News - Local News

POSTED: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009

Whatcom County set to review, improve low-impact development program

A new effort by Whatcom County planners strives to make it easier for developers to build projects with minimal disruption to the environment.

The county plans to hire a consultant for up to $40,000 early in December to help review the county's low-impact development program. Low-impact developments, a relatively new concept, include improvements like retaining trees, swales and topsoil.

Some of those techniques are already required in the sensitive watersheds, like Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish and Lake Padden.

"We're looking for incentives in the other parts of the county that'll help developers who want to do (low-impact) projects," planner Peter Gill said.

The effort involves setting the minimum standards for what qualifies as low-impact development, as well as creating a streamlined permit approval process.

It also includes running case studies through the permit process to ensure laws don't create snags. Staff probably will end up proposing changes in the law, as a result of the project, Gill said.

The county has approved low-impact developments in the past. But part of the project is demonstrating and providing certainty to developers that such projects can smoothly navigate the permit process, he said.

The effort also involves documenting the cost of doing a low-impact project versus a conventional one.

Under current requirements, improvements like large stormwater ponds with underground pipes can treat stormwater, but they're expensive. They could be waived with low-impact projects, and nature still seems to do it better, anyway, Gill said.

"The thought is that the stormwater facilities don't really get you there," he said. "The soil is a sponge that holds a lot of water, and it deals with a lot of the water-quality issues."

Consultants have already submitted applications for the study, and staff expects to ask the County Council in early December to approve hiring one of them.

The project is separate from, but related to, a project by the state Department of Ecology. The state agency gives a permit to Bellingham, Ferndale and Whatcom County for stormwater in and around the two cities. Eventually, Ecology will force local governments to require developers to do low-impact projects where feasible in and around Bellingham and Ferndale, said Harriet Beale, Ecology municipal stormwater planner based out of Olympia.

When Ecology renews the permits in 2012, it will set a timeline for requiring low-impact development.