HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources April 22 20031
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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
Natural Resources Committee
April 22, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m. by Committee Chair Sharon
Roy in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
Present: Absent:
Seth Fleetwood None
Laurie Caskey- Schreiber
Also Present:
Sam Crawford
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL
1. RESOLUTION AMENDING WHATCOM COUNTY'S PURCHASE OF
DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS PROGRAM GUIDELINES DOCUMENT BY
RE- ADOPTING THE ORIGINAL TARGET AREA MAP (AB2003 -161)
Kraig Olason, Senior Planner, handed out a letter from the Purchase of
Development Rights (PDR) Oversight Committee (on file). It is a response from the
current committee. The committee would like to see the Council readopt the
original map.
After the close of the second round, before the third round, they will
reevaluate targeting anyway. His goal is to get the second round underway early
enough to have time for the next federal round of funding. Originally they talked
about starting in March. He wants to resolve this issue before going forward. The
question of targeting and its merits will be evaluated between the second and third
rounds.
The original PDR Committee recommendation was to try this program for a
couple of years to see how it goes. That's reflected in this letter. It puts some
perspective on this discussion with the City of Lynden.
Caskey- Schreiber stated the theory is sound and viable. These areas are
threatened by urban development, contiguous blocks of good soil quality, and are
good farms. She doesn't want to find fault with that. It hits at the heart of the
PDR program. The question is whether they value farming or growth. Growth, in a
way, is sprawl. They have to have some targeting to deal with the issue of
pressure on farmland.
Olason stated that the testimony at the April 8 meeting was a very good
overview of the sentiments of a lot of people. The department hasn't taken
Natural Resources Committee, 4/22/2003, Page 1
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.
1 Lynden's proposal apart. Lynden's proposal is one option out of an array of
2 options. The question is whether or not the County wants to prefer protection of
3 agricultural land over expansion of urban areas. They know agricultural land does
4 convert. Without some edges to that expansion, they will have a hard time
5 maintaining the agricultural base.
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7 Roy stated they should respect the hard work of the committee that the
8 Council set up to look at the target areas. The committee did a really good job of
9 defining the areas with the most pressure. It's clear that the program hits some of
10 those areas. Lynden worked really hard on its proposal. She would like to show
11 respect for the PDR committee, and put the target areas back in to begin further
12 discussions, which is appropriate with the City of Lynden. They should not start the
13 negotiations by undoing the work that has been done.
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15 Fleetwood asked about being in a phase of the first applications round.
16 Olason stated the first round was initiated in November. Until the County
17 negotiates and makes a purchase, the first batch of applications is considered in
18 process. The status now is that the applications are in and ranked, the U.S.
19 Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding round opened the end of March. They
20 have until May 18 to get an application in to the USDA. One part of that application
21 is to have some dollar figures together for the applicants, to see if they still want to
22 participate.
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24 When the application goes to the USDA, it decides who and what to fund.
25 Funding is authorized within another couple of months. The County is given 24
26 months to spend it. The County has an appraiser that is working on the first batch
27 of applications. They want to get some appraisal numbers out by next week.
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29 Fleetwood asked if any applicants are in the area west of Lynden, on the
30 west side of the Guide, towards Berthusen Park. Olason stated there were at least
31 two in that area who were interested. They have fairly large dairies. There are
32 probably two or three others in that area who may be interested. The level of
33 interest depends on how much the County will pay.
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35 Amy Harksell, City of Lynden Planning Director, stated the City of Lynden
36 feels strongly about agriculture. It is the only city in the county that has land
37 supply policies that say they will not extend the urban growth area (UGA) and
38 annex land that is zoned agriculture by the County, until the City reaches a point in
39 the city that says they are influencing market factors. They are in the heart of
40 agricultural lands. They try to be responsible in how they address that. The City is
41 not asking to put the County behind in its efforts to preserve agricultural lands.
42 The City has done its homework in finding areas that are possible to grow. The
43 County is responsible to help the City set its UGA, as it is up to the City to prove
44 that it needs more area. She recognizes the hard work of the PDR Committee. She
45 asked that the County move those boundaries back to allow for discussion. She
46 doesn't recommend approval of the resolution right now, until they sit down
47 together to try and work through the areas and compromise. The City's task in
Natural Resources Committee, 4/22/2003, 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.
