Birch Bay community members will likely soon have an official mechanism to share input, ideas and concerns with Whatcom County government.
Point Roberts and Lummi Island both have committees that act as the conduit between small communities and the Whatcom County government (with a focus on ferry operations, in the case of the Lummi Island committee).
Now Birch Bay too will have an advisory committee that can solicit feedback from residents and business owners and pass recommendations on to the county executive and council.
The unincorporated waterfront area has seen a 20% population increase since 2010, according to the Washington Office of Financial Management, which estimates there were 10,363 residents living within the Birch Bay Urban Census Designated Place in 2023.
“Instead of having a one-way street where when something happens all we can do is complain, or say, ‘yay, we appreciate that,’ we can have a partnership with the county,” said Doralee Booth, who serves as the county liaison on the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce board.
Booth first got involved with the original Birch Bay Steering Committee around 25 years ago. The committee, which formed to address the area’s increasing population and development, drafted the Birch Bay Community Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted as a sub area plan of the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan in 2004.
Some accomplishments of the steering committee included the formation of the Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources Management District and the prioritization of the $15 million shoreline berm restoration project, which was named a 2023 Project of the Year by the American Public Work Association Washington Chapter.
But during the Great Recession, everything slowed down and the steering committee lost steam, Booth said. Now, as more residents are sticking around all year and tourism is booming, the village on the bay wants more control over planning, public safety and infrastructure.
“We didn’t want it to just sit on a shelf in Whatcom County,” she said about the Birch Bay Community Comprehensive Plan. The county is now in the midst of updating its own comprehensive plan, and Birch Bay wants a say in that process.
At the same time, a new effort to incorporate Birch Bay began in 2023. Booth said she supports the idea but isn’t part of the group working on incorporation, which will take several years if successful. While the county explores the possibility of incorporation, an advisory committee can be up and running by early 2025.
The Birch Bay Community Advisory Committee is set to include seven members who live, work, serve on a civic body or own a business in Birch Bay. The ordinance creating the committee was introduced without discussion during a marathon county council meeting on Nov. 19 and will see a final vote Dec. 6. If the ordinance is adopted, membership applications will be open on the county website by the end of 2024 and the first appointments will be made in January 2025.
“This feels like a new adventure,” Booth said. “It’s a real win-win for Birch Bay and the county. I’m very pleased.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
