Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission

The Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission met for their first gathering of 2025 to discuss Mayor Kim Lund's housing executive order and the city's comprehensive approach to addressing Bellingham's housing crisis. Mayor Lund was absent, attending the Governor's inaugural activities in Olympia, leaving staff to present her ambitious housing reform agenda to neighborhood representatives. The meeting centered on a detailed presentation by Planning and Community Development Director Blake Ryan, who walked commissioners through the recently passed parking minimum elimination ordinance and previewed upcoming middle housing reforms mandated by state law. The discussion revealed the complexity of Bellingham's housing challenges, with the city facing a target of accommodating roughly 17,000 new housing units by 2045 while currently producing only about 50% of needed housing. A significant portion of the meeting addressed concerns from neighborhood representatives about the impacts of increased density, parking availability, and the prioritization of certain development types. Downtown resident Sheryl Russell raised specific quality-of-life concerns about existing multifamily developments, requesting that development review teams visit problem properties before approving new ones. Silver Beach representative Kerri Burnside pressed for affordability provisions to be included in parking reform, noting the $14-15 million annual gap between housing subsidy needs and available funding. The tone was generally collaborative but revealed underlying tensions between the urgency of state housing mandates and neighborhood concerns about implementation. Ryan emphasized that the city is legally obligated to implement middle housing reforms by 2026, regardless of local preferences, but stressed that interim ordinances would allow for adjustments based on real-world impacts. The discussion highlighted Bellingham's position as a regional growth center facing unprecedented housing production targets while trying to maintain neighborhood character and livability.

No formal votes were taken during this meeting. The session was informational, focusing on: - **Housing Executive Order Implementation**: Staff outlined administrative actions already underway, including development review prioritization for downtown, old town, low-income multifamily, middle housing, and urban village projects - **Parking Minimum Elimination**: The ordinance passed final reading on January 13, 2025, and becomes effective January 28, 2025 - **Middle Housing Timeline**: Spring 2025 target for bringing middle housing ordinance forward, with state mandate requiring compliance by 2026 - **Design Review Modifications**: Future changes to comply with state requirements eliminating public hearings for larger projects Staff confirmed the annual neighborhood reimbursement increase from $700 to $1,000 for 2025.

**Blake Ryan, on state housing mandates:** "This is not a whether this is gonna happen. This is how it's gonna happen." **Blake Ryan, on parking equity concerns:** "If we are going to be equitable about that conversation, it's not fair, in my opinion, to point just to the apartment and say, you're causing this problem and not look across the city and say, okay, let's all do this." **Sheryl Russell, on development quality:** "I'm not talking about a view I'm talking about. I'm talking about a way of living. I'm talking about living, you know, the quality of living." **Blake Ryan, on housing production challenges:** "We have traditionally over the last number of years built out at roughly about 50% of what the county provides... part of what we're trying to do is to look at ways that help to reduce those barriers to that housing production." **Kerri Burnside, on affordability provisions:** "Because our housing, the lack of affordable housing has become a level of crisis that keeps getting worse, more and more people are being displaced and directly into homelessness. We have to start looking at these problems and approaching them differently." **Blake Ryan, on neighborhood associations' evolving role:** "There is not, given some of the State direction and State mandates, there is not time to go in and amend all 25 neighborhood plans in this comprehensive plan cycle."

# Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission Discusses Housing Executive Order and Parking Reform ## Meeting Overview The Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission met virtually and in-person on January 15, 2025, without Mayor Kim Lund, who was attending the Governor's inaugural activities in Olympia. The meeting was led by staff from the Mayor's Office and featured Planning and Community Development Director Blake Ryan presenting on Mayor Lund's housing executive order and the recently approved parking reform ordinance. The session drew neighborhood representatives from across Bellingham, including downtown, Silver Beach, Happy Valley, and other areas, for what became an intensive discussion about housing policy, development priorities, and the city's response to state mandates. The meeting ran late into the evening, reflecting the complex and sometimes contentious nature of current housing debates in Bellingham. ## The Housing Executive Order Framework Blake Ryan began by distributing hard copies of Mayor Lund's housing executive order, explaining that it represents a comprehensive approach to addressing Bellingham's housing crisis through multiple administrative and legislative actions. The executive order opens with extensive "whereas" statements spanning the first three pages, establishing the rationale for urgent housing action based on community needs and state mandates. "We know, and you can look at both the experiences of those in our community are facing as well as some of the directives we're receiving from the State that housing is a critical need for us at all levels of the conversation and all different price points for different members of our community," Ryan explained. He emphasized that household demographics "vary wildly in today's society," requiring housing solutions across a broader spectrum than traditional approaches. The executive order includes two main sections: administrative actions the mayor has directed staff to undertake, and three specific legislative items for City Council consideration. Ryan noted these don't have specific prioritization but represent a coordinated work program over the coming year and beyond. ## Parking Reform Implementation and Development Prioritization The first legislative action—citywide elimination of parking minimums—was approved by City Council on January 13th and will become effective January 28th. Ryan explained this creates a 15-day window between final approval and implementation, following standard municipal procedures. The executive order also establishes a development review prioritization system that puts certain project types first in line for city processing. Downtown and old town development projects receive top priority, followed by low-income multifamily housing, middle housing (2-6 unit developments), and projects in the city's seven urban villages. This prioritization drew immediate concerns from downtown resident Sheryl Russell, who lives in the area and has experienced ongoing problems with existing developments. "I would love for somebody to come. I would love for them to come and walk my property and make sure that this doesn't happen again, because it is not a very livable situation," Russell said, describing issues with blocked fire lanes, inadequate parking enforcement, and residents being fined $250 for parking violations. Russell emphasized her support for density while demanding smarter implementation: "I moved here for density and building. I moved here to have a smaller footstep and that's why I'm sharing walls with other people. That's why I didn't buy a single family home, but it needs to be done smarter, and I want to make sure we're smart as we infill the downtown with more residential properties." ## Middle Housing and State Mandates The second legislative action involves implementing middle housing types citywide—duplexes, triplexes, and small multifamily buildings that fill the gap between single-family homes and large apartment complexes. Ryan explained this addresses both economic and regulatory pressures. "In this community we have really focused quite a bit of development activity over the past several decades on detached single family housing and kind of on the other end of the spectrum, mid to large scale multifamily," Ryan said. "There's a term of art in the industry called middle housing, which often refers to a multitude of different housing forms." The state has mandated this change for "tier one" cities like Bellingham with over 75,000 residents. Cities must enact compliant rules within six months of comprehensive plan approval—by 2026 for Bellingham. "If we do not enact those rules, then by law, the State's model ordinance supersedes our local development regulations," Ryan warned. "This is not a whether this is gonna happen. This is how." The city plans to implement middle housing citywide with specific exceptions for the lake watershed (protecting drinking water), critical environmental areas, and locations lacking infrastructure capacity. Ryan noted potential complications with homeowners' association covenants that restrict such development, but clarified the city cannot deny permits based on private HOA restrictions. ## Housing Production Targets and Funding Challenges Ryan presented data showing Bellingham faces unprecedented housing production targets. Washington State has assigned Whatcom County a target of 34,377 new housing units by 2045—the first time the state has set such specific goals. Bellingham typically absorbs about 50% of countywide growth, though discussions continue about potentially increasing that share to 55%. Crucially, about 63% of these units must be affordable to households earning below 80% of area median income ($106,300 for a family of four in Bellingham). This creates a massive funding challenge, as the city currently brings in $14-15 million annually for affordable housing—only about 20% of the estimated $80-100 million needed. Silver Beach representative Kerri Burnside pressed on this funding gap, asking whether the city could require developers to contribute to affordable housing when they save money by not building parking. Ryan acknowledged the mathematical challenge: while eliminating a parking space might save $20,000-$60,000, the gap between construction costs ($400,000-$500,000 per unit) and what moderate-income households can afford ($300,000) is much larger. "That parking space of 20 to $60,000 isn't enough to make up that gap, and there's not enough funding sources to bridge all of those gaps," Ryan explained. However, he noted that eliminating parking requirements removes