News - Local News

POSTED: Sunday, Sep. 20, 2009

State Supreme Court will consider whether Whatcom County allows rural sprawl

Some urge county to delay changes until after decision

The state Supreme Court next week will hold oral arguments in a dispute about whether Whatcom County is allowing sprawl in rural areas and what it should do about it.

Meanwhile, the county is advancing a plan for rezones throughout the rural areas that it says are necessary to stop sprawl after the state appeals court ruled that the county wasn't following state law. The proposed rezones, which restrict the amount of development that can occur, have galvanized opposition from landowners who call it a "land grab" by the government.

Some people are asking county leaders to delay the proposed changes until after the state's highest court rules.

"It makes sense to me, unless there's some other motivation, that they would wait to find out if they're out of compliance or not," said Bill Grant of Gold Star Resorts. Grant entered the case years ago to defend against the rezones because they would impact his company's land at Interstate 5 and Birch Bay-Lynden Road. "We're so close, we should just find out exactly the status we're in."

The court will only rule on a couple of narrow issues, not the overall need for rural zoning changes, said Tim Trohimovich, planning director at Futurewise, a statewide anti-sprawl group.

"We don't think there's any reason to wait," he said. "We think now is a good time to get it done."

The county is looking at rural areas where there's more development than state law considers "rural" - areas such as Acme, Nugents Corner and along Guide Meridian, to name only a few - and it's drawing boundary lines around some of those areas. Those are being called rural centers, and they contain housing and/or businesses. Inside the boundaries, development can continue in ways similar to what is there now.

Outside the boundaries, land would be rezoned to allow only rural levels of growth. In this case, the county's Planning Commission has recommended rezoning land to allow only one house per 10 acres.

Some areas, such as along Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham and Sandy Point, wouldn't be considered rural centers at all, and the entire area would be downzoned.

In all, zoning changes would affect 46 areas and thousands of acres throughout the county.

In September 2005, after Futurewise challenged the county, a state growth board ruled that Whatcom County needed to review the rural zoning and make changes. The decision was appealed, and Superior Court ruled in the county's favor. That was appealed and the Court of Appeals reversed it, ruling against the county.

Because of the appeals court ruling, Whatcom County is considered out of compliance with state law until it makes the changes, county planning director David Stalheim said. That means it's not eligible for certain state funding.

"Delay of acting will not alleviate our non-compliance status," he said.

When the Planning Commission finishes reviewing the proposal and provides a recommendation, the County Council could decide to delay it until after the court rules, although the Planning Commission recommended against delay, Stalheim said. No court has given the county a deadline to finish the work.

Rebecca Craven, planning and policy analyst for the County Council, said the Planning Commission will probably make a recommendation by late October. But the council's planning committee said it wants to finish a different zoning update first, so it may not be considered by the council until December.

Trohimovich estimated a Supreme Court decision will take between six months and a year.

ATTEND THE MEETING

What: The county Planning Commission will hold a work session to discuss the county's proposed zoning changes for rural areas.

When: 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22

Where: County Council Chambers, 311 Grand Ave. in Bellingham