Commentary
by Bill Craven
The future of Bellingham’s northwest side remains murky. The cabal that has had its way for years and that brought us the ABC Recycling debacle is at it again.
This time, the Port of Bellingham and the industries along Marine Drive are opposing an effort by the County Council that would temporarily pause any new high-impact industrial user from setting up business while the new comprehensive plan for the county is being prepared.
The problem is that every delay by the council means that the Port of Bellingham or some other polluting industry has even longer to file an application that would be immediately vested under state law.
This means every future land-use decision (including the updated comprehensive plan) that affects these three neighborhoods (Birchwood/Alderwood/Marietta) along Marine Drive will have to deal with the new industry — not just those that are already there such as Heidelberg Materials and Bell Pole and Lumber, and the port, which is vocally interested in jamming another high impact industrial business into these residential neighborhoods.
Voted to Table Resolutions
At the July 9 County Council meeting, the council voted to table Councilmember Todd Donovan’s effort to impose an emergency moratorium on new high-impact industrial facilities in these neighborhoods. Donovan suggested that he had intended to have two resolutions before the Whatcom County Council at the July 9 meeting — one emergency resolution and one nonemergency resolution, but each of those options would have essentially the same effect.
The only real differences are that the emergency resolution requires a supermajority of five members of the council to pass it, while the temporary moratorium could pass with a simple majority, and the emergency moratorium would go into effect immediately. An interim (nonemergency) moratorium would be introduced at one council meeting and acted upon at the next and go into effect upon the executive’s signature. The interim moratorium was introduced on July 9, and, if all goes well, it will be considered in two weeks, possibly at the same meeting as the emergency moratorium.
Donovan may have punted because the old guard cabal that still runs much of Bellingham showed up to oppose his effort and literally lied about what it would do. He may not have had the votes and it will be interesting to see if he has the votes next time around.
So who’s in the cabal and what did they say? There was the Whatcom Business Alliance, a representative from Heidelberg Materials (the former Lehigh cement plant that sold 20 acres to ABC Recycling), the landlord for Bell Lumber and Pole (formerly Oeser), and even the owner of the Hotel Leo who chimed in with some gratuitous opposition. (No more happy hours there!) And, of course, there was the Port of Bellingham’s Executive Director Rob Fix, who is as good as anyone at lobbying for his latest half-baked concepts.
It is curious that the opposition all shared the same talking points. That is surely coincidence, right? Maybe that is how cabals function. How would I know?
Contention Number One
The two big points from the cabal: (1) Let’s not pass anything ahead of the 2025 comprehensive plan update. Arguing that a proposed action is “premature” is always in the arsenal of the cabal and a great way to preserve the status quo. Of course, as the cabal fully knows, that misses Donovan’s point entirely: the reason for the moratorium is to protect the neighborhoods from another noisy, polluting neighbor while the future land uses of the area are evaluated in the comprehensive plan update. A failure of the county to act is what the cabal wants and it leaves the door open for a new polluter. Donovan’s motion would not threaten the existing businesses one iota. Even if the high-impact zoning was completely erased from that part of the county (highly unlikely), the existing businesses could remain in place and even expand in their existing facilities.
Contention Number Two
The other big point was to argue falsely that the economic world of Bellingham and the county would be irrevocably damaged — jobs would be lost, businesses in the high-impact industrial area of Alderwood would be “frozen” and not able to adapt, and, worst of all, Bellingham would not create “family wage jobs.” All over town one hears that phrase. Most everyone probably wants more and better jobs in the area, but, unless one defines “family wage jobs,” it can be used as just another bumper sticker. ABC Recycling used the term and now the opposition to Donovan’s motion has jumped on board.
So was the cabal right? A permit application that could be filed now is immediately vested under Washington law meaning that whatever changes the City of Bellingham and the county work out in the comprehensive plan update in 2025 would have to accept the reality of this new polluter’s presence. So, the cabal and the port got the County Council to blink at the expense of stopping another potential polluter that would affect already impacted neighborhoods.
