Public access to Governors Point one step closer as Whatcom OKs development agreement
A Canadian developer is one step closer to developing more than a dozen homes and a public trail and nature reserve on the undeveloped peninsula of Governors Point after the Whatcom County Council approved an agreement and several permits.
The council approved a long subdivision permit, as well as two shoreline permits, at its Dec. 8 meeting after holding a discussion about development on Governors Point in the committee of the whole meeting earlier that day.
At a special council meeting held Thursday, Dec. 17, the council also adopted a resolution, which is required by law, approving the development agreement for Governors Point. The resolution allows the Whatcom County executive to authorize the development agreement. Only council member Kathy Kershner abstained from the vote.
“The Governors Point development agreement is the culmination of decades of work to find the right balance between nature conservation, public access and private development. I’ve visited the property and have seen firsthand what a special place it is. I am very glad that in the not-too-distant future it will be open for all members of the public to enjoy. The Whatcom Land Trust deserves much credit for its efforts to preserve and protect this shoreline nature reserve for future generations,” Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu said in a prepared statement.
The resolution and approval of the permits will eventually allow the creation of 16 single-family residential homes on the 125-acre property, of which 98 acres will be preserved and will have public access, according to Amy Keenan, a senior planner with Whatcom County. Governors Point is located off Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham.
Canadian business owner Randy Bishop, who bought Governors Point in February 2018 for $5.7 million, has also agreed to limit size, clearing and development on each individual lot, and has developed a detailed habitat management plan for the entire site, Keenan said the Dec. 8 committee meeting. Development of the peninsula will also include a dock on the Pleasant Bay side, Keenan said at the meeting.
The approval of the permits and development agreement allows Bishop to begin construction of the road and all improvements that have to be made, including stormwater and fire infrastructure, electrical and water lines, before the lots can be divided and sold, Keenan said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald. Once the construction is done and the 150 conditions of approval recommended by the Whatcom County Hearing Examiner are met, the plots can be divided and sold for people to build the 16 homes, Keenan said.
It also allows Bishop to deed 98 acres of the land to the Whatcom Land Trust, which will develop a nature reserve and an up to five-mile long loop trail that will provide public access to the three beaches and point on the peninsula.
The deeding of the 98 acres is required according to a donation agreement, as well as an agreement between Bishop and the city of Bellingham. The city agreed to provide water in 2018 to the 16 homes in exchange for the public access via the trail and nature reserve.
Bishop has five years to start and complete construction and get to the point where the lots can be sold and development can begin on the public access portion, Keenan said.
“The land trust has a long history of conservation in Whatcom County and also a long history in providing public access to special lands in Whatcom County. …There will be public access. The Whatcom Land Trust has laid its reputation on the line. It will happen and it will happen in a glorious way that will be celebrated by the people of this county and hopefully by all of you,” said Rand Jack, a board member with the Whatcom Land Trust who has been working with Bishop on this project for several years, at the Dec. 8 committee meeting. “There will be public access enjoyed by young and old alike.”
“There has been a long history of controversy over developing Governors Point, and I think this is a pretty awesome proposal to really mitigate and limit development there,” Councilman Todd Donovan said at the Dec. 8 evening meeting.
Keenan said this is the furthest anyone has got in trying to get anything built or any project developed on Governors Point, which has a long history. She said while there is still a lot of work to do, this was a big hurdle to clear.
Roger Sahlin and his family, who had owned Governors Point since the 1960s, sold it to Bishop as part of bankruptcy proceedings that went back to May 2015.
Opposition to the number of homes proposed for the peninsula, as well as access to enough drinkable water, have thwarted development proposals, which date back to the 1970s. Before Bishop’s acquisition, the most recent proposal occurred in 2017 for a development called The Pointe at Governors Point on 35 acres, according to previous reporting in The Herald.
