Whatcom County is exploring a big question: Would a countywide Office of Healthy Housing be helpful or even necessary? Right now, no decisions have been made. This feasibility study will find out if such an office would address real needs in our community. That’s why we want to hear from the people who know rental housing best—renters, landlords,…
On January 13, Bellingham City Council voted to pass an interim ordinance to eliminate parking minimums for new residential developments. This bold move aligns with the city’s commitment to addressing housing affordability, reducing environmental impacts, and creating a more walkable, accessible urban landscape. Backed by Mayor Kim Lund and her Executive Order, and informed by…
Bellingham is currently navigating several significant policy developments, each with the potential to shape the city’s future growth and infrastructure. Here’s a brief update on key policy discussions, along with opportunities for public engagement, where applicable: Parking Reform The Planning Commission is expected to review proposals for parking reform in late summer or early fall.…
With the passing of the historic HB 1110 middle housing Bill last spring, we want to share some of the FAQs that have been posed by municipalities. WA State Commerce Department has compiled all of them, in an effort to highlight how the passing of this legislation will impact cities. We’ve dropped many of the…
As we noted in this week’s newsletter, Bellingham voted to pass an ordinance that adopted HB 1337. We want to take this opportunity to expand education on the difference between state law and local adoption of state law. Before we get into what was passed in Bellingham, let’s breakdown what was passed at the state…
Parking continues to be such a driving policy in so many of our housing decisions. Below is the letter that was sent to City Council for review during their deliberations on 6/26. City Council voted 6-0 (Michael Lilliquist was absent), to send back to Committee for more information before voting on the removal of parking…
On Thursday June 8th, we held our Spring All Members Meeting, with our keynote Kaarin Knudson. Kaarin advised on the passing of Oregon’s middle housing bill and she reviewed what has transpired since its passing, with the recent passing of Washington’s own missing middle housing bill, HB 1110. A little about Kaarin: Kaarin Knudson, AIA,…
The WHA performed a first-of-its-kind, permit ready ADU program survey of nine (9) cities, across three states, to learn the successes, barriers and challenges of these programs. The City of Bellingham will be reviewing the results for consideration. Reach out to the WHA Manager, with more questions, PowerPoint Deck, raw data, addendums and full presentation…
A while ago I shared some brief details on the City of Bellingham’s upcoming Consolidated Plan, what it is and why it matters. The Consolidated Plan is now in draft form on the COB website and our city needs you to review and comment by March 31st. You can read the Consolidated Plan Overview here.…
On March 14th California YIMBY Policy Director, Ned Resnikoff, will present his findings from his report entitled, “Housing Abundance as a Condition for Ending Homelessness.” In his report, Ned reviews lessons from Houston Texas and how California can improve their approach. A quick snapshot of his findings can be found to the left. His findings…