Port’s Worrisome Role
The port’s role is especially worrisome since it owns a small complex of empty buildings along Marine Drive, and many in the community can’t imagine the port turning down anyone who wants to move there, regardless of the resulting noise, pollution, and traffic that might occur. Who knows, maybe the port will buy the former ABC Recycling property as well to create another threat to these neighborhoods. Yes, there are neighborhoods where the port is not a good neighbor — for valid reasons.
Fix also said that alternative high-impact industrial lands (such as the hundreds of acres in the Cherry Point Industrial urban growth area) take time to develop and install infrastructure. No one asked him why the port had not been working on that for years instead of handing out a sweetheart lease to ABC Recycling, fumbling the lead paint cleanup at the container village, losing tenants at the airport and the waterfront, or violating its planning agreement with the city for future uses at the waterfront.
Still, there is a glimmer of hope on this point. If Fix wants to discuss what it might take to create new industrial lands away from neighborhoods, my guess is that the neighborhoods would be willing to participate.
Bumper Sticker Talking Points
But, would businesses be “frozen” and unable to adapt? That was the argument from the existing industrial users along Marine Drive, specifically Bell Pole and Lumber and Heidelberg Materials. This argument proves that the cabal can’t read, or maybe just can’t get past their bumper sticker talking points.
By its own terms, Donovan’s resolution would have allowed building permits on high-impact industrial lands along Marine Drive for “remodels, maintenance, expansion, or repairs of existing structures or expansion of uses legally established prior to the effective date of the ordinance.”
Even without this specific language in the resolution, the existing language in the county code for expansion of “non-conforming uses” — those that pre-date a change in allowable uses — would protect existing businesses wanting to make changes to their business within their existing buildings. The cabal had a bumper sticker, and, although it was false, it worked this time. That’s how cabals function — ignore the words in the proposal, stick to the talking points, and history will repeat itself with another victory for the cabal.
Donovan perhaps anticipated the nonsense from the cabal and designed the ordinance to avoid raising those concerns. But, the cabal members deliberately missed the point of protecting neighborhoods and chose not to respond to the actual terms of the proposal. You can do that when you’ve been in charge and unchallenged for years and years, and when council members are sometimes unprepared to discern truth from fear-mongering.
It is undeniably difficult for part-time council members to convince their colleagues to oppose the smoothly delivered assertions of certain doom and gloom from special interests who have been manipulating politics here for years.
Stakes Are Clear
But now, the stakes are crystal clear: The council can defer again, which will maintain the threat to these neighborhoods from any applicant who wants to put a high-impact industrial use in their midst, or it can pause any new permit while the comprehensive planning process is underway.
The sad part is that the land along Marine Drive is a designated urban growth area where the City of Bellingham and housing advocates are planning for future residential growth, including affordable housing. Housing by its very nature is not compatible with high-impact industrial uses and that is especially true for the dense housing that may be in store for the Marine Drive area.
It’s going to be hard to put up housing so long as the port and business owners keep the council from protecting current and future neighbors from the impacts of industry. Perhaps Bellingham’s mayor and city council want to weigh in to convince the county to allow a deliberative planning process about appropriate future uses for those parcels to be completed?
Donovan brought his motion weeks after the council directed the Planning Commission to come up with some options for the Marine Drive high-impact industrial parcels. The commission stewed and fidgeted and did nothing for two meetings and asked the council for further guidance. The council did not provide any, and, thus, Donovan brought his motion. The commission had a meeting scheduled for July 11 and the only thing on the agenda was this question — what to do about the Marine Drive parcels. On July 10, it canceled the meeting.
Is it any wonder that residents of Birchwood/Alderwood/Marietta collectively feel like a ping- pong ball in a never-ending loop of attempted governance?
___________________________________
Bill Craven is a retired environmental professional with more than 30 years experience as a legislative policy consultant on resource issues and as an advocate in state legislatures and for nonprofit organizations.
