Whatcom County Planning Commission

**Suzanne Cresswell (Blaine resident, open public comment):** Asked generally how developers are held accountable for infrastructure commitments in UGA development, citing concerns about fire safety, water supply, and stormwater management. **Patrick Alesse (Birch Bay area resident, open comment and Birch Bay public hearing):** Longtime Birch Bay resident and community participant. Argued that Lincoln Road extended to Birch Point should serve as a planning boundary — that Blaine's UGA should not extend below that line, citing drainage implications for Birch Bay Village. Expressed skepticism about the kind of development Blaine contemplates for Birch Point. **Jeff Baker / "Otto Pointer" (online, Blaine Water Coalition):** Identified himself as an appellant in an ongoing SEPA appeal against the City of Blaine, in which Whatcom County is also a co-appellant. Raised concerns about storm water, wetlands, and water delivery for the Vista PUD, which straddles the Blaine/Whatcom County boundary. Announced he has retained counsel and is preparing to publish documentation obtained through the hearing examiner process. Criticized Blaine for refusing to post the information on its website. **Chuck Kinzer (online):** Asked that whatever materials Blaine resubmits be provided to the public with sufficient time to review before the October 9 hearing. **Sharman Burman (Birch Bay resident):** Spoke on behalf of residents affected by Blaine's Birch Point annexation proposal. Cited RCW 36.70A.140 (public participation), RCW 36.70A.110 (land capacity and infrastructure basis for UGA changes), and RCW 36.70A.210 (countywide planning policy consistency). Argued the Birch Bay Community Advisory Committee has not been adequately engaged in Blaine's proposal; that Birch Bay residents deserve formal input before any recommendation; and that annexation of Birch Point before Birch Bay can incorporate would strip the community of land and future tax base. Threatened a Growth Management Hearings Board appeal if process requirements are bypassed. **Lisa Guthrie (Birch Bay, past Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce president):** Reported that the "We Are Birch Bay" incorporation exploration group has received over 2,000 responses from residents, whose top concerns are local control over land use, traffic, stormwater management, and preservation of ecologically sensitive areas. Noted Blaine's latest EIS proposal covers 999 acres of Birch Point. Requested the county consider the impact of Blaine's plans on Birch Bay and provide residen…

**Rollin Harper (Sehome Planning, Nooksack city planner), on the Housing For All Planning Tool:** "There's one number coming in. It's 995 and the tool is spitting out 1300. So this is part of what is driving, as Holly said and Alex did, this is part of what's driving the surplus in our existing land capacity. But the tool is created to make that mathematically impossible." **Carson Cortez (City Planner, Sumas), on why existing residents won't move out of the floodplain:** "The people that live…

Before this meeting: - Five UGA proposals (Sumas, Everson, Nooksack, Birch Bay, Columbia Valley) had been submitted to the county and distributed to the Planning Commission, but had not received formal public hearings. - Blaine's UGA proposal was on the agenda for hearing. - The Birch Bay Community Advisory Committee's recommendations and the Birch Bay Water and Sewer District sewer study had informed county staff's decision to add two UGA Reserve areas to the Birch Bay proposal. - FutureWise and Whatcom Environmental Council had submitted written comments on September 10, but these had not been discussed publicly. After this meeting: - Public hearings on five UGA proposals are now formally on the record. All five hearings closed with no public comment except Birch Bay, which received seven commenters. - Blaine's public hearing is officially deferred to October 9 due to an error in their Land Capacity Analysis. - Carson Cortez confirmed on the record that Sumas is likely to drop its southward UGA expansion and focus solely on westward expansion — a significant change from the submitted proposal, though not yet formally amended or approved by Sumas City Council. - County staff acknowledged on the r…

--- ### Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Planning Commission held a public hearing and work session on September 11, 2025, focused entirely on Urban Growth Area (UGA) and UGA Reserve proposals for five communities: Sumas, Everson, Nooksack, Birch Bay, and Columbia Valley. A sixth hearing — for the City of Blaine — was postponed after Blaine withdrew its proposal to correct an error in its Land Capacity Analysis, with the hearing rescheduled to October 9, 2025. No formal decisions were made; the evening was structured for public input and commissioner questions to city and county planners. --- ### Key Terms and Concepts **Urban Growth Area (UGA):** A boundary designated under Washington State's Growth Management Act (GMA) within which urban-density development is encouraged. Cities and counties must plan for sufficient land inside UGAs to accommodate projected population, housing, and employment growth. **UGA Reserve:** A designation in Whatcom County's Comprehensive Plan identifying areas adjacent to UGAs that may be candidates for future UGA expansion — at the next 10-year update or later. It is a planning signal, not an immediate authorization for development. **Growth Management Act (GMA):** Washington State law (RCW 36.70A) requiring cities and counties to adopt comprehensive plans, designate UGAs, and plan for projected growth. It also protects agricultural lands, critical areas, and other resource lands. **Land Capacity Analysis (LCA):** A technical calculation that estimates how many people, housing units, and jobs a given area of land can accommodate under current or proposed zoning. It accounts for vacant, partially used, and underutilized parcels, then applies deductions for roads, wetlands, market factors, and other constraints. **Multi-Jurisdictional Resolution:** A non-binding agreement adopted in early 2025 by Whatcom County and all cities, establishing shared population, housing, and employment growth allocations for the 2023–2045 planning period. Cities' UGA proposals were expected to be consistent with these numbers. **House Bill 1220 (HB 1220):** State legislation requiring cities and counties to plan for and accommodate housing across all income levels — low, moderate, and above-moderate — and to document that capacity in the LCA. This requirement was new to this Comprehensive Plan update cycle and created mathematical tensions with existing population allocations. **Floodplain / Flood Zone:** Land that has a significant risk of flooding, mapped by FEMA. The GMA generally prohibits UGA expansion into floodplains unless specific exceptions apply, such as when a city owns the land or development rights have been permanently extinguished through a restrictive covenant. **Agricultural Resource Lands (A Lands):** Lands designated under the GMA as having long-term commercial agricultural significance. Converting these lands to UGA or UGA Reserve requires a formal "de-designation" process with specific criteria. **Restrictive Covenant:** A legally binding agreement recorded on a property deed that permanently restricts how land can be used. Several cities proposed using restrictive covenants to extinguish development rights on small floodplain parcels needed for UGA contiguity under GMA requirements. **De-designation:** The formal process of removing a parcel's agricultural resource land designation so it can be incorporated into a UGA. It requires meeting specific criteria established in the GMA and the cou…