Key Commitments
Review UGAs at least every 8 years per GMA; Bellingham UGA densities 6-24 units/net acre; Ferndale/Lynden UGA densities 6-10 units/net acre; Blaine/Everson/Nooksack/Sumas UGA densities 4-6 units/net acre; Birch Bay 5-10 units/net acre; Columbia Valley 4-6 units/net acre; Birch Bay small lot single family 10-20 dwelling units/acre; minimum 10-acre lot sizes in unserved UGAs; Cherry Point limited to existing 3 industrial piers; adult businesses not within 1,000 feet of sensitive uses; monitor incentive programs on 5-year basis; annually monitor population growth with report by November 1 each year; 119,907 acres in open space program as of 2014
Goals
(45 total)
- Goal 2A: Ensure designation of sufficient land and densities to accommodate growth needs and protect local economy, rural lifestyle, habitat, fish, and wildlife
- Goal 2B: Encourage continued viability of existing resort communities and allow development of new Master Planned Resorts
- Goal 2C: Channel growth to areas where adequate services can be provided
- Goal 2D: Refine the regulatory system to ensure accomplishment of desired land use goals in a fair and equitable manner
- Goal 2E: Encourage stewardship ethic and respect for cultural resources and natural systems
- Goal 2F: Make use of incentive programs that can effectively encourage achievement of land use goals
- Goal 2G: Encourage citizen participation in the decision making process
- Goal 2H: Preserve private property rights while recognizing the importance of community rights
- Goal 2J: Encourage individuals to honor and respect cultural diversity in our community
- Goal 2K: Discourage development in areas prone to flooding
- Goal 2L: Recognize the important regional differences within Whatcom County
- Goal 2M: Protect and encourage restoration of habitat for fish and wildlife populations including adequate instream flows
- Goal 2N: Within Urban Growth Areas, outside present city limits, the County will maintain jurisdiction until annexation or incorporation
- Goal 2P: Support and encourage cities to increase residential densities within their jurisdictions
- Goal 2Q: Ensure development in Birch Bay and Columbia Valley UGAs is of urban level and proceeds logically
- Goal 2R: Establish interlocal agreements with each city for revenue sharing, services, growth management, annexation
- Goal 2S: Ensure adequate land supply to accommodate twenty years of growth within urban growth areas
- Goal 2T: Establish Urban Growth Areas within which annexations and urban levels of development can occur
- Goal 2U: Evaluate every eight years Bellingham's Urban Growth Area to accommodate twenty year growth projections
- Goal 2V: Provide a sufficient Urban Growth Area for Blaine to accommodate future growth needs
- Goal 2W: Provide an Urban Growth Area for Everson accommodating future growth needs and flood constraints
- Goal 2X: Provide a sufficient Urban Growth Area for Ferndale to accommodate future growth needs
- Goal 2Y: Provide an Urban Growth Area for Lynden of sufficient size to accommodate future growth
- Goal 2Z: Provide an Urban Growth Area for Nooksack accommodating future growth needs and flood constraints
- Goal 2AA: Provide an Urban Growth Area for Sumas accommodating future growth needs and flood constraints
- Goal 2BB: Recognize Birch Bay and Columbia Valley area as county urban growth areas not associated with existing cities
- Goal 2CC: Maintain Cherry Point as an unincorporated urban growth area based on its unique location and characteristics
- Goal 2DD: Retain the character and lifestyle of rural Whatcom County
- Goal 2EE: Ensure rural areas are provided with services consistent with rural character
- Goal 2FF: Provide employment opportunities in the rural parts of Whatcom County
- Goal 2GG: Designate Rural areas to contain a variety of uses and densities while retaining traditional rural character
- Goal 2HH: Establish LAMIRD Designation Criteria
- Goal 2JJ: Designate areas of more intensive rural development that existed on July 1, 1990 as Rural Communities
- Goal 2KK: Provide opportunities for small-scale recreational or tourist uses in rural areas
- Goal 2LL: Designate Rural Business areas to limit and contain nonresidential uses
- Goal 2MM: Designate Rural Neighborhoods to recognize and contain rural areas with higher densities than surrounding rural areas