The Whatcom County Cabal Can’t Read
Commentary
by Bill Craven
The future of Bellingham’s northwest side remains murky. The cabal that has had its way for years and that brought us the ABC Recycling debacle is at it again.
This time, the Port of Bellingham and the industries along Marine Drive are opposing an effort by the County Council that would temporarily pause any new high-impact industrial user from setting up business while the new comprehensive plan for the county is being prepared.
The problem is that every delay by the council means that the Port of Bellingham or some other polluting industry has even longer to file an application that would be immediately vested under state law.
This means every future land-use decision (including the updated comprehensive plan) that affects these three neighborhoods (Birchwood/Alderwood/Marietta) along Marine Drive will have to deal with the new industry — not just those that are already there such as Heidelberg Materials and Bell Pole and Lumber, and the port, which is vocally interested in jamming another high impact industrial business into these residential neighborhoods.
Voted to Table Resolutions
At the July 9 County Council meeting, the council voted to table Councilmember Todd Donovan’s effort to impose an emergency moratorium on new high-impact industrial facilities in these neighborhoods. Donovan suggested that he had intended to have two resolutions before the Whatcom County Council at the July 9 meeting — one emergency resolution and one nonemergency resolution, but each of those options would have essentially the same effect.
The only real differences are that the emergency resolution requires a supermajority of five members of the council to pass it, while the temporary moratorium could pass with a simple majority, and the emergency moratorium would go into effect immediately. An interim (nonemergency) moratorium would be introduced at one council meeting and acted upon at the next and go into effect upon the executive’s signature. The interim moratorium was introduced on July 9, and, if all goes well, it will be considered in two weeks, possibly at the same meeting as the emergency moratorium.
Donovan may have punted because the old guard cabal that still runs much of Bellingham showed up to oppose his effort and literally lied about what it would do. He may not have had the votes and it will be interesting to see if he has the votes next time around.
So who’s in the cabal and what did they say? There was the Whatcom Business Alliance, a representative from Heidelberg Materials (the former Lehigh cement plant that sold 20 acres to ABC Recycling), the landlord for Bell Lumber and Pole (formerly Oeser), and even the owner of the Hotel Leo who chimed in with some gratuitous opposition. (No more happy hours there!) And, of course, there was the Port of Bellingham’s Executive Director Rob Fix, who is as good as anyone at lobbying for his latest half-baked concepts.
It is curious that the opposition all shared the same talking points. That is surely coincidence, right? Maybe that is how cabals function. How would I know?
Contention Number One
The two big points from the cabal: (1) Let’s not pass anything ahead of the 2025 comprehensive plan update. Arguing that a proposed action is “premature” is always in the arsenal of the cabal and a great way to preserve the status quo. Of course, as the cabal fully knows, that misses Donovan’s point entirely: the reason for the moratorium is to protect the neighborhoods from another noisy, polluting neighbor while the future land uses of the area are evaluated in the comprehensive plan update. A failure of the county to act is what the cabal wants and it leaves the door open for a new polluter. Donovan’s motion would not threaten the existing businesses one iota. Even if the high-impact zoning was completely erased from that part of the county (highly unlikely), the existing businesses could remain in place and even expand in their existing facilities.
Contention Number Two
The other big point was to argue falsely that the economic world of Bellingham and the county would be irrevocably damaged — jobs would be lost, businesses in the high-impact industrial area of Alderwood would be “frozen” and not able to adapt, and, worst of all, Bellingham would not create “family wage jobs.” All over town one hears that phrase. Most everyone probably wants more and better jobs in the area, but, unless one defines “family wage jobs,” it can be used as just another bumper sticker. ABC Recycling used the term and now the opposition to Donovan’s motion has jumped on board.
So was the cabal right? A permit application that could be filed now is immediately vested under Washington law meaning that whatever changes the City of Bellingham and the county work out in the comprehensive plan update in 2025 would have to accept the reality of this new polluter’s presence. So, the cabal and the port got the County Council to blink at the expense of stopping another potential polluter that would affect already impacted neighborhoods.
