Whatcom County Council Special Committee of the Whole
Meeting Summary
The Whatcom County Council convened a Special Committee of the Whole on February 3, 2026 — a three-hour working session touching three distinct but thematically linked areas: state legislative advocacy for flood mitigation funding, urban growth area and zoning proposals from the 2025 Comprehensive Plan update, and a candid round-robin of individual councilmember policy priorities for the year ahead.
The most substantive policy business occurred under AB2026-078, a detailed presentation by Planning and Development Services planner Matt Aamot on remaining UGA and zoning proposals for the comprehensive plan covering Birch Bay, Columbia Valley, and rural and resource lands. The session produced two unanimous committee motions (each 6-0 with Galloway temporarily away): one advancing Elenbaas's idea of exploring adding Nooksack River shorelines to the county's Mineral Resource Lands Special District, and one supporting the PDS staff's original proposal to allow duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development (LAMIRDs) countywide — a position the Planning Commission had declined to recommend fully.
The flood mitigation legislative request (AB2026-037) produced the meeting's first vote: a 7-0 endorsement of the county's $15 million capital budget ask to the state legislature, covering acquisition, easements, and advanced design for flood management projects centered on Everson, Nooksack, and Sumas. Stremler expressed measured frustration about continued emphasis on design over execution, while Elenbaas pressed Holmes on whether the mayors' more immediate requests — including sediment removal and river work this summer — were incorporated in the ask.
Council Chair Galloway, participating from Olympia, provided brief legislative updates including progress on the Lummi Island Ferry District legislation and her engagement with the Ecosystem Services Bill. Scanlon announced plans to bring a resolution in support of foundational public health services funding — threatened by the governor's proposed budget cuts — to the Council acting as Health Board, as soon as the following week.
The councilmember project roundtable (AB2026-126) served as a preview of the February 17 Annual Retreat, revealing five thematic priorities that span the council: flood response and mitigation, behavioral health access and prevention, shelter and housing options, criminal justice reform, and local food system infrastructure. Elenbaas introduced several specific code reform projects with immediate legislative intent, including a transparency ordinance modeled on federal and state administrative rulemaking, a slaughterhouse code update responding to Agriculture Advisory Committee requests, and a review of legacy concomitant agreements that may be suppressing buildable land capacity.