A hearing on a proposed 67-unit Meridian townhouse development brought “overwhelming” public comment from dozens of residents donning green to Bellingham City Council chambers to argue for maintaining mature trees on the site.
The project, located at 3509 Meridian St., has become a sticking point in the city’s efforts to find the balance between environmental protection and the need for housing.
As planned, the development requires the elimination of 327 trees. The applicant, AVT Consulting, which is working on the permitting process for landowner Bellingham Golf and Country Club, pledged to plant 474 trees in replacement. Eighty-three of those trees would be on site, and the remaining 391 would be planted off-site, but next door on country club land.
The hearing examiner received 40 pages of public comment and heard more than a dozen speakers at the hearing.
Community members, spearheaded by the Whatcom Million Trees Project, have criticized the elimination of the trees for environmental, social and health reasons, and argued that the replacement trees are not adequate replacements for the ones being cut down. The group has proposed cutting certain units from the development to save more trees.
City planner Ryan Nelson said it was an “overwhelming” amount of public comment on a development proposal. “Nothing like I’ve seen in my 15-year tenure at the City of Bellingham,” he said.
In particular, Michael Feerer of Whatcom Million Trees Project and other community members suggested the removal of eight “luxury” units in the development to save 120 trees. Nelson said the city would support the elimination of those single-story duplex units — but Ali Taysi of AVT consulting said that’s not financially feasible.
Feerer previously told CDN many of the trees slated to be removed are 70- to 100-year-old conifers and are among the tallest trees in city limits.
Seventy-one of the trees proposed to be cut down have diameters of 30 inches or greater, while the remaining 264 trees have diameters less than 30 inches, Nelson said at the Wednesday night meeting.
The development began as a project of Stream Real Estate & Development Co., but shifted back to Bellingham Golf and Country Club ownership when the developer pulled out of the sale last fall due to financial reasons, according to a message from the country club to members. The project has continued to move forward under golf club ownership.
Roger Hunt, a board member for the Bellingham Golf and Country Club, said at the meeting the club began this planning six years ago, and in 2019, membership approved the club’s intention to develop townhouses on part of their property. Hunt said the club is committed to finding a “developer or partner to develop the project.”
Taysi spoke extensively at the hearing about the need for affordable housing in Bellingham and argued that this project is aligned with the city’s goals outlined in the Bellingham Comprehensive Plan.
“There’s been an immense amount of public testimony focused on tree preservation and we believe … that the project is consistent with the comprehensive plan because it forwards all the goals and policies related to housing and land use,” Taysi said. “… We have to build more housing period. Otherwise, our affordability crisis will get even worse.”
Kurt Nabbefeld, development services manager in the city’s planning department, said in all development projects, and throughout the city, emphasis has been placed on finding balance between housing and environmental protection. The city is working on an Urban Forestry Management plan, which when approved, would set a canopy cover target of 45%.
“We’re faced right now with a climate crisis; we’re faced with a housing crisis. How we all as a society move forward is very challenging,” Nabbefeld said. “And what we have been trying to do … is how do you balance all this stuff?”
“It is taking time to get there, but we are getting there,” he added.
The proposal, submitted to the City of Bellingham’s Planning and Community Development office in August 2023, will create 67 townhouse units — a mix of one- to three-story homes and duplex-style housing — with 134 garage parking stalls, 21 surface guest parking stalls and an extended sidewalk on Meridian Street alongside the Bellingham Golf and Country Club to connect existing sidewalk to a bus stop.
The hearing examiner’s decision on whether to approve the townhouse development will be released in early April.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
