Permit hearing for Birch Bay berm scheduled for April 10

Roland Middleton, special projects manager for Whatcom County Public Works, urged attendees at a February Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce luncheon to let the county hearing examiner know what they think about the Birch Bay berm beach restoration project.

Whatcom County scheduled an April 10 hearing for the Birch Bay berm beach restoration project’s shoreline substantial development permit.

With the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review of the project finally complete – the county fulfilled NEPA requirements early this year after more than two years of work – the shoreline permit is one of the biggest remaining hurdles for a roughly $12 million project decades in the works.

The project calls for adding about 150,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel to 1.6 miles of beach along Birch Bay Drive between Lora Lane and Cedar Avenue. That will raise the beach to protect the roadway from storms, replacing a series of ineffective seawalls and other concrete structures. The project also includes new bicycle and pedestrian paths.

The hearing examiner, Michael Bobbink, will decide whether to grant or deny the permit after the hearing.

Whatcom County added the project to its Birch Bay Community Plan in 1977, but people shouldn’t expect the hearing examiner to know the project’s significance to Birch Bay residents, said Whatcom County public works special projects manager Roland Middleton.

“Do not assume that the examiner is going to know that this is an important project to you. You have to tell him,” he said at a February 21 Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce luncheon. “There are people who don’t live here that are coming out in opposition to spending this amount of money on your community.”

The county hasn’t yet set a time for the hearing; it will likely take place at county council chambers, at 311 Grand Avenue, in Bellingham, Middleton said. Comments can also be submitted by email before the hearing using hearingexamineroffice@co.whatcom.wa.us, or sent to the hearing examiner at the Whatcom County Courthouse, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, WA 98225.

In addition to the shoreline permit, the project still needs a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is being processed, and county officials must finalize a permanent easement and several temporary construction easements. The project also needs a construction permit from the state Department of Ecology, which the county will apply for once construction is imminent.

The county plans to start building the berm in early fall 2019 and finish by spring 2021. Construction will continue through summer 2020, but will pause for some of Birch Bay’s festivals and events, Middleton said.