Whatcom County releases list of possible 'rural centers'

JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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Fourteen areas throughout Whatcom County could receive a designation allowing them to continue growing with more density than rural areas are supposed to.

Planners have released a map showing their initial ideas for which areas could become "rural centers," including Acme, Hinote's Corner, Laurel and Custer. Those are areas that aren't rural because there's too much development there, but they're not urban growth areas intended to become future cities, either.

The suggestions are part of an effort by Whatcom County to get back into compliance with state law. In September 2005, a state growth board ruled county government was allowing too little development in some urban growth zones and too much in some rural areas. It also said the county should have but didn't designate special areas that are neither urban nor rural.

ATTEND THE MEETINGS
County planners will hold a series of public meetings to discuss potential changes to rural development countywide:
• 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, at Meridian High School Cafeteria, 194 W. Laurel Road.
• 9 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 5, in County Council Chambers, 311 Grand Ave. in Bellingham.
• 1 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at the American Legion Peace Arch Post No. 86, 4580 Legion Drive.
• 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at Rome Grange, 2821 Mount Baker Highway, just east of Y Road.
For more information: Go to www.whatcomcounty.us and click on "Whatcom 2031" and click on "Rural Element Update."
The county has a form landowners can fill out and send in, and staff will respond to let them know whether they're land is likely to be affected.

The county will draw lines around these special areas, which for decades have served farmers and other rural residents with amenities like churches, schools and crossroads stores.

Everything within the line planners draw will be allowed to continue developing at the existing densities. Everything outside will be downzoned to become rural, which is one house per five acres at most.

County planner Gary Davis said Acme is a good example of a rural center because it's historically had businesses with homes around them. Other areas, like Sandy Point, are different because the development there is all housing.

Staff isn't proposing to designate Sandy Point a rural center, which would mean land there could be rezoned and development potential reduced. The same goes for Emerald Lake, Chuckanut Drive and Marietta, as examples of other areas.

In all, more than 30 areas countywide are potentially affected because they'd either get a special designation or they'd be rezoned. The county has sent 17,500 postcards to people who own land in those areas, Davis said.

After gathering public input in meetings this week, county staff will draft new rules and bring them to the County Planning Commission in April. The commission will hold a hearing before making a recommendation to the County Council, which also will hold a hearing.