Opinion - Top opinion

POSTED: Monday, Feb. 09, 2009

How long will county keep lake-area subdivision ban?

Whatcom County Council members are scheduled to discuss their ban on subdivisions of property around Lake Whatcom at their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

The moratorium was first put into place in February 2005, causing an uproar and a run on the permits office. It does not allow any subdivision that would result in lots five acres in size or smaller.

Since then, the council has extended the moratorium every few months, as it was set to expire, the most recent extension coming last September.

The argument in favor of the moratorium was that the council needed time to figure out how to better protect the lake, which is the drinking water source for around 90,000 people, including everyone in the city of Bellingham and Sudden Valley.

The lake is listed as an "impaired waterbody" by federal officials and the state has demanded local governments take actions to roll back pollution problems in the lake, particularly with overloads of phosphorous that are feeding algae growth and choking out oxygen. A study from the state calls for a 74 percent reduction in pollution in the lake.

We supported the original moratorium, though it was handled poorly and ended up pushing a lot of landowners to subdivide quickly. We also support a Bellingham moratorium that is currently in place.

Unfortunately the moratoriums don't really solve the problem. It could be said that they mask the problem. As long as the moratoriums are continued, the councils feel less pressure to take more definitive steps to limit development.

The moratorium may just have become a crutch. The council should continue the moratoriums until the time they have regulations in place that protect the lake. But we also urge them to get going on those regulations. It's February 2009, now. Any reasonable person would have expected the county to enact whatever regulations they were going to enact four years after the original moratorium declaration.

We believe very, very strict regulation of construction in the watershed is necessary. Citizens of this community are not allowed to build whatever they want, however they want, if it endangers their neighbors. Yet every year more and more homes are built in the watershed, despite studies that show home building is causing increased runoff into the lake and that runoff is carrying the pollutants that deplete oxygen and cause algae to bloom.

Given the science, and the fact the state is now demanding local officials roll back pollution by 74 percent, it is simply wrong to allow more construction around the lake.

It's time to move beyond endless renewals of hastily constructed moratoriums to create comprehensive regulations that will protect and preserve Lake Whatcom long into the future. We hope Tuesday's meeting is the first step in getting that work completed for good.

>>Whatcom County Council

9:30 a.m., natural resources committee meeting, 7 p.m., full council meeting, in the Council Chambers of the Whatcom County Courthouse, 311 Grand Ave.

WATERFRONT BUILDINGS TALK AT BELLINGHAM COUNCIL

Until December, officials with the city of Bellingham and port of Bellingham seemed on a collision course over the redevelopment of the city's waterfront.

Officials now say they are working better together. One of the sticking points that arose last year is back this week, though, as Bellingham City Council members hear about the value of old buildings on the site.

Port officials had pressed with plans to tear down old buildings, but the city refused to give an expedited permit for the work while the port had someone on site. City officials have said they think some of the buildings are salvageable and they hope that preserving buildings will create an historic feel to the rebuilt waterfront while better connecting the new with the old of downtown.

Monday, City Council members will hear about a 2004 study done for the port on the state of the old buildings and what it is possible to save. Then they will hear from members of the city's Historic Preservation Committee, who have already applied to have the old granary building at the corner of Central and Roeder avenues recognized on the national register of historic places.

A state architectural historian has penned a letter saying he believes the building will qualify.

We hope that the information presented to the council will help end the stalemate over the future of the site and begin a move forward to a final site design that the port, the city and citizens can support.

>>Bellingham City Council

1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, waterfront development committee, and 7 p.m., full council meeting, in the council chambers of Bellingham City Hall, 210 Lottie St.