Bellingham buys 10 acres of wetlands to protect more watershed land from development
Bellingham is buying more than 10 acres of land in the Lake Whatcom watershed near Sudden Valley, and in the process is keeping 26 homes and a business from being built near the city’s drinking water source.
Cost of two parcels totaling 10.2 acres is $640,000. The sale is expected to close June 23, City Council President Michael Lilliquist said.
The sale was approved unanimously by the council earlier this month.
“Both parcels have significant wetland areas that will be protected in perpetuity with this purchase,” said Riley Grant, spokeswoman for the Public Works Department.
“Wetlands are valuable for flood protection and water quality improvement. Additionally, this purchase will remove 26 potential development units (parcel 1) and a commercially developable property (parcel 2),” Grant told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Location of the land being bought by the city is near the intersection of Lake Louise Road and Lake Whatcom Boulevard, below homes in Sudden Valley Gate 5.
Its owner is listed as SV-II LLC and SV-III LLC.
Money for the purchase came from fees paid by water utility users as part of a Bellingham program to buy land around Lake Whatcom and prevent further development of the lake, which provides drinking water for about 100,000 Whatcom County residents.
All told, the city has preserved 2,651.83 acres at a cost of $42,28 million since the program began, Grant said at the June 5 council meeting.
This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 9:54 AM.
