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Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission

BEL-MNA-2025-01-15 January 15, 2025 Committee Meeting City of Bellingham
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The Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission met for their first gathering of 2025 to discuss Mayor Kim Lund's housing executive order and the city's comprehensive approach to addressing Bellingham's housing crisis. Mayor Lund was absent, attending the Governor's inaugural activities in Olympia, leaving staff to present her ambitious housing reform agenda to neighborhood representatives. The meeting centered on a detailed presentation by Planning and Community Development Director Blake Ryan, who walked commissioners through the recently passed parking minimum elimination ordinance and previewed upcoming middle housing reforms mandated by state law. The discussion revealed the complexity of Bellingham's housing challenges, with the city facing a target of accommodating roughly 17,000 new housing units by 2045 while currently producing only about 50% of needed housing. A significant portion of the meeting addressed concerns from neighborhood representatives about the impacts of increased density, parking availability, and the prioritization of certain development types. Downtown resident Sheryl Russell raised specific quality-of-life concerns about existing multifamily developments, requesting that development review teams visit problem properties before approving new ones. Silver Beach representative Kerri Burnside pressed for affordability provisions to be included in parking reform, noting the $14-15 million annual gap between housing subsidy needs and available funding. The tone was generally collaborative but revealed underlying tensions between the urgency of state housing mandates and neighborhood concerns about implementation. Ryan emphasized that the city is legally obligated to implement middle housing reforms by 2026, regardless of local preferences, but stressed that interim ordinances would allow for adjustments based on real-world impacts. The discussion highlighted Bellingham's position as a regional growth center facing unprecedented housing produc

No formal votes were taken during this meeting. The session was informational, focusing on: - **Housing Executive Order Implementation**: Staff outlined administrative actions already underway, including development review prioritization for downtown, old town, low-income multifamily, middle housing, and urban village projects - **Parking Minimum Elimination**: The ordinance passed final reading on January …

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**Housing Executive Order and Development Prioritization** Ryan detailed how the mayor's executive order creates a tiered prioritization system for development review, with downtown/old town projects receiving top priority, followed by low-income multifamily, middle housing, and urban village developments. This represents a significant shift in how the city processes development applications, though staff emphasized they must still meet state-mandated review timelines for all projects. **Parking Reform Implementation** The elimination of parking minimums became effective January 28, 2025, following a process that began with initial discussion in May 2024. Ryan explained that most developers don't eliminate parking entirely but typically reduce requirements by 20-30%. The reform aims to remove artificial barriers to housing production while allowing market forces to determine appropriate parking levels. Staff addressed equity concerns about street parking impacts, noting that single-family homeowners also frequently park on streets despite having garages. **…
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**Planning Director Blake Ryan** served as the primary presenter, emphasizing the interconnected nature of housing challenges and the need for multiple policy tools working together. He stressed that state mandates leave little local discretion on whether to implement reforms, only how to implement them. Ryan advocated for interim ordinances to allow real-world testing and adjustment of new policies. **Sheryl Russell (Downtown Alternate)** expressed support for density and infill development while raising specific concerns about implementation quality. She requested development review teams visit existing problematic properties to avoid repeating mistakes, citing issues with illegal building access, blocked fire lanes, and inadequate parking enforcement. Russell emphasized she supports smart growth …
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**Blake Ryan, on state housing mandates:** "This is not a whether this is gonna happen. This is how it's gonna happen." **Blake Ryan, on parking equity concerns:** "If we are going to be equitable about that conversation, it's not fair, in my opinion, to point just to the apartment and say, you're causing this problem and not look across the city and say, okay, let's all do this." **Sheryl Russell, on development quality:** "I'm not talking about a view I'm talking about. I'm talking about a…
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- **January 28, 2025**: Parking minimum elimination ordinance becomes effective - **Spring 2025**: Middle housing ordinance expected to come forward for council consideration - **January 28, 2025**: County Council preliminary determination on growth allocation (non-binding resolution) - **End of 2025**: Final comprehensive plan submission to state required - **20…

