Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

## MODULE S1: STUDY GUIDE **Meeting ID:** BEL-PRB-2025-02-12 ### Meeting Overview The Bellingham Parks and Recreation Advisory Board met on February 12, 2025, to receive updates on major planning initiatives affecting parks and recreation in the city. The meeting featured presentations on the Barkley Urban Village development, city advisory board reforms, the Bellingham Plan comprehensive plan update, and progress on the Parks Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan update. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Urban Village:** A designated high-density development area designed to concentrate growth while preserving surrounding open spaces and natural areas. Barkley is one of seven urban villages planned for Bellingham. **Comprehensive Plan:** A state-mandated 20-year planning document that guides city development, updated every 10 years. It includes chapters on land use, housing, parks, environment, and other topics. **Growth Management Act (GMA):** Washington State legislation from 1990 requiring cities to plan for anticipated population growth and development in sustainable ways. **PROS Plan:** Parks, Recreation, and Open Space plan - Bellingham's implementation document for parks planning that identifies specific projects and improvements over a six-year period. **Type 6 Legislative Process:** A formal city process for amending comprehensive plans, limited to once per year and requiring Planning Commission and City Council review with public hearings. **Advisory Board Reappointment Process:** New city policy requiring all advisory board members to reapply when their terms end, rather than automatic continuation, designed to diversify participation. **Level of Service:** Parks planning metric measuring whether neighborhoods have adequate access to parkland and recreation facilities based on population and geographic distribution. **Greenways:** The voter-approved funding program supporting acquisition and development of parks, trails, and open spaces throughout Bellingham and Whatcom County. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Austin Skipper | New Board Member, Bellingham School District Representative | | Mayor Seth Lund | Mayor of Bellingham | | Anya Gedrich | City Planner, Long Range Planning Team | | Peter Willott | Parks Department Staff | | Lane Weinmann | Parks Department Staff | | Ben Beasley | CEO, Talbot Group (Barkley developers) | | John (last name not provided) | Talbot Group representative | | Bree Loewen | Board member/meeting facilitator | | Steve Janiszewski | Former Cornwall Memorial Park Task Force leader | ### Background Context This meeting occurred during a significant planning period for Bellingham, with multiple long-range plans being updated simultaneously. The city is expecting to grow from about 100,000 to 130,000 people over the next 20 years, requiring careful coordination between housing development, transportation infrastructure, and parks and recreation services. The Barkley Urban Village represents one of the largest private development projects in the city's planning pipeline, covering nearly 80 acres with plans for significant residential and commercial development while preserving substantial open space. This development will test new approaches to integrating private and public open space systems. Simultaneously, the city is reforming how its 20+ advisory boards operate, moving away from automatic reappointments that sometimes resulted in members serving 18-19 years. The new approach emphasizes broader community engagement and removing barriers to participation, including potentially providing stipends for childcare and other support. ### What Happened — The Short Version The board welcomed Austin Skipper as its new member representing Bellingham School District and heard about his background in capital projects and procurement. Mayor Lund visited to explain new policies for advisory boards, emphasizing the need to diversify participation and create more opportunities for community members to serve. Representatives from the Talbot Group presented their plans for Barkley Urban Village, showing how they surveyed 903 individual trees to design roads that preserve existing forest stands while creating development parcels. They're planning significant open space preservation, including a "North 40" area that Jane Talbot specifically wanted to protect. City planner Anya Gedrich updated the board on the Bellingham Plan, the city's comprehensive plan update. She explained how parks connects to multiple chapters beyond just the parks chapter, including community design, environment, climate, transportation, and the new community well-being chapter. Parks staff reviewed accomplishments from the current 2020-2026 PROS plan, showing which projects were completed, underway, or still in planning phases. Highlights included acquiring 236 acres of new parkland, completing major projects like the pier renovation, and upcoming openings at Northern Lights Park and Little Squalicum Park. ### What to Watch Next - Planning Commission meetings on the Bellingham Plan throughout spring 2025, with parks chapter review scheduled for May - March Parks Board meeting featuring public survey results and draft goals for the new PROS plan - Barkley Urban Village adoption process through Planning Commission and City Council - Northern Lights Park ribbon cutting ceremony (timing to be announced) - Little Squalicum Park opening within the next few weeks ---