Rules ready for new housing types in Bellingham

DEAN KAHN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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BELLINGHAM - Detailed rules for nine new housing types in the city are up for public review before the first hearing on them April 16.

The rules set out design, parking and size standards for houses on small lots, clustered cottages, carriage houses, stand-alone "mother-in-law" houses, duplexes and triplexes, courtyard and garden court developments, and townhouses.

The so-called "infill toolkit" is one of the ways the city plans to accommodate new residents inside city limits as Bellingham grows. The city's comprehensive plan calls for adding about 13,900 housing units between 2006 and 2022.

The proposal would allow the new housing forms in city areas with residential zoning, except for single-family neighborhoods, the Lake Whatcom watershed and neighborhood commercial areas. The new housing could be allowed in single-family areas only after public hearings and City Council approval.

And the new housing would not allow builders or developers to increase the density allowed in a residential area.

"It allows different housing forms to be built at the same density," Tim Stewart, city planning chief, told a meeting of neighborhood leaders Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Four types of housing considered earlier are not included in the final proposal. Those four are apartments built onto existing houses, four- and six-story apartment buildings, and six-story buildings with a mix of housing and commercial space.

Nicole Oliver, spokeswoman for the city planning department, said those higher-density forms raised concerns in neighborhoods, and said they are better suited for urban villages planned for Old Town, Samish Way and other parts of the city.