Port’s Worrisome Role
The port’s role is especially worrisome since it owns a small complex of empty buildings along Marine Drive, and many in the community can’t imagine the port turning down anyone who wants to move there, regardless of the resulting noise, pollution, and traffic that might occur. Who knows, maybe the port will buy the former ABC Recycling property as well to create another threat to these neighborhoods. Yes, there are neighborhoods where the port is not a good neighbor — for valid reasons.
Fix also said that alternative high-impact industrial lands (such as the hundreds of acres in the Cherry Point Industrial urban growth area) take time to develop and install infrastructure. No one asked him why the port had not been working on that for years instead of handing out a sweetheart lease to ABC Recycling, fumbling the lead paint cleanup at the container village, losing tenants at the airport and the waterfront, or violating its planning agreement with the city for future uses at the waterfront.
Still, there is a glimmer of hope on this point. If Fix wants to discuss what it might take to create new industrial lands away from neighborhoods, my guess is that the neighborhoods would be willing to participate.
Bumper Sticker Talking Points
But, would businesses be “frozen” and unable to adapt? That was the argument from the existing industrial users along Marine Drive, specifically Bell Pole and Lumber and Heidelberg Materials. This argument proves that the cabal can’t read, or maybe just can’t get past their bumper sticker talking points.
By its own terms, Donovan’s resolution would have allowed building permits on high-impact industrial lands along Marine Drive for “remodels, maintenance, expansion, or repairs of existing structures or expansion of uses legally established prior to the effective date of the ordinance.”
Even without this specific language in the resolution, the existing language in the county code for expansion of “non-conforming uses” — those that pre-date a change in allowable uses — would protect existing businesses wanting to make changes to their business within their existing buildings. The cabal had a bumper sticker, and, although it was false, it worked this time. That’s how cabals function — ignore the words in the proposal, stick to the talking points, and history will repeat itself with another victory for the cabal.
Donovan perhaps anticipated the nonsense from the cabal and designed the ordinance to avoid raising those concerns. But, the cabal members deliberately missed the point of protecting neighborhoods and chose not to respond to the actual terms of the proposal. You can do that when you’ve been in charge and unchallenged for years and years, and when council members are sometimes unprepared to discern truth from fear-mongering.
It is undeniably difficult for part-time council members to convince their colleagues to oppose the smoothly delivered assertions of certain doom and gloom from special interests who have been manipulating politics here for years.
Stakes Are Clear
But now, the stakes are crystal clear: The council can defer again, which will maintain the threat to these neighborhoods from any applicant who wants to put a high-impact industrial use in their midst, or it can pause any new permit while the comprehensive planning process is underway.
The sad part is that the land along Marine Drive is a designated urban growth area where the City of Bellingham and housing advocates are planning for future residential growth, including affordable housing. Housing by its very nature is not compatible with high-impact industrial uses and that is especially true for the dense housing that may be in store for the Marine Drive area.
It’s going to be hard to put up housing so long as the port and business owners keep the council from protecting current and future neighbors from the impacts of industry. Perhaps Bellingham’s mayor and city council want to weigh in to convince the county to allow a deliberative planning process about appropriate future uses for those parcels to be completed?
Donovan brought his motion weeks after the council directed the Planning Commission to come up with some options for the Marine Drive high-impact industrial parcels. The commission stewed and fidgeted and did nothing for two meetings and asked the council for further guidance. The council did not provide any, and, thus, Donovan brought his motion. The commission had a meeting scheduled for July 11 and the only thing on the agenda was this question — what to do about the Marine Drive parcels. On July 10, it canceled the meeting.
Is it any wonder that residents of Birchwood/Alderwood/Marietta collectively feel like a ping- pong ball in a never-ending loop of attempted governance?
___________________________________
Bill Craven is a retired environmental professional with more than 30 years experience as a legislative policy consultant on resource issues and as an advocate in state legislatures and for nonprofit organizations.