Fountain District in line for urban village makeover

DEAN KAHN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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Bellingham has approved "urban village" development rules for Old Town and is well down the road doing the same for Samish Way.

Next up: the Fountain District, the commercial strip on Meridian Street from Broadway north to the Haggen grocery store at Illinois Street.

Near Broadway, some buildings rise several stories. Further north, the district becomes a mishmash of standalone-buildings, gas stations, restaurants, and houses converted into offices. Neighborhood leaders say the area could blossom if rules allowed denser development with a mix of housing and new businesses.

What: Four public workshops on the idea of a Fountain District urban village.

Where: Fountain Community Church, 2100 Broadway.

When: 6 to 8 p.m. on April 1, 15, 22 and May 6.

Topics: April 1 - introduction, district character, urban village boundary. April 15 - streets, neighborhood connections, public spaces. April 22 - uses, design, scale, neighborhood transitions. May 6 - summary of input, discussion of alternatives.

Timeline: If the project stays on schedule, urban village details will be unveiled at a neighborhood meeting in early fall, with Planning Commission hearings in late fall and City Council hearings early in 2010.

Online: Information will be posted at the city of Bellingham's Web site. Go to cob.org and search for "urban village planning."

Details: Katie Franks, 778-8388 or kfranks@cob.org.

"We see it as the revival of a shopping district that we could walk to," said John McGarrity of Cornwall Park Neighborhood Association.

These days, there's little in the way of new commercial development anywhere. But urban village rules would set the template for development once the economy rebounds.

People from Cornwall Park, Columbia and Lettered Streets neighborhoods - the three areas that border Fountain District - have been talking to residents and to business and property owners for two years about the idea.

That cooperation, and the progress made, convinced city planning director Tim Stewart to devote staff time to the project this year. It's hoped that new rules can be ready for public review later this year, with possible City Council approval early next year.

"The neighborhoods have done a lot of the groundwork," said Katie Franks, the planning staffer assigned to the effort.

The urban village's boundary is one of several topics to be discussed at public workshops starting April 1. Neighborhood organizers suggest allowing mixed, commercial-and-residential development along Meridian, on Elm Street between Monroe and Connecticut streets, and maybe on a few nearby blocks on Broadway. But final decisions about boundaries, and what development would be allowed, and where, are months away.

New rules also could address such issues as parking, lighting, noise and building design, to ease the transition from commercial properties to single-family homes nearby.

Steve Griffith, the manager of Griffith Furniture, 2501 Meridian St., said he's open to the idea of an urban village because it could attract more shoppers who don't realize there are stores at the south end of Meridian.

"We're down at the end of the road, here," he said.

Rodger Spero, a commercial real estate broker handling several vacant spaces in the district, including the old Fountain Galleria building, said an urban village could improve business there and also appeal to new residents.

"People could live there and walk downtown to work, for instance," he said.

Contact Dean Kahn at dean.kahn@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2291. Read his Now and Then blog at TheBellinghamHerald.com/blogs.