Comprehensive Plan Update: Community Survey Results

2016

WASHINGTON Comprehensive Plan

Photo by Tore Ofteness

November 14, 2016 Ordinance No. 2016-11-037 Amended by Ord: 2017-11-025, 2019-12-044, 2020-12-036, 2020-12-037, 2021-10-041 and 2021-10-043

Bellingham Comprehensive Plan 2016

Acknowledgements

Mayor

Kelli Linville

Bellingham City Council

Pinky Vargas, Council President Roxanne Murphy, President Pro Tempore

Terry Bornemann, Mayor Pro Tempore April Barker Gene Knutson

Daniel Hammill Michael Lilliquist

Jack Weiss*

Bellingham Planning Commission

Ali Taysi, Commission Chair Garrett O'Brien, Commission Vice Chair

Phyllis McKee Steve Crooks Tom Grinstad Lisa Anderson

Jeff Brown Cerise Noah*

*Term ended prior to Planning Commission recommendation or City Council adoption.

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Bellingham Comprehensive Plan 2016

Acknowledgements

Transportation Commission

Jim McCabe, Commission Chair James Gephardt Tim Hostetler Tim Crandall Jim Bjerke Tom Weller Bret Beaupain

(One new appointee term began March 2016 after review of the plan)

Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

See Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan for list of board members

Contributing City Staff

Rick Sepler, AICP, Planning and Community Development Director Greg Aucutt, AICP, Planning and Community Development Assistant Director Lisa Pool, AICP, Senior Planner Chris Behee, GISP, GIS Senior Analyst Kate Newell, GISP, GIS Analyst Chris Koch, Planner II Moshe Quinn, Planner II Kim Weil, Environmental Planner

Tara Sundin, Community and Economic Development Manager Heather Aven, Administrative Secretary Fiona Starr, Office Assistant Leslie Bryson, Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Oliver, Parks Development Manager Julia Burns, Parks Planner Ted Carlson, Public Works Director Brent Baldwin, AICP, Development Manager

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Bellingham Comprehensive Plan 2016

Acknowledgements

Chris Comeau, AICP-CT, Transportation Planner

Alan Marriner, Deputy City Attorney

Renee LaCroix, Public Works Assistant Director - Natural Resources

Analiese Burns, PWS, LEED AP, Habitat and Restoration Manager

Clare Fogelsong, Natural Resources Policy Manager

Brian Henshaw, Finance Director

Bill Newbold, Fire Chief

Bill Hewett, Assistant Fire Chief

Clifford Cook, Police Chief

Pamela Nyberg Kiesner, Library Director

Janice Keller, Library Communications, Community Relations and Programming Manager

Patricia Leach, Museum Director

Mark Gardner, Senior Legislative Analyst

Additional Contributors

Hugh Conroy, Whatcom Council of Governments Planning Director Lethal Coe, AICP, Whatcom Council of Governments Senior Planner Melissa Morin, Whatcom County Health Department Community Health Specialist

Pete Stark, Whatcom Transportation Authority General Manager Rick Nicholson, Whatcom Transportation Authority Director of Service Development

Matt Aamot, Whatcom County Senior Planner Gary Davis, AICP, Whatcom County Senior Planner Mark Personius, Whatcom County Planning and Development Services Assistant Director Vikki Jackson, Northwest Ecological Services, LLC

Pamela Jull, Applied Research Northwest

Special thanks to the citizens of Bellingham.

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Bellingham Comprehensive Plan 2016

Introduction

Bellingham is a vibrant city of approximately 83,580 people (2015) with a variety of places to live, work, shop and recreate; excellent schools; and a picturesque natural setting on Bellingham Bay with Mount Baker as its backdrop. Serving as the county seat of Whatcom County, the City accommodates about 40% of the county's population and about two thirds of its jobs. The Bellingham community is generally described as the area east of Bellingham Bay and the Bellingham International Airport, west of Lake Whatcom and Squalicum Mountain, north of Chuckanut Mountain and Chuckanut Bay, and south of Kelly Road. As of 2015, the City encompassed approximately 28 square miles, excluding that portion of the City limits covered by Bellingham Bay, Lake Whatcom and Lake Padden.

A Brief History Prior to white settlement, the Lummi, Nooksack and other Coast Salish tribes thrived on the natural resources of what would eventually become Bellingham. English Captain George Vancouver first explored the area in 1792 and named Bellingham Bay for Sir William Bellingham, Vancouver's British Navy Provisioner. Small communities came and went on the shores of Bellingham Bay through boom and bust cycles during the 1800s. Early settlements around Bellingham Bay began in the 1850s with the construction of a lumber mill at the mouth of Whatcom Creek, and the community that grew around this enterprise was named Whatcom. Elk Street, today's State Street, circa 1886. Within a few years, the settlements of Fairhaven, Bellingham and Sehome were created. The communities grew steadily and, in the 1880s, Whatcom and Sehome incorporated. Fairhaven followed suit in 1890. The communities voted to consolidate into a single municipality called Bellingham in 1903. Much of Bellingham's historic character remains, with a large number of historic buildings in the Downtown and Fairhaven Districts and adjacent neighborhoods.

Bellingham Snapshot Like the rest of Whatcom County, Bellingham's population growth was slow but steady from the 1950s to 1980s, averaging about 1% annual growth. Beginning in 1986, the growth rate increased to just over 2%. From 1995 to 2015, Bellingham's total population (incorporated and unincorporated urban growth area, or UGA) grew from 67,825 to 93,940 people. This growth represents a 20-year increase of about 26,100 people, or 39%.

In terms of total acreage, residential development is the dominant land use in the City (over half of the City's total land area is zoned residential). Residential development is also encouraged in the City's commercial and urban village zones. Bellingham had approximately 37,825 dwelling units in 2015, about 54% of which were single-family homes. The greater Bellingham area is home to about 64% of the total employment in Whatcom County. Approximately 26% of the total City acreage is zoned for commercial and industrial development.

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Bellingham Comprehensive Plan 2016

Introduction

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Introduction

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Introduction

Additional demographic and background information can be found in the supporting information sections of other chapters of this plan.

Planning Framework Washington cities and counties have prepared comprehensive plans for many years; however, growth management in the state took on new meaning with the passage of the Growth Management Act (GMA) by the Washington Legislature in 1990. The GMA was enacted in response to rapid population growth and concerns about suburban sprawl, environmental protection, quality of life and other issues. The GMA contains 14 goals that were adopted by the legislature to "guide the development and adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations of counties and cities required to plan under the act" (RCW 36.70a.020). For a plan to be valid, it must be consistent with these goals and the specific requirements of the GMA. The 14 goals are summarized as follows:

Guide urban growth to areas where urban services can be adequately provided; Reduce urban sprawl; Encourage efficient multi-modal transportation systems; Encourage the availability of affordable housing to all economic segments of the population; Encourage economic development throughout the state; Assure private property is not taken for public use without just compensation; Encourage predictable and timely permit processing; Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries; Encourage retention of open space and development of recreational opportunities; Protect the environment and enhance the state's quality of life; Encourage the participation of citizens in the planning process; Ensure adequate public facilities and services necessary to support development; Identify and preserve lands and sites of historic and archaeological significance; and Manage shorelines of state-wide significance.

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