GA Advocate
March 20, 2011, Issue

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
• UPCOMING MEETINGS 
• FIRE SPRINKLERS PROPOSED FOR 2012 BUILDING CODE 
• FERNDALE – TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEE 
• BELLINGHAM COMP PLAN – new Environment Chapter 
• PADDEN TRAILS 
• BIRCH BAY WATERSHED ACTION PLAN 
• MAYOR’S REORGANIZATION 
• GOVERNMENT BOARDS  

Upcoming meetings:

GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL – DOE MEETING
Tuesday, March 20, 6-8 p.m. at the Bellingham High School theater
• Ecology has announced an informational meeting on the environmental review process for Gateway Pacific. Representatives from Whatcom County and Ecology will outline the process and answer questions about it. A representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will answer questions about the Corps permitting process and federal requirements. (The County, Ecology and the Corps will coordinate the environmental impact statement (EIS) process, which according to Ecology will comment on potential impacts on the natural and social environment.) For background materials, click here.

WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Tuesday, March 20, 10:30 a.m., Civic Center Garden Room
Surface water work session

JOINT LAKE WHATCOM POLICY WORKING GROUP
Wednesday, March 21, 6 p.m. open house, 6:30 p.m. meeting, City Council Chambers
• Annual meeting of the Joint City of Bellingham & Whatcom County Councils and Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District – all parties dealing with the Lake Whatcom watershed.
Monday, April 9, 9:30 a.m., Civic Center Building, Garden Room
• Monthly working group where many issues get a first vetting. This involves four City and County Council members, plus staff.

WHATCOM COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
Thursday, March 22, 6:30 p.m., County Council Chambers
• Rural Element: Public hearing on proposed amendments dealing with the Growth Management Hearings Board Jan. 9 decision. Click here to see the amendments; Gary Davis is the Planning Department contact.

BELLINGHAM CITY COUNCIL
Monday, March 26, 7 p.m.
Daytime committees and evening council meeting. Padden Trails work session will be included.

WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Tuesday, March 27, 7 p.m.
Daytime committees and evening council meeting

BELLINGHAM PLANNING COMMISSION
Thursday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers – public hearings on:
• ZON2011-00001: A zoning change and movement of a neighborhood boundary line. The proposal would rezone approximately 21,000 square feet of property from Residential, Single to Commercial and move the neighborhood boundary line between Area 5 of the Happy Valley Neighborhood and Area 2A of the Fairhaven Neighborhood. The property is generally located in the 1400 block of 14th St and surrounded by Larrabee and McKenzie Avenues. Owner: Briar Development Company LLP, Contact Donovan Kehrer, (360)733-8334.
NOTICE OF DNS: The city has issued a Determination of Non-significance (DNS) under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Rules (Chapter 197-11- WAC) for this proposal and determined the proposal will not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment.
Materials will be posted at http://www.cob.org/web/commsnl.nsf at least one week before the hearing.

NEXT GAC MEETING – 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 22
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FIRE SPRINKLERS PROPOSED FOR 2012 BUILDING CODE
The Washington Fire Sprinkler Coalition is once again proposing to mandate fire sprinklers in all single-family construction as part of the 2012 International Residential Code (IRC) now being updated by the Washington State Building Code Council (SBCC).  In 2009, the same proposal was considered by the SBCC, and in the end, the council chose to allow each local jurisdiction to determine whether fire sprinklers are right for their citizens.  The BIAW legislative team is working on this one.
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FERNDALE – TRANSPORTATION IMPACT FEE
At a special City Council meeting on March 12, the Ferndale Council approved an impact fee ordinance to set up a two-tier transportation fee, with the following changes:  Changing the impact fee to $3,243 within the city’s Planned Action Area and $2,783 outside of the Planned Action Area, with residentially zoned areas remaining at $2,300 and being increased by 3 percent per annum until the fee reaches the same cost as the area outside of the Planned Action Area (now set at $2,783). The downtown city center was set at the same $2,300 level with the promise that in nine months or less, the City will study downtown fees and suggest further changes.  The two-tier dollar amounts were set with the understanding that Washington State Department of Transportation projects identified would not be funded at 80 percent of the costs of the project.

