# Whatcom County Planning and Development Committee Debates Development Applications and Comprehensive Plan Amendments ## Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Planning and Development Committee convened on March 11, 2025, for what appeared to be a routine discussion of the annual comprehensive plan amendment docket but evolved into a substantive debate about development priorities, infrastructure capacity, and procedural fairness. Committee Chair Ben Elenbaas presided over the 39-minute meeting, joined by Council Members Todd Donovan and Jon Scanlon, with several other council members and staff participating remotely. The central item on the agenda was Resolution AB2025-194, which would formally docket five proposed amendments to the county's comprehensive plan and development regulations for review during 2025. While such annual docketing resolutions typically receive perfunctory approval, this meeting revealed significant philosophical differences among committee members about growth management, infrastructure planning, and the role of private development proposals in shaping county policy. What made this meeting particularly notable was the collision between ongoing comprehensive plan update work and new private development applications seeking to expand the Birch Bay Urban Growth Area—applications that some committee members viewed as potentially inconsistent with current planning efforts and infrastructure realities. ## The Annual Docket: Five Proposals Under Consideration Lucas Clark from the Planning and Development Services Department presented five items proposed for the 2025 comprehensive plan amendment docket. Two were routine annual updates initiated by county staff: amendments to the Capital Improvement Plan and the annual "code scrub" to ensure consistency with the Growth Management Act. These drew no controversy. The three contentious items were privately initiated applications that would require approximately $9,600 in fees from each applicant—fees that could be waived by council action. Two applications sought to expand the Birch Bay Urban Growth Area: one covering 4.77 acres at 7850 Blaine Road, currently in the urban growth reserve, and another encompassing 37.6…