artificial constraints on project viability, potentially allowing additional building height and more units to spread costs across a larger base. ## Development Economics and Market Reality The discussion revealed complex tensions between housing affordability goals and development economics. Ryan showed data indicating Bellingham has built only about 50% of needed housing over recent decades, with a particularly severe drop during the 2008-2012 recession that the city still hasn't overcome. Recent years have shown dramatic swings in production, from a banner year of over 500 units in 2021 to significant drops afterward as interest rates climbed to 7-9%. "Projects were too expensive to pull together funding," Ryan explained, though 2024 showed improvement. The city currently sees about 54% rental housing versus 46% ownership, a shift driven partly by state regulations that make condominium development legally risky for developers due to liability and insurance requirements. However, new state laws allow various ownership models for middle housing and accessory dwelling units. When asked about external investors buying local properties, Ryan acknowledged this as a "capitalist society" reality while noting ongoing efforts like Councilmember Cotton's work on excessive fee ordinances and state-level rental protection measures. ## Parking Policy Philosophy and Equity Concerns Ryan defended the parking reform with detailed analysis of how parking requirements evolved from permissive (1947) to mandatory (1969) based on outdated national averages from the Institute of Transportation Engineers. "Many of those regulations were just kind of uniformly adopted, and they're 55 years old, and there hasn't been any major shifts in approach," he said. The policy aims to let market forces determine appropriate parking levels rather than arbitrary minimums. Ryan cited evidence from other cities showing typical reductions of 20-30% in parking provision, not elimination entirely, as developers still need to satisfy lenders and tenants. He also addressed equity concerns about apartment dwellers parking on streets while single-family homeowners don't use their garages. Using his own neighborhood as an example, Ryan noted most houses park on the street despite having garages used for storage. "If we are going to be equitable about that conversation, it's not fair, in my opinion, to point just to the apartment and say, you're causing this problem and not look across the city," he said. ## Emergency Preparedness and Transportation Concerns The California wildfires sparked discussion about emergency evacuation without personal vehicles. Russell described dinner conversations with friends about how to evacuate with essential belongings if they didn't own cars, referencing images of Los Angeles residents fleeing with possessions in wagons. Ryan acknowledged emergency planning challenges while promoting city Fire Department employee Greg Hope, who provides neighborhood emergency preparedness presentations. "Planning ahead. Having a plan in place is probably the single best thing," Ryan emphasized, rather than making decisions during crisis situations. Jake Charlton from Happy Valley asked about expanding transit pass programs beyond Western Washington University's free student passes. Ryan noted the city provides free passes to employees and mentioned Mayor Lund's interest in exploring broader free transit, given that WTA's funding model doesn't rely solely on fare revenue. ## Insurance Crisis and Long-term Viability Russell raised concerns about rapidly rising insurance costs for multifamily buildings, describing 70% premium increases in her downtown building and some properties becoming uninsurable entirely. "Are we going to be doing something proactive and working with insurance companies, or trying to figure out how we address that issue as we create more needed multifamily dwellings?" she asked. Ryan acknowledged this as a growing national problem affecting property markets from Florida to Los Angeles, but noted Bellingham lacks sufficient influence to address large-scale insurance market changes. He suggested working with state legislators on regulatory approaches while monitoring how markets adapt to climate-related risks. The discussion touched on broader shifts from housing as shelter to housing as investment, which Ryan identified as a societal change requiring ongoing adjustment. "The number one wealth generator in this country is property ownership," he observed, noting inherent tensions in treating housing simultaneously as basic shelter and investment commodity. ## Implementation Timeline and Next Steps The middle housing ordinance is expected in spring 2025, while design review changes will align with state mandates. Ryan explained that interim ordinances allow immediate action while staff evaluates impacts and develops permanent regulations. Based on other cities' experience, the city expects about 10% adoption rates for middle housing options—roughly one property per block changing annually. This reflects both physical constraints and personal preferences that limit universal adoption. The city has tracked about 200 short-term rentals through a compliance vendor, though officials are considering temporary relaxation for major events like the 2026 World Cup, recognizing tourism economic opportunities while balancing housing needs. ## Closing and Procedural Concerns The meeting concluded after 11 PM with administrative notes about future meetings and brief discussion of procedural concerns. Some representatives expressed frustration about the parking ordinance's approval sequence, feeling public input came too late in the process despite extended comment periods. Staff clarified the difference between public hearings (required for ordinances) and general public comment periods, while acknowledging feedback about timing and communication around major policy changes. The February 19th meeting was announced, with new representative Stella Keating from Western Washington University introduced as the session ended, reflecting ongoing neighborhood leadership transitions in this period of significant housing policy development. This meeting captured Bellingham at a crossroads—facing state mandates for dramatic housing production increases while grappling with community concerns about development impacts, affordability gaps, and long-term livability. The discussion revealed both the technical complexity of housing policy and the deeply personal stakes residents feel in their neighborhoods' futures, setting the stage for continued debate as these policies move toward implementation.