November was to develop a response to the original program. Now they need to
find a compromise between the proposal and areas that could be discussed.
Respect the time and effort the Lynden Planning Commission and Council put into
developing this response, and finding a way to work together jointly.
Roy asked if they could have these negotiations and discussions, even with
the original target areas back in. It makes her uncomfortable to negotiate by
conceding some pretty major points right at the beginning of the negotiation. They
could accomplish the same thing by beginning to include all the recommended
target areas. If they take them out now, it isn't a negotiation. It isn't a
conversation about looking at the characteristics of the target areas. Harksell
stated the City of Lynden invited people to talk to the City about that. People felt
the City was taking something away from them. Lynden's concern is that if the
County adopts the target areas, it creates a situation where they removed an
opportunity from someone who didn't have it before. She suggested adopting
target areas it and 12, north of the Badger Road. Continue discussions about how
they would approach the idea of those areas between Berthusen Road and the
Guide Meridian. One of the issues the City has is how it encourages conversion at
an appropriate time. A difficulty now is that, as they annex land, the land is under
the Open Space /Agriculture taxation program. They are having a hard time getting
that land converted from agriculture to industrial because there is no requirement
for the owner to drop out of the program as the property is annexed into the city.
The zoning changes from agricultural to industrial, and their tax requirement
increases over those seven years. There is very little incentive for the owner to
change that. If they have applicants, and purchase those rights, the cost will be a
disincentive, which is why they are doing the program.
Caskey- Schreiber stated Lynden can pass that cost on to developers in the
form of impact fees. There are many ways for Lynden to grow without jeopardizing
the farmers rights and not allowing them to participate in the PDR Program.
Lynden needs to decide if it is really better off by growing to the Canadian border
or by protecting the industries that are there now. Look out for the industries that
are helping the county right now. A lot of the agricultural profit stays in Lynden.
Harksell stated the County Council also represents the City of Lynden. Lynden is
not saying that it will be healthy by broadening out. It is asking to consider
discussing it when those discussions are merited. They are asking that the council
move the target areas further from the committee. As issues come up, the City
may have the opportunity to prove that it is healthy for the City to grow.
Caskey- Schreiber stated that is not a good scenario. They need to be
committed to the agricultural businesses. As a County, they will all be better off if
they do that.
Fleetwood stated they have to consider whether or not the cities in Whatcom
County have an unfettered right to assume they can expand. The County Council is
balancing the desire to protect farmlands with the cities' abilities to grow. They can
have a win -win situation if they hold the line on growth in certain areas by Lynden,
Natural Resources Committee, 4/22/2003, 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.
which protects farmland. Lynden still has the right to be creative in how they grow.
They could consider growing up, which is necessary to protect certain resources in
the county. Conversely, if they allow Lynden to grow into prime agricultural areas,
it is not a win -win situation because they lose critical farmland. In this instance,
they need to be on the side of protecting farmland.
Caskey- Schreiber moved to recommend approval of the resolution.
Motion carried unanimously.
Roy stated she doesn't see this as not being able to have dialogue with the
City of Lynden. Start from the original recommendation.
Olason stated the elected officials could work out their expectations so the
staff can proceed. They are not far from round three. Many of these issues could
be addressed through interlocal agreements.
Caskey- Schreiber stated Lynden will grow as Lynden wants to grow. The
City can grow up and increase its densities in many ways. It is far from needing to
sprawl out.
Roy stated it isn't the 20 -year growth projections for the City that are the
issue. It is the projections further out. Harksell stated that is correct. They are
looking at beyond 20 years. The City is looking at all those options for growing. It
is trying to be more creative and also respect the historical character of the
community. Those are the issues they are going to have to work out. Hopefully
they can work together to resolve issues long term.
Fleetwood stated the City has to either grow up or out. They can't have it
both ways. Harksell stated that is correct. They had those discussions as it
adopted their comprehensive plan. They tried to come up with compromises
between keeping the character of Lynden and being able to increase the density. A
lot of the new developments are denser. They are getting there. Lynden does not
oppose the idea of setting the boundary between development and agricultural
lands. They are just asking to move that edge back.
OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 10:11 a.m.
Natural Resources Committee, 4/22/2003, 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.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
ATTEST:
Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Sharon Roy, Committee Chair
Natural Resources Committee, 4/22/2003, Page 5