Woodberry gets the green light from city council

Blaine City Council unanimously voted to give final plat approval to Woodberry, a gated subdivision that will house 29 single-family homes just south of Fire Station 62 on Semiahmoo Parkway.

With plat infrastructure over 80 percent complete, the city of Blaine’s community development services (CDS) and public works department recommended council give final approval during their September 27 meeting. Council voted 6-0, with councilmember Garth Baldwin absent.

“I think it’ll be a great fit for the Semiahmoo community,” said Brady Mayson, who Cascade Engineering Group hired to develop the subdivision.

The 10-acre subdivision will have craftsman-style farm homes on lots averaging 9,000 square feet. Homeowners with dogs have the option to put a three-rail cedar fence around their property, Mayson said, which is a change from most Semiahmoo homes that aren’t allowed to have fencing. Mayson described the subdivision as “quaint” and “classic,” and said he hopes it will be similar to the Heronswood Community he developed on Shintaffer Road.

Next on Mayson’s agenda is to obtain building permits. With these, construction could start as soon as November. He expects Woodberry to be complete in the next two years.

The subdivision will also have a trail, private roads and a stormwater facility maintained by the homeowner association, CDS director Stacie Pratschner said during the meeting.

Mayson filed the application for final plat approval in July and the city determined the application was complete August 2, according to a city staff report.

The vote comes after community members raised concern on the subdivision’s environmental impact before council approved the Woodberry preliminary plat and planned unit development in April 2019. The city’s planning commission addressed concerns on a vegetative buffer next to Semiahmoo Parkway, prompting a landscape plan to be made that CDS approved.

During the council meeting, councilmember Mary Lou Steward recounted concerns neighbors had on the vegetative buffer and removal of trees. Steward said Woodberry fell between Gleneagle Villas, which is densely covered with trees, and Sea Smoke, which has less cover.

As the project moved along, Steward said some tree removal made sense, such as at the entrance of the subdivision where tree clearing was needed to make space for large delivery trucks to do a U-turn at the entrance gate.

“I dealt with this exact matter in my role as planning commissioner quite a few times and the gallery filled up with torches and pitchforks,” councilmember Richard May said. “There was a lot of concern about the density of the cover.”

City council and staff lauded Mayson’s work to address the community’s concerns about Woodberry. 

“Brady Mason and Cascade Engineering Group went above and beyond in working with the public works staff and CDS,” public works director Bernie Ziemianek said. “They were very cooperative. When any issues arose, both staff got together, went to the job site, agreed on what the fix might be and moved forward. I think it’s a testament that this development reaches this point tonight.”