July Updates: PMBC In The News!
Our efforts gain attention
Have you seen the 7/21/22 Cascadia Daily News article about our efforts to protect Mud Bay Cliffs and the North Chuckanut Bay watershed?
In the article, city planner Kathy Bell characterized public concerns about the proposed subdivision as “premature.” However, we believe there is ample cause now to reject the currently proposed project.
Here are a few reasons why:
The property owners could build four homes on their four lots. Instead, they want special exceptions and variances from the city to develop nearly ten times that number of lots, and then introduce multiple phases of luxury home construction. Most people realize that more luxury homes wouldn’t address Bellingham’s pressing needs for low-to-moderate-priced housing. We’re unaware of any reasons the city and its citizens would be well-served by granting the developers’ special requests, including the request that we give up a public right-of-way to the private owners.
Prior development and human activity have already forced great blue herons to move their nesting colony from Chuckanut Bay to Post Point. Nesting great blue herons prefer to feed in estuaries located within three miles of their nests; Mud Bay is about 1.5 miles from the Post Point colony. The Post Point herons can frequently be observed flying over Mud Bay Cliffs, and feeding along its shoreline. Blasting, excavations, earth movers, pile drivers and other heavy equipment would likely disturb the birds’ feeding and nesting behavior – yet again.
Building 38 homes on Mud Bay Cliffs could reasonably be expected to introduce more contaminants into the fragile bay ecosystem from stormwater runoff, potentially harming salmon and shellfish. Mud Bay’s waters are no longer “flushed” as thoroughly as they once were, after the construction of a railroad causeway in the 1920s, which filled in most of the original open-trestle design with rock. Enough damage has already been done to Mud Bay and its wildlife by past development; we can make the choice now to protect it from further unnecessary harm.
On the property itself, the woodlands and wetlands of Mud Bay Cliffs provide a continuous wildlife corridor between Clark’s Point and Chuckanut Marsh; increased human activity would undoubtedly hurt this sensitive ecosystem.
Bellingham has lost around three-quarters of its estuarine habitats because of past waterfront development. Today, there are very few unprotected places where the natural shoreline still exists. This makes protecting the unique Mud Bay Cliffs site all the more important for Bellingham.
Community support
PMBC has a new ally: the Whatcom Million Trees Project (WMTP). We recently toured the site from the shoreline with WMTP’s Executive Director, who agrees our efforts to protect the Mud Bay Cliffs woodlands are aligned with WMTP’s goals to protect trees in Whatcom County. WMTP will help us with flyer distribution, strategic advice, and more. To learn more about the Whatcom Million Trees Project and its important work, visit: https://whatcommilliontrees.org .
Let’s keep up the good work
We greatly appreciate all you’ve done to help protect Mud Bay Cliffs: staying informed, talking with neighbors, writing letters, displaying PMBC yard signs, volunteering and contributing tax-deductible donations.
The city Planning Department is currently waiting for the developer to address questions and provide information missing from their original application. We’ll continue to send updates on the project as it winds it through the planning process. (The city’s website for the proposed project is: https://cob.org/project/the-woods-at-viewcrest .)
In the meantime, here’s a list of things you can do — let your friends know, too:
Get Your Yard Sign: To get a free, recyclable yard sign, visit https://mudbaycliffs.org/join-in, then click the “Yard Sign” button.
Write a Letter: Send a letter/email to Mayor Fleetwood (mayorsoffice@cob.org) and City Council (ccmail@cob.org) describing, in your own words, your concerns about the proposed development. The mailing address is: City Hall, 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA 98225. Eventually, we’ll also write letters to the Planning Department to speak out about problems with the application itself, during the Public Comment period (dates TBD by City Planning Department).
Sign Up for City Notices: You can receive notices from the city about the development and help signal widespread interest in this project by sending an email:
To: Senior Planner Kathy Bell at kbell@cob.org
Subject: Jones Preliminary Plat
Content: Your home mailing address.
Include: “Please accept this email as my request to receive all notices regarding the Jones Preliminary Plat subdivision application at 352 Viewcrest Rd / Parcel # 370213075542”
Donate: If you‘re able, please make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to the Protect Mud Bay Cliffs Fund using the “Donate” button on our website at https://mudbaycliffs.org/join-in.
Thank you!