The Transportation Impact Fee Rebate Ordinance also was approved, but amendments to that ordinance proposed by Attorney Doug Robertson were sent to committee for further review. The plan allows new retail businesses in the Planned Action Area that produce tax revenues averaging certain amounts over their first three years in business, to apply for as much as a 50 percent rebate on transportation impact fees, to be paid back over another three-year period.
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BELLINGHAM COMP PLAN – new Environment Chapter

Bellingham is about to begin consideration of an Environment Element, Chapter 9, to the city’s Comprehensive Plan. A draft is written, which will go to a Planning Commission public hearing on April 12. It will end up before City Council probably in May or June – the City Council committed in January 2011 to adopting this new chapter, "the Environmental Element,” by July 2, 2012. The proposal reportedly "provides a foundation” to be considered during the larger Comp Plan update to be completed in 2016.  To see the staff report and draft proposal, click here.  Staff contact is Kim Weil. 

This document is a summation, a rewrite, of city environmental goals and policies – and a careful reading is advised to be certain the rewording accurately reflects existing policy, since policy can impact your business and livelihood.  

The staff report says this draft consolidates existing environmental goals and policies from the Comp Plan into a single chapter with background information, and that 9 NEW GOALS & 10 NEW POLICIES ARE PROPOSED, related to:  critical areas, climate change adaptation, energy and resource conservation, and fish & wildlife habitat conservation.  See "Part 9,” starting on page 13 of the Draft, for a list of the new goals, and "Part 10,” page 18, for the new policies. The draft updates Comp Plan information on Lake Whatcom water quality issues.  Goals and policies of the city’s Shoreline Master Program also will be included, as per RCW 36.70.480.

Regarding the draft’s treatment of climate change adaptation, which seems to be a new direction: 
Staff ties this to GMA Goal 2, reducing sprawl, and draws from that goal the need to encourage efficient multimodal transportation. The staff report also says, "although climate change is not directly addressed by the GMA at this point, it is an issue that can’t be ignored in long-term planning.”  The section on Climate Change Mitigation notes, "Land use and development also can influence air quality. Maintaining or increasing residential density, and allowing for mixed development, could reduce pollution, primarily by reducing the amount of car trips people must make and thereby reducing emissions.”  The section on Climate Change Adaptation notes, "An example of a climate change adaptation strategy is raising the elevation of development adjacent to the Puget Sound to minimize the risk of sea level rise,” mentions that the City has drafted a Climate Adaptation Plan, and notes that adaptation strategies for Western Washington encourage planning for a sea level rise of 50 inches by the end of the century.
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PADDEN TRAILS
A 5-hour hearing was held March 12 (and slightly into March 13) that included testimony by BIAWC’s Brian Evans. A City Council work session on this proposal is scheduled for Monday, March 26, time not yet specified.  The main arguments seem to be that this is a well-planned development that will have no environmental impact and meets goals of the GMA and Comp Plan on many fronts (infill, open space, trails, mixed housing types, higher density, etc.), vs. neighborhood concerns that a single access road presents a hazard in emergencies and that people don’t want dense development or more traffic in this location.  For council materials, click here. 
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BIRCH BAY WATERSHED ACTION PLAN
The Birch Bay plan code changes were officially introduced March 13 by the County Council.  Hearings and work sessions will follow.  For information on the materials, click here. 
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MAYOR’S REORGANIZATION
Kelli Linville has appointed Peter Ruffatto as interim city attorney, for an unspecified term. In a meeting with BIAWC leaders, she noted that she wants an administrator, not just an attorney, in that role.  Other reorganization changes (which will save the city about $55,000) are noted in documents posted here online. 
Kelli is not going to work through a chief administrative officer, but will take on those duties herself.  On Neighborhood Associations, she proposes:  "Delete the position of Neighborhood Services Coordinator and add the position of Community Outreach Specialist.  I will assume direction of the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee and work with this committee and others to establish a new vision for how we interact with City advisory groups and other key City partners in carrying out the mission of the City.”
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GOVERNMENT BOARDS
The County Council is accepting applications for a variety of Boards, Commissions, and Committees.  All applications can be submitted to the County Council Office.  These include:
• 13 vacancies on eight different Special Diking and Drainage Districts.  Appointees serve until the next Special District General Election, February 2014.  Applicants must own property in the district.  See attached vacancy list and application.  Appointments will be made as we receive applications.
• 7 members on the newly-formed Lummi Island Ferry Advisory Committee. All County residents may apply. Council will make appointments at its meeting on Tuesday, March 27.  Submit applications by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 19, for inclusion in the Council packet. See attached vacancy list and application.
• Vacancies on several other Council-appointed boards and commissions, including: Address and Road Name Appeals Committee, Community Network, Horticulture Pest and Disease Board, Noxious Weed Control Board, Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and Surface Mining Advisory Committee.  See attached vacancy list and application.  Appointments will be made as we receive applications.
For information, click here.  Feel free to contact the Council Office with questions.
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