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Following this meeting, neighborhood representatives gained detailed understanding of the city's housing policy timeline and constraints. The discussion established that parking reform is essentially final, with implementation beginning January 28, while middle housing reforms remain under development with opportunity for local input on implementation details. The meeting clarified that neighborhood associations' role in formal planning processes has…
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# Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission Discusses Housing Executive Order and Parking Reform ## Meeting Overview The Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission met virtually and in-person on January 15, 2025, without Mayor Kim Lund, who was attending the Governor's inaugural activities in Olympia. The meeting was led by staff from the Mayor's Office and featured Planning and Community Development Director Blake Ryan presenting on Mayor Lund's housing executive order and the recently approved parking reform ordinance. The session drew neighborhood representatives from across Bellingham, including downtown, Silver Beach, Happy Valley, and other areas, for what became an intensive discussion about housing policy, development priorities, and the city's response to state mandates. The meeting ran late into the evening, reflecting the complex and sometimes contentious nature of current housing debates in Bellingham. ## The Housing Executive Order Framework Blake Ryan began by distributing hard copies of Mayor Lund's housing executive order, explaining that it represents a comprehensive approach to addressing Bellingham's housing crisis through multiple administrative and legislative actions. The executive order opens with extensive "whereas" statements spanning the first three pages, establishing the rationale for urgent housing action based on community needs and state mandates. "We know, and you can look at both the experiences of those in our community are facing as well as some of the directives we're receiving from the State that housing is a critical need for us at all levels of the conversation and all different price points for different members of our community," Ryan explained. He emphasized that household demographics "vary wildly in today's society," requiring housing solutions across a broader spectrum than traditional approaches. The executive order includes two main sections: administrative actions the mayor has directed staff to undertake, and thre…
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### Meeting Overview Bellingham's Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission met on January 15, 2025, with Mayor Kim Lund absent (attending Governor's inaugural activities in Olympia). The meeting focused primarily on Mayor Lund's housing executive order and its implementation, particularly the recently adopted parking reform ordinance that eliminated parking minimums citywide. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Executive Order:** A directive from the mayor ordering city staff to take specific administrative actions and requesting city council to consider certain legislative measures related to housing development. **Interim Ordinance:** A temporary law that allows the city to take immediate action while evaluating the implications before adopting a permanent ordinance. All three housing-related ordinances discussed are interim measures. **Middle Housing:** Housing types that fall between single-family homes and large apartment buildings, including duplexes, triplexes, and 4-unit buildings. Also refers to housing that's neither subsidized nor market-rate, helping bridge the affordability gap. **Area Median Income (AMI):** A statistical measure used to determine housing affordability eligibility. For Bellingham, a household of four has a median income of $106,300, with various assistance programs targeting those earning 80% or below this level. **Urban Villages:** Seven designated areas in Bellingham (including Fairhaven, downtown, waterfront, Fountain, Barkley) where the city wants to concentrate compact, walkable development with increased height and density. **Development Review Team Prioritization:** A new system that gives priority processing to: 1) downtown/old town projects, 2) low-income multifamily housing, 3) middle housing, and 4) urban village developments. **Parking Minimums:** Requirements that developers must provide a certain number of parking spaces per unit. These were eliminated citywide effective January 28, 2025. **Housing Production Target:** The state has mandated that Whatcom County must plan for 34,377 new housing units by 2045, with Bellingham historically absorbing about 50% of countywide growth. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Blake Ryan | Planning and Community Development Director | | Victoria | City webinars leader, filling in for Tracy Lewis | | Sheryl Russell | Downtown Alternative representative | | Carrie Burnside | Silver Beach Neighb…
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Housing Land Use & Planning Government Operations Bellingham City Council Mayors Office State Of Washington Western Washington University Whatcom County Wta Blake Ryan Greg Hope Jake Charlton Kerri Burnside Kim Lund Sheryl Russell Victoria Place Downtown Bellingham Place Lake Whatcom Watershed Place Old Town Affordable Housing Comprehensive Plan Development Review Downtown Development Emergency Preparedness Growth Management Act Housing Affordability Housing Policy Infill Development Middle Housing Neighborhood Associations Parking Minimums Short Term Rentals State Legislature Transit Policy Urban Villages