Bellingham City Council says yes to letting builders pay for density

SAM TAYLOR - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

E-Mail

Print Reprint

Text Size:

tool goes here

BELLINGHAM — City Council members unanimously agreed to a plan that would let developers pay the city money to add more den-sity to projects in the city’s urban growth areas.

The program, approved late Monday, June 15, will let a developer pay the city, which will then use the cash to purchase property in the Lake Whatcom watershed to prevent more construction there. The lake is the drinking water source for 91,000 county residents, including the entire city.

Some developers have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the program, saying that certain restricts on land they own might not allow them to build more densely in the first place. City officials, though, say the program is just a starting point.