A debate on whether the city should make zoning changes that would increase the building height on the west side of Peace Portal Drive as well as reduce parking requirements is ongoing in Blaine City Council.
City council was slated to vote during its June 26 meeting on zoning code recommendations proposed by the ad-hoc downtown development committee but tabled the vote to the July 10 council meeting. Councilmembers said during the meeting that they pushed the vote to allow two absent councilmembers, Garth Baldwin and Eric Davidson, to vote and to gather more information.
The committee recommends reducing the required residential parking by half. The parking proposal would also look into building a municipal parking garage, according to city documents.
The building height recommendations would allow rooftop recreational amenities and appurtenances to extend above a building. The recommendations would also give developers the option to increase building heights if they fund additional public amenities such as a boardwalk, widened sidewalks, benches, water features or other amenities, according to city documents.
If approved by council, the resolution wouldn’t immediately greenlight the downtown zoning changes. The resolution would merely be a nod from council to the ad-hoc committee’s recommendations, including them in the 2023 land use legislative work program, which would be subjected to further review by the public, planning commission and council.
Council approved forming an ad-hoc downtown advisory committee last fall to discuss proposed policy changes, code amendments and provide city staff with recommendations for downtown development. Impetus to change the downtown zoning, which was last updated in 2018 after seven years of public process, came after developers told city staff current zoning impacted their ability to build.
Seated on the ad-hoc committee were Canadian architect Bruno Freschi, Port of Bellingham employee Greg McHenry, former planning commissioner Susan Sturgill, builder and business owner Scott Meaker, developer Gurdeep (Zeal) Bains, business owner Mia Richardson and Glen Pentland, who is a resident of the Salishan neighborhood adjacent to downtown. Davidson served as the councilmember and Kevin Owens served as the planning commissioner on the committee.
Council discussion
Council discussed the zoning changes during its June 26 work-study session before the council meeting. During the discussion, councilmember Mike Hill brought up concerns that Davidson, who attended half of the eight ad-hoc committee meetings, did not represent the city well.
“It’s really hard to run a business downtown because we don’t get any help from the city,” Hill said. “We just don’t feel heard down there. Look at the streets. Look at the trees … I want you to hear from me, from the crew on Peace Portal, that they’d like to see some cooperation.”
Hill owns the Hill’s Chevron as well as the Starbucks and Bordertown Mexican Grill properties on Peace Portal Drive.
Davidson, who was absent from the council study-session and meeting, later said in a phone interview that he missed the meetings because of family and medical emergencies.
Councilmember Kerena Higgins said she wanted more information to better understand the pros and cons of the downtown zoning changes.
“These decisions will have impacts on people’s lives,” Higgins said. “I’ve already been hearing some discussion on the increase in building height from some constituents.”
Councilmember Richard May said he would want the parking zoning changes to be dependent on a municipal parking lot being built.
“Simply saying [the developers] are going to build a bunch of stuff and aren’t responsible for where the cars end up, that alone I’m not as comfortable,” May said.
Hill said downtown Blaine is smaller, especially compared to other Whatcom County cities, and parking structures can cost millions of dollars and businesses want people walking.
May asked if there could be an impact fee to pay for a parking structure, to which city manager Michael Harmon said he suspected a special taxing district could fund the parking garage.
The city had about 600 public parking spots downtown, councilmember Rhyan Lopez said.
Mayor Mary Lou Steward said the city is not in the best financial situation to take out bonds to fund building a large parking structure.
“I really feel strongly as I’ve said to people that to do nothing is just not an option,” Steward said. “We are digging into our reserves. We need to attract people and business to the downtown, even if it means slight modifications to parking or building height.”
Public comment
Nearly 10 community members spoke about downtown zoning during public comment in the regular meeting.
Sonia Hurt, a Salishan resident who is running for council, said downtown has vacant buildings with rents too high for business owners to rent. Hurt used the example of Living Pantry, a zero-waste store in downtown that recently announced it was closing its Blaine location because of landlord issues.
“You can get all of the new buildings you want and it will end up being the same,” Hurt said.
Hurt also expressed concern about reducing parking requirements because people already park in the Salishan neighborhood during festivals.
Blaine resident Ray Leone encouraged council to consider using White Rock, B.C., as an example, where the tall buildings are farthest from Boundary Bay to avoid obstructing the water view.
“Our home should not become a game of monopoly for anyone,” Leone said. “Call Blaine a Sleeping Beauty if you want but I know most of us here would prefer that to Frankenstein.”
Steven Tojek, who is running against Hurt for council, told council he was concerned new multi-family units in the Salishan neighborhood would impact parking and the water view.
“We’re going to have really nasty parking perhaps and not to mention the water view we love and cherish is being diminished quickly,” he said. “And that’s just the neighborhood, that’s not even the big deal with the city.”
Meaker, a member of the ad-hoc development committee, helped develop Hill’s Chevron gas station and Starbucks on Peace Portal Drive. He clarified to community members that the committee’s recommendations were a compromise.
“What the future of development looks like is something that everybody in this beautiful town has concerns about,” he said. “I understand everybody would love it if there was nothing there, beautiful ocean and sunsets, but in reality there are things that need to be done such as balancing the budget and development concerns.”
Meaker said he’s seen three of the proposed buildings and helped design one.
“They’re beautiful, nautical themed buildings that reflect light. They are not postmodern at all,” he said. “I think they will retain the charm of the city and will be beautiful additions.”
Meaker said all committee members worked in good faith and one of their key recommendations was for the city to consider evaluating a parking space.
Kevin Owens, a planning commission member and ad-hoc downtown development committee member, said the committee put effort into every meeting and acted unbiasedly. He added the recommendations came from data-based research from other cities.
“Knowing this was going to go further in the process and the public would have more time to review it, the recommendations that were made were sincere in their attempt to make business viable in the city of Blaine without destroying the character,” Owens said.
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