- Goal 2NN: Recognize Sudden Valley as a Rural Community (Type 1 LAMIRD) with unique challenges
- Goal 2PP: Continue to recognize private parcels surrounded by National Park or National Forest as part of Whatcom County's jurisdiction
- Goal 2QQ: Seek solutions satisfying requirements of Growth Management, needs of non-tribal residents, and goals of Lummi Nation
- Goal 2QQ (Open Space): Conserve or enhance important natural, cultural, and scenic resources
- Goal SS: Identify and protect open space corridors within and between urban growth areas
- Goal 2TT: Promote coordination among county, cities, Port of Bellingham to protect linked greenbelts, parks, and open spaces
- Goal 2UU: Ensure equity between public benefit and private burden while encouraging open space retention
- Goal 2VV: Utilize the established process for siting essential public facilities
- Goal 2WW: Utilize the established siting criteria for essential public facilities
- Goal 2XX: Provide for broad participation in the siting process by affected agencies, citizens and interested parties
- Goal 2YY: Utilize the established review or appeal procedure to resolve differences regarding facility site selection
- Goal 2ZZ: Utilize the established criteria for the location of adult businesses
- Goal 2AAA: Recognize Whatcom County's historical and archeological attributes and encourage preservation of significant lands, sites, and structures
Stronger Policy Language (126 policies)
- Policy 2A-1: Concentrate urban levels of development within designated urban growth areas.
- Policy 2C-3: Preclude urban development within a UGA until public services and facilities are available.
- Policy 2EE-4: Prohibit extension or expansion of municipal public sewer systems outside urban growth areas or LAMIRDs except where it is necessary to protect public health, safety and the environment...
- Policy 2S-5: Annually monitor population growth and publish a report no later than November 1 of each year that analyzes population growth trends over five years in comparison with adopted projections.
- Policy 2T-1: Land within a UGA that is not served by public water and sewer will have the following limitations on development which shall be included in the County development regulations...
- Policy 2CC-11: It is the policy of Whatcom County to limit the number of industrial piers at Cherry Point to the existing three piers...
- Policy 2MM-1: Areas zoned for densities greater than one dwelling per five acres shall be contained within Rural Neighborhood boundaries. Rural Neighborhood boundaries shall not be expanded beyond those established in 2012.
- Policy 2ZZ-3: Adult businesses will not be allowed within 1,000 feet of a school, day care, church, park, library, residential zoning district, rural zoning district, Interstate-5, or state highway.
Aspirational / Monitoring Language (87 policies)
- Policy 2A-10: Recognize the importance of tourism and its influence on the need for land for various types of development.
- Policy 2A-15: Strive to improve predictability to property owners regarding the connection between legal water use, and land use and development by: Supporting completion of groundwater studies...
- Policy 2B-3: Work with property owners in the resort communities to develop an understanding of the unique needs of these areas and evaluate land use regulations for their responsiveness...
- Policy 2DD-3: Encourage property owners to conserve forested areas, agricultural land, and open space by utilizing current-use taxation provisions (RCW 84.34).
- Policy 2FF-1: Support small businesses, cottage industries, home occupations, resource-based, tourist, recreational, and other appropriate industries in the rural areas of Whatcom County.
- Policy 2UU-5: Augment land use regulations by engaging in a proactive program of public investment, landowner incentives, and other actions aimed at preserving open space.
- Policy 2CC-3: Encourage that future developments or expansions within the Cherry Point UGA are consistent with the following: Clean and reduced carbon emitting technology; Avoidance of estuaries...
- Policy 2TT-1: Encourage all jurisdictions to provide adequate neighborhood parks and play areas within safe walking and bicycling distances of residential neighborhoods.