Letters Have Impact!
One of the highest-impact actions we can take is to write to our City Officials, and inform them of our concerns. The more of us who send letters, the greater the impact on proposed “Project # SUB2022-0011.” Let’s create an avalanche of letters!
Letters to our City Government representatives can cover how we feel about the proposed development, and our concerns for how it will negatively impact the City’s residents and wildlife. A list of points you may wish to mention are provided at the end of this post.
Mayor Seth Fleetwood, City of Bellingham
Council Member Michael Lilliquist, City of Bellingham
210 Lottie Street, Bellingham WA 98225
Letters to COB Planning Department officials can touch on concerns specific to the proposed site development, and how that may violate City, State, and US requirements and regulations. An example of such a letter, from Janet Migaki, is attached to give a sense of how our experts are raising red flags about this proposed development. Your letter can touch on the concerns Janet raised, or on other concerns you have about the proposal.
Kathy Bell, Senior Planner, City of Bellingham
Steve Sundin, Senior Environmental Planner, City of Bellingham
Kurt Nabbefeld, SEPA Responsible Official, City of Bellingham
210 Lottie Street, Bellingham WA 98225
Link to Janet Migaki’s letter: Migaki Letter
Mud Bay Cliffs Development
Partial Summary of Potential Negative Impacts
to Surrounding Area & Neighborhoods
1. Traffic volumes through Edgemoor during construction will consist of large dump trucks, cranes, heavy machinery, and materials deliveries, as well as construction workers commuting to/from the jobsite.
2. Post-development traffic volume is estimated to add over 500 vehicle trips per day on Viewcrest (according to application documents)! Considering the frequent back-ups already occurring near the Middle School, this is indeed concerning.
3. Major traffic safety issues apply during both phases, due to all of the added vehicular traffic being funneled onto a narrow street (Viewcrest) with no sidewalks (except eventually, perhaps, along the ~300’ strip directly across from Clark St.) and then fanning out through the neighborhood from there.
4. Negative environmental impacts are always a concern with any development proposing to replace undisturbed native & natural vegetation with concrete, buildings, asphalt, and grass.
For example, the developer claims that at least 80% of the vegetation on the property will be retained. But even if the developer is successful in achieving this highly ambitious goal, once the developed properties are sold, the developer is off the hook. There is no language in the current documentation preventing the individual property owners from removing as much additional vegetation as they please. Without such language, the 80% figure is nothing short of a “bait & switch.”
Additionally, there are at least three factors in this particular development that potentially multiply these adverse environmental issues greatly…
1. The existing heavily wooded ridge South of the Clark & Viewcrest neighborhoods:
With prevailing winds from the South, the removal of significant tree canopy could have a devastating effect on the Clark & Viewcrest neighborhoods to the North, where trees that have been protected from wind all their lives are suddenly exposed. The resulting “blowdown” (aka “domino effect”) combined with flooding (that many of us got a taste of last winter) could potentially cause extensive damage and expense which will be borne by the homeowners in those neighborhoods and/or their insurers.
2. The dangerously steep slope on which 38 new homes are proposed to be built:
The physical landslide, wind, flood, and fire dangers are multiplied by the steepness and general unsuitability for building of the steep slope. The numerous car-sized boulders lying at the bottom of the slope testify to the instability of the bedrock in this area.
3. The sensitive tidal estuary directly below the steep slope:
There are countless dangers to the bay below from construction waste, storm water runoff (oils, chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers), sewage leaks, topsoil erosion. In short, anything not properly collected above, will eventually find its way into the bay, where salmon run, Herons feed, clams are already struggling to survive, and efforts are currently underway to reintroduce native Olympia oysters.