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POSTED: Monday, Apr. 20, 2009

Bellingham, port approve outline for waterfront redevelopment

Some concerned historic buildings will be torn down

BELLINGHAM - Port commissioners and City Council members have voted to approve moving ahead with a compromise plan for waterfront redevelopment, with two council members voting no.

At a joint meeting of port commission and council Monday, April 20, the compromise got unanimous approval from the three port commissioners, and yes votes from Barry Buchanan, Louise Bjornson, Gene Knutson and Terry Bornemann. Barbara Ryan and Jack Weiss voted no. Stan Snapp was absent.

Among other things, the compromise plan adopts something close to the port's preference for new waterfront streets that would go due west toward the water's edge, instead of following the course of existing downtown streets. But in a concession to Mayor Dan Pike, the plan also commits the port to preserve view corridors down existing downtown streets to Bellingham Bay.

Those who voted to endorse the plan said it was no more than a framework for moving ahead on development of a master plan and development regulations. Those would get plenty of public scrutiny before they come to a binding vote of port commissioners and council members many months from now. Ryan and Weiss were not persuaded.

Ryan said the compromise seemed to be a death warrant for some of the old brick buildings that were part of Georgia-Pacific Corp.'s waterfront pulp and paper mill for several decades. She noted that the city's Historic Preservation Commission held a special meeting last week to recommend that each old waterfront building get additional analysis to determine its potential.

She questioned whether that would be done if port and city approve a plan that seems to call for construction of major streets through sites now occupied by some of the buildings.

"Maybe some of those structures are unfeasible to use, but we haven't done the work to know that," Ryan said. "We could move forward without having a map that shows the destruction of all the historic buildings."

Pike reminded Ryan that the compromise plan identifies four of the older buildings as likely candidates for re-use, following recommendations in a recent report prepared by nine local architects. Pike said there would still be time to study the other buildings on the site, since the roads and bridges envisioned for the 220 waterfront acres will not be built for years.

"What we're asking for today is not an agreement to tear down those buildings next week," Pike said.

Pike stressed that the waterfront redevelopment project needs to make some progress to ensure the port and city don't lose out on federal economic stimulus grants.

"At some point we need to demonstrate progress or we're going to lose opportunities," Pike said, adding that he has called for a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29, at Bellingham Cruise Terminal to get public input.

Weiss opposed voting on the compromise before citizens and the Waterfront Advisory Group get a chance to weigh in. Although Pike and port staffers said that the public and elected officials will get many chances to review elements of the compromise before final decisions are made, Weiss argued that an immediate yes vote on the compromise would be too big a commitment, too soon.

"When you put stuff on a map like this, it tends to have weight of its own," Weiss said.

But other council members said it was time to act, after a years-long series of public meetings that began even before the port acquired most of the property from G-P in early 2005.

"Right now, what we have is a fenced-off industrial wasteland," Bjornson said. "It's really important right now that we move ahead. ... We have some great dreams, but we have to make some steps to move them forward."