Have at least $1.2 million? That’s a start toward your dream home on Governors Point

Six parcels on the tip of Governors Point are being sold for $1.2 million to $1.5 million as part of a new exclusive development called The Pointe at Governors Point.

A seventh piece of land, located at the very end, has been reserved for $2.99 million.

The waterfront lots are five acres each.

“It’s a first-class development,” said Morgan Bartlett Jr., director of Madrona Bay Real Estate Investments in Bellingham and The Pointe developer.

Bartlett said water would be provided by three existing wells via the Governors Point Water Association, for which the developer has applied for regulatory approval. Building permits for the houses will be applied for once the parcels have been sold.

And while the listings for the parcels note that the properties have a water share, it wasn’t immediately clear whether the Hirst decision would affect the proposed development.

In a case that had repercussions for development that depends on new wells for water, the state Supreme Court ruled in October that before issuing a building permit, Whatcom County government must make sure there is enough water – both legally and physically – in streams for fish and those holding senior water rights.

The county is grappling with the decision and has instituted restrictions on new rural developments. Property owners in much of rural Whatcom County have been upset and frustrated because they can’t build homes on their land without access to drinking water.

Lummi and Eliza islands, Point Roberts and the Lake Samish area that is in Whatcom County aren’t affected by the restriction because they’re in different water basins.

The Pointe is the latest effort by the Sahlin family to develop its 125-acre wooded property off Chuckanut Drive that boasts stunning views of Bellingham and Pleasant bays, mountains and the San Juan islands.

The development is planned for 35 of those acres.

Roger Sahlin and his family have owned most of the peninsula south of Bellingham for the past 50-plus years, but their previous attempt to develop the property had been thwarted because there wasn’t enough drinkable water.

Sahlin’s company, Governors Point Development Co., had unsuccessfully sued the City of Bellingham in 2009 over its refusal to provide water for a 141-home gated community on the peninsula, which was the previous proposed development.

The developer had tried to convince judges that Bellingham needed to make good on a 40-year-old promise to provide city water.

Changes intended to prevent urban sprawl caught up with that vision for Governors Point. Although Bellingham had decided to provide a water line to Governors Point in 1972, the city shortly afterward changed its rules to limit water going outside the city limits.

The case went to the state Court of Appeals, which sided with the city in 2013.

Sahlin then tried to sell Governors Point for an undisclosed price in 2014. It didn’t sell.

That was followed by an attempted auction in 2015.

Current zoning allows for one house on every five acres, or 25 houses total, which is standard for rural areas.

“We intend to limit it to the maximum under the zoning,” Bartlett said of proposals for Governors Point, “and mostly likely less than that.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Have at least $1.2 million? That’s a start toward your dream home on Governors Point."