City Council - Regular Meeting
City Council - Regular Meeting
Mon, July 13, 2026
Agenda items
Vote records
Discussion summary
Transcript
Meeting summaryAI-generated
Bellingham City Council — Regular Meeting, July 13, 2026
This was a full regular meeting covering land use, economic development, public safety, charter amendments, and several contract awards. The session ran approximately three hours, with significant public engagement on parking reform.
Parking Reform: Public Hearing on Permanent Elimination of Minimum Automobile Parking Requirements (Agenda Bill 24970)
The council held a public hearing on a proposed permanent ordinance to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements citywide and establish consistent bicycle parking standards. This would make permanent what has been in effect as an interim ordinance since January 2025, extended twice. Planning and Community Development Director Blake Lion and planner Elizabeth Eriksen presented, noting that Washington State's Senate Bill 5184 (effective January 2027) will independently prohibit the city from requiring parking for dwelling units under 1,200 square feet and commercial uses under 3,000 square feet — making much of the parking reform a matter of state law regardless of local action.
Staff presented examples of housing projects enabled by parking flexibility, including 129 permanently affordable senior units and 80 childcare spaces at Bellis Fair, 84 market-rate units at Iron Works in Old Town (up from 30 under old requirements), and a 54-unit studio project on Samish Way that could grow from an originally proposed 12-unit project. Staff also proposed — beyond what the Planning Commission approved — increasing e-bike and cargo bike parking ratios.
Public comment was substantive and divided. Supporters included the Whatcom Housing Alliance (Scott Pelton), who argued the sky hasn't fallen in the 18 months of the interim ordinance and cited similar reforms in over 100 cities; a WWU student/advocate (Miles Silverman), who supported higher e-bike ratios and said contextual factors justify the reform; a builder and neighborhood advocate (Alex Ross), who framed the issue as human dignity and housing access; Future Home Buyers Organization board president Carrie Burnside, who supported parking reform but urged the council not to call it "bold" without pairing it with affordability measures for households below 50% AMI; realtor and BIA representative Perry Esgridge, who said the development community supports the ability to "right-size" parking; and Andy Hansen, who expressed strong support.
Opponents raised concerns about commercial parking (Adam Bellinger), spillover into neighborhoods without sidewalks or street parking (Omar Firestone, Ann, Justin Danbury, Rosanna Lawn), ADA accessibility impacts (Council Member Anderson), lack of transit infrastructure to support car-free living (Kim Abercrombie, the online caller Ann), and questioned whether market-rate housing produced under this ordinance actually helps affordability (Brian Gas, Carrie Burnside, Brian Armstrong).
Council Member Cotton moved to approve the permanent ordinance. Council Member Anderson moved to refer the item to a committee of the whole work session, citing unanswered questions about commercial parking impacts, ADA accommodation, neighborhood monitoring plans, and the number of projects already in the pipeline without parking. Council Member Lilliquist seconded. After procedural discussion about Robert's Rules, the referral motion was put to a vote.
Vote to refer to committee of the whole: Passed 4–3. Anderson, Stone, Lilliquist, and Huthman voted yes; Hammill, Williams, and Cotton voted no.
The item will return at the July 27 meeting as a work session. Council members flagged the following topics for that discussion: ADA parking carveouts under SB5184; commercial parking; monitoring and enforcement plans for spillover; how many pending projects are relying on no parking; the meaning of "eliminating" the Fair Haven Parking District; and public communication about what the state law already requires.
Council Member Anderson also requested the city do better public communication to clarify that SB5184 — not just city policy — is driving significant portions of this change.
Also passed the same evening: a routine extension of the existing interim parking ordinance (Agenda Bill 24968) to allow time to complete the permanent process.
Vote on interim ordinance extension: 7–0 (roll call).
Historic Preservation Commission Appointments (Agenda Bill 24975)
Mayor Lund sought council confirmation of three appointments to the Historic Preservation Commission: Emily Worthy (first term), David Christensen (ninth term), and Alexandra Costic (third term).
Vote: Moved by Williams, seconded by Huthman. Passed 7–0.
Community Development Advisory Board Reappointment (Agenda Bill 24976)
For council information only: Mayor Lund announced she will reappoint Shannon Laws to a second term on the Community Development Advisory Board. No vote required.
Contract Award: Citywide Non-Motorized Project (Agenda Bill 24983)
The council awarded a construction contract for safety improvements at 10 locations citywide — including bike lane upgrades, ADA ramp improvements, and installation of rapid rectangular flashing beacon (RRFB) crosswalk enhancements. Seven bids were received; Ram Construction General Contractors submitted the lowest responsive bid of $1,480,017.15 (including sales tax), well below the engineer's estimate of approximately $2.1 million. An apprenticeship hour requirement applies. The project implements recommendations from both the city's bicycle and pedestrian master plans.
Vote: Moved by Lilliquist, seconded by Cotton. Passed 7–0.
EV Charging Station Fee Update (Agenda Bill 24986)
Staff proposed updating public EV charging rates. Level 2 charger rates were found to be at market rate and unchanged. Level 3 fast charger rates will increase to $0.40/kWh — still below market average — to bring the program from a slight annual loss (~$11,000) to cost-neutral. The council also heard about an EV car-share pilot program (grant-funded, hosted at Bellingham Food Co-op, Resources, and Opportunity Council) and new standards for safely running charging cords across public sidewalks.
Vote: Moved by Lilliquist, seconded by Huthman. Passed 7–0.
Urban Village and Downtown Pedestrian Core Business & Occupation Tax Credit (Agenda Bill 24985)
The council approved an ordinance expanding an existing B&O tax credit for new businesses from select urban villages to all urban villages, and establishing a new B&O