City approves plan for waterfront, Bellingham Herald, March 8, 2005

CLOSE WINDOW

GROWTH: Guidelines includes plans for former G-P site.

Jon Gambrell, The Bellingham Herald

In a quiet final step Monday night, Bellingham City Council approved a sweeping plan for Bellingham 's coastal neighborhoods.

The City Council voted unanimously to adopt the plans of the Waterfront Futures Group, which came after 18 months of discussion, research and collecting the public's ideas.

The plan won't necessarily change the face of Bellingham in the next 20 years, as an estimated 31,600 new residents pour into the city. However, the group's guiding principles will be rolled into Bellingham 's comprehensive plan.

"It is a visionary product to be used to design master plans for the waterfront area," said Greg Aucutt of the city's Planning Department. "The plan itself represents a call to action."

Produced by the 11-member Waterfront Futures Group, the plan splits Bellingham 's coastal neighborhoods into six "character areas": Little Squalicum; Squalicum; City Center ; South Hill and Boulevard Park; Fairhaven ; and the Chuckanut and Edgemoor areas.

The group's draft report, issued in June, calls for improved public access, trails and parks all along the bay. The group's most ambitious recommendations came from ideas for the 137-acre downtown site of Georgia-Pacific West Inc., which the Port of Bellingham officially acquired in January.

The group foresees the area becoming a mixed-use neighborhood with commercial and residential development. It also suggested including facilities for Western Washington University and other schools along the downtown waterfront.

But while suggesting many changes for Bellingham 's coastal neighborhoods, the plan acts only as a suggestion to the city and the port.

"It was quite a diverse group," said Art Anderson, who led the Waterfront Futures Group. "By no way was anything a slam dunk. Everyone was passionate about the waterfront and what a jewel it is for Bellingham ."

Later Monday evening, the City Council voted unanimously to create a Waterfront Advisory Group. The group, to be formed of five nominees from Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson and five from the port, will work toward making the suggestions of the Waterfront Futures Group a reality.

And though the Waterfront Futures Group's goal was to come up with a plan for Bellingham 's coastlines, they may have served to sway the community in favor of the G-P land deal.

"I believe it was this committee that sealed the deal with G-P," said Councilman Gene Knutson. "That's where the momentum came from. This is the future of Bellingham right here."

Reach Jon Gambrell at jonathan.gambrell@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2263.