Bellingham OKs changes to Old Town development. Here’s what to expect
Bellingham City Council members have unanimously approved changes to a redevelopment deal for a new urban village in the Old Town district.
Council member Michael Lilliquist said the city’s partnership with the Parberry family and Parberry Inc., which owns or controls up to 70% of land in Old Town, is key to revitalizing the historic area near the waterfront.
“We’re taking a huge gamble here. This is a leap of faith, an act of hope,” Lilliquist said of the council’s Monday, Sept. 28, action.
“We have seen this area languish for a long time. The idea of affordable housing is always on our mind and that’s one of the hopes for this part of town,” Lilliquist said.
Changes to the 2019 accord were sought after major landowner Parberry Inc. said it plans to sell the assets of one of its businesses, Northwest Recycling Inc., which provides curbside recycling services in Bellingham and Whatcom County.
Northwest Recycling CEO Kevin Moore told the council that the Parberry family remains “absolutely committed to transforming” the historic district, located west of downtown in the lower Lettered Streets neighborhood.
“We’ve reached out to workforce housing providers, nonprofit developers,” Moore said. “We are very hopeful that that’s something that can progress quickly.”
Moore offered a “back of the napkin” description of the Parberry family’s plans for the area where they’ve operated businesses since 1923.
“What you see is a live/work environment so you have housing surrounded by places to eat, play, work. That’s really what we’re trying to accomplish here,” Moore said.
According to the agreement, Parberry will relocate its recycling center and develop housing, offices or businesses and sell other properties to businesses with the same intent.
In turn, the city will build streets, sewers, sidewalks and other infrastructure that a developer normally would be required to provide.
But with the announcement of the business a sale, wording was changed to require phasing out, rather than relocating, Northwest Recycling, which is a “non-conforming use” under current zoning.
