Vol. 4, #46
The Big Box Contretemps, a story that won’t go away, was pushed
forward when representatives of the City Planning Commission voted 3-2 a
request that the Planning Department comment on several issues not in the
original ordinance that would enable super stores to enlarge their operations. A
lot of questions were produced during the June 25 session seeking public input. It’s anticipated that the City Council will
render a decision in August or September.
Chief architect of relaxing restrictions as trade-offs for
environmentally friendly ground rules is Mayor Dan Pike.
That public hearing was preceded by the following letter from
your Neighborhood Association with copies to Mayor Dan Pike and Planning
Director Tim Stewart:
Planning Commission
City of Bellingham
The Guide Meridian/Cordata
Neighborhood Association is writing in support of the expansion of big box
stores with appropriate conditions important to the welfare of our neighborhood
and city.
Our neighborhood is the home to
several big box stores including Wal-Mart and Costco. Because of this, we are particularly interested and impacted by
the issue of expansion of these stores.
When the Bellingham City Council
approved the building of Bellis Fair Mall on the edge of Meridian in the 80’s,
they also created a commercial zone running north from the Mall to Horton along
Meridian.
As the big box stores located on
Meridian, they were permitted by our planning department. It was clear this is where the city wanted
the major commercial growth to happen.
We now have a major commercial engine in our neighborhood. Millions are generated in these economically
trying times by this commercial zone.
Over the years, hundreds of dwelling
units have been built in the same neighborhood.
Single family, condos, apartments and senior living institutions have
sprung up all around the Meridian commercial zone. A community college is located here, as well
as a major WTA hub.
While all this growth was happening,
parks, trails, and open spaces were not created as visualized in city
planning. We are just now seeing some
relief on that front. We are very
concerned that if the big box stores are not allowed to expand to reflect the
needs of their growth, our neighborhood will end up with big box stores, gaping
and empty. The tax revenues will
disappear.
We definitely want to support the
proposal to allow expansion with conditions of the big box stores in our
neighborhood. They are already here and
expanding their own footprint will not affect any other neighborhood. It will ad more tax revenue to the entire
city, provide employment to more citizens and continue to serve the needs of
those customers that patronize them.
They are good neighbors and we want them to stay with us.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Lederer, Beverly Jacobs,
Co-Presidents Board of Directors Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood
Association
June 18, 2009
Cc: Mayor Pike, Bellingham City
Council, Tim Stewart, Planning Dept.
In what may have been a Bellingham “first,” your board of
directors and general members present at the June 9 meeting unanimously adopted
a resolution informing the City of Bellingham that it supports design
modifications to the “Cordata Country” plat as presented by Ted Mischaikov of
M:KOV Development I. The plat, not yet
officially named, was formerly owned by D.R. Horton. The vote follows information gained from two
charrettes that form the basis for stakeholder information, participation, and
inclusion as precursors to the more formal public process to come.
Another hot topic is the Infill Toolkit, a COB Planning
Department device to create small footprint housing (there are nine different
types) on small lots. It’s a
controversial approach with the anti group led by the web sited Zone Maven
whose intense irritation revolves around people who rent out rooms to students
thereby incurring the Dreaded Added Automobile Curse. Actually, the ZM makes some good points. Interestingly enough, the small footprint
homes including cottages are being embraced by Cordata’s present and future
builders.
“Cordata’s radical change” was a telling point of reference made by architect David
Christensen as he led a coalition of City officials, community leaders and
vocal Cordatans through two charrettes designed to inspire commentary about Tin
Rock Development’s rezone request. Tin
Rock, a 45.7 acre proposed development located on the east side of Cordata
Parkway between Horton and Stuart Rds., is owned by Blair Murray. A third session, held June 30, featured a
concept plan presented by Christensen who also addressed questions involving
design, process and technical aspects of the proposal.
Deadline Dash….Bellingham police need your help.
More than 59,000 square feet of lawns and about 100 shrubs and trees have been
damaged or destroyed in your neighborhood; the replacement value is between $60,000
and $100,000. Targeted are commercial
properties, condos, apartment complexes, retirement communities, strip malls,
property management businesses and realtors.
Anyone with information should call Detective Sergeant Mike Johnston
(778-8687)….There will be a Bellingham Neighbors Night Out to be held August
4. Stay tuned to this space for further
information in the next Insider....Cold
and dry has been our weather since late May, so much so that lawn and gardening
watering cutbacks have been ordered.
Those with even numbered addresses are limited to Tuesdays, Thursdays,
and Saturdays while Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are O.K. for uneven numbers. Mondays are a no-no for both….The City’s
Community First! Gardens will hold a workshop July 21 at 7 p.m. at the downtown
Community Food Co-op. Further, there
will be Healthy Connections Tours at Bellingham’s four community gardens
including our very own produced by the GM/CNA’s Community Garden
Committee. The tours will be from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. on consecutive Saturdays (July 18 & 25)….Most disappointing
was the news at press time that Cordata trails, scheduled to be built this
summer, have been rescheduled for 2010.
The story out of Parks & Recreation blames a holdup of approval by
federal and state agencies for the design of a bridge over wetlands as part of
trail design. That’s another way of
saying bureaucratic paperwork has been slowed down because of budget
cutbacks.
More later,
Bob Sanders
with Micah Caucutt’s gracious help
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