Sewer System Plan to provide service to the plat of Birch Bay
View and modify financing policies for the district's sewer system improvements.
The County Council must approve, reject, or condition the proposal. The County
Engineering Division, County Health Department, State Department of Ecology,
have all approved it. There are systems on the plat that are failing. The site is
within the urban growth area and short -term planning area of the Birch Bay UGA.
Staff recommend approval.
Brenner stated she is very happy they're doing this.
Fleetwood asked if the sewer district has a defined boundary, and if the
boundary is extended to incorporate this area.
Planning and Development Committee, 5/10/2005, Page 1
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
Dan Eisses, Birch Bay Water and Sewer District Engineer, stated this area is
within the district and service area boundaries. The project has gone through the
environmental phase. The design is approved. A public hearing is scheduled for
the community.
Fleetwood asked what will be changed by this amendment. Aamot stated
there are plans to provide sewer service to this plat, and a provision for financing
sewer improvements that local facilities charge for. Under the traditional local
improvement district (LID) method, all properties have to pay based on assessed
value. Under this method, undeveloped properties would not have to pay until they
develop. The charge is per connection, not based on the value of the land. One
can defer charges if the district agrees. If there is a house on a property with a
septic system, the house doesn't have to hook up until the septic tank and drain
field fail or when the house sells.
Brenner stated all districts should adopt that policy. More people would get
off their systems and onto something like this. She is very pleased with the
district.
Eisses stated the reason for this amendment is directly related to that
financing. Any project that receives this funding has to be included in the
comprehensive plan.
McShane stated block grants would help. He appreciated the district's help
to bring this forward.
Brenner moved to recommend approval to the full Council.
Motion carried unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
Troy Holbrook, Senior Planner, stated he would update the committee on the
Bellingham Subarea Plan. He will update the committee on the timeline, where
they are in the process, and future challenges.
Fleetwood asked for a brief history of this planning process. Holbrook stated
the subarea plan was last updated in 1997. It was amended in 1999 and 2004.
They're continuing that process of updating this plan. The plan was put on hold
until they could establish population estimates for the next 20 years and to
determine infill potential. Both of those things have been done. The population
estimate for this subarea was 31,601 new people by 2022. That's the amount of
growth they must accommodate in about 14,800 dwelling units that will go into the
subarea.
Planning and Development Committee, 5/10/2005, Page 2
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
The City of Bellingham has been looking at its infill capacity. It started by
holding the growth forum meetings. A number of recommendations came out of
those meetings. He will present them later. The City is working on its land use
chapter of its comprehensive Plan to firmly establish its infill capacity.
Now, the process is to look at infill capacity for existing urban growth areas
(UGA's). They decided to look neighborhood -by- neighborhood. They have held
separate neighborhood meetings in each neighborhood. Over 100 people showed
up to each meeting. Comments continue to come in. They are looking at
infrastructure, environmental constraints, and other factors. Once the
neighborhood meetings are done, each piece will go to the City and County
planning commissions. Both the City and County Councils will approve the plan.
Brenner asked if they are making sure they don't have a moderately filled
city center with very dense outskirt areas. Holbrook stated they are looking at the
existing land use patterns within the city also. There are large lots of low density
zoning in certain areas. They have to be very sensitive to that. They don't want a
city with a wall of high density. He will present zoning maps during his formal
presentation. In addition to density, they're looking also at how to create
neighborhoods, connect neighborhoods with open spaces, transportation, and many
other factors.
When they are done with the infill analysis, they will look at the five -year
review areas and the possibility of contracting or expanding certain UGA areas.
After that, they will look at the rural analysis area. There are many areas they
have to look at.
McShane asked if the Marietta area will be considered. Holbrook stated it will
be.
In addition, they're looking at a range of zoning designations in the UGA's.
Some aren't established yet. There must be an implementation package for the
updated plan.
The final part of implementation is a new interlocal agreement with the City
of Bellingham for implementation. He hopes to bring all of it to the County Council
in one package when it gets through the City and County planning commissions.
Fleetwood asked if that package will contain recommendations on density
and on expanding versus contracting the UGA. Holbrook stated it will. If they alter
the UGA, there must be numbers to justify the alteration.
Fleetwood
stated the timelines are
off a bit. He asked the most current
timeline.
Holbrook stated the plan and
interlocal agreement will come to the
Council by
fall.
The planning commissions have many issues they have to work
through.
The
planning commissions are
looking at the different areas on a
piecemeal
basis,
on purpose. Changes to
one section will affect other sections.
Planning and Development Committee, 5/10/2005, Page 3
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
Changes to the plan will be fluid until they are through the process. The State
extended Bellingham's timeline to December 1, 2005.
One challenge they will face is the infill capacity. The City is working on its
land use chapter. A draft of the chapter is available. The draft numbers are 14,800
dwelling units for the next 20 years. The infill capacity is between 9,500 and
11,350 dwelling units. That includes six potential urban villages, downtown, the
existing neighborhoods and Fairhaven. That estimate is only for the city, and does
not include the UGA's. He estimates roughly between 3,100 to almost 5,000
dwelling units going into the UGA. They will almost make the goal of 14,000.
The land use chapter includes new language that it will not consider the infill
capacity of the UGA. The City is saying it does not have the ability to initiate an
annexation, so it cannot control the UGA's, so it will not count the UGA's as part of
the infill capacity. That is a radical change from 1995.
Fleetwood asked the status of the current annexation procedure. Holbrook
stated the procedure is the same as it has been for years. The legislature did not
approve any changes.
Brenner stated there was a change to require 75 percent of the assessed
valuation of the area.
Holbrook explained the annexation process.
Fleetwood stated the City and the city residents in the UGA have complete
control over whether or not an area becomes incorporated. Holbrook stated that is
correct.
Fleetwood stated there can be an agreed recommendation on growth from all
the planners, planning commissions, and councils, but it could be held hostage by
recalcitrant property owners. Holbrook stated that is correct. The City of
Bellingham will extend utilities without annexation. Only four or five cities in the
state allow that. It produces a ring of properties in the UGA that have city utilities
and can't be forced to annex.
Brenner stated those people are paying a huge amount for those utilities.
There is an incentive for them to annex. The County and City can create the zoning
it wants, and leave it to the property owners to decide when they want to be
annexed. Other cities can provide services within the UGA. There shouldn't be any
concern to the County as to when they annex. Holbrook stated the County is set up
for rural services, including emergency services and rural fire departments. Those
are most impacted by the policy.
Brenner stated the County could do some kind of interlocal with the City, for
them to have their allotment of density and provide the other services besides
Planning and Development Committee, 5/10/2005, Page 4
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
utilities. Holbrook stated he's heard the City will change its policy to not approve
utilities without annexation, once the subarea update is done.
Brenner stated that if the County doesn't require the City to provide all
services, they might not get good development in the future.
McShane stated the City wouldn't want to provide service to an area that
isn't going to incorporate. They have more than one goal of just getting density.
The City has to provide efficient services. This review would make sure services are
provided efficiently, without causing problems to water associations, fire districts,
or transportation plans. Treat UGA's as if they are going to become part of the
City. The County problem is dealing with urban areas that are never going to
become a city. They are a real problem for the County, which only provides some
of the services.
Holbrook stated the Growth Management Act (GMA) states specifically that
urban services should be provided by the city.
Brenner asked what to do when there is a group of citizens that don't want to
be annexed. Holbrook stated he doesn't have an answer.
Fleetwood asked if this process would get a sense of what the neighbors
think about being annexed. Holbrook stated it would. He works with the property
owners all the time. He can provide that information when he gives the
presentation. There is a real mix of feelings among the property owners about
being annexed, especially in the Yew Street area. It's assumed, from GMA, that
those areas in the UGA will eventually be annexed and have urban services.
Brenner stated she gets the impression that fewer and fewer people want to
be annexed. People are getting freaked out by growth, and they don't want to be
part of it.
McShane stated the fear of growth will always be an issue. The area that
might be challenging is evaluating Bellingham's approach to implementing infill.
There has been some comments regarding the environmental impact statement
(EIS) that the infill proposals are too ambitious in certain areas.
Holbrook stated an issue is that there isn't the zoning to implement the
comprehensive plan. Much of their single family residential development goes into
the multi - family zoned areas. They don't have a minimum density threshold. After
the comprehensive plan for Bellingham is adopted, they plan to work on their
development regulations to implement the plan. They also don't have the zoning in
place to implement the urban villages. Those are the concerns, along with the
City's stated objective of not using the UGA's for its infill capacity, which justifies
expansion of the UGA.
Planning and Development Committee, 5/10/2005, Page 5
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DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee
minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they
are not the final approved minutes.
McShane stated he suspects they will hear a lot about how there is no way
the City of Bellingham can obtain those infill estimates and, therefore, the UGA's
must be expanded, because of the lobbying effort that is already occurring.
Holbrook stated the City has said it's much easier to do master planning with
one large property owner. That is another argument for the expansion of the UGA,
which is contrary to County policy and the GMA. Also, the City has looked at
acquiring the Deer Creek Water Association. That will also be used to justify the
expansion of the UGA.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
ATTEST:
Dana Brown- Davis, Council Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Seth Fleetwood, Committee Chair
Planning and Development Committee, 5/10/2005, Page 6