Bellingham approves new housing types in certain areas

JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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BELLINGHAM - City leaders approved a list of nine new-to-Bellingham housing types, but they won't automatically be allowed in single-family neighborhoods.

The council voted late Monday, July 27, to approve the new "infill toolkit," a collection of new home types meant to encourage development in already urban areas. The new types are generally smaller than traditional single-family homes and range from small cottages to townhomes.

Council members debated where the home types should automatically be allowed. Many residents of single-family neighborhoods don't want the homes near them for fear they will damage neighborhood character.

The council voted 5-2, with Stan Snapp and Jack Weiss opposed, to approve the toolkit with conditions. Under the law, such homes are not automatically allowed in the following places:

Single-family-zoned areas.

Neighborhood-commercial-zoned areas.

Within the Lake Whatcom watershed.

To allow them in those areas, the City Council would have to hold a hearing and approve a rezone. It could do so only once a year, along with other updates to the city's comprehensive plan.

Under the approved law, the toolkit homes are still allowed in some areas zoned single-family, but only those that have a special designation allowing apartments/condominiums. Those only include areas that were brought into city limits from unincorporated Whatcom County after 1995, so they don't include historic, established Bellingham neighborhoods.

Also, in areas zoned for duplexes, all toolkit homes would be allowed except triplexes, shared court and garden court projects and townhomes.

"We do believe that some of these forms could be appropriate in some single-family areas, but we weren't ready to have that conversation because we don't want to do it in a sweeping way," said Nicole Oliver, spokeswoman for the city's planning department. Planners wanted to consider allowing the homes on certain sites, working closely with neighbors to build support for allowing them.

The law reflects another change requested by the council: Townhomes can now be 35 feet tall, instead of the previously proposed 25 feet. Some people in the development industry said no builders would construct townhomes if they couldn't go taller than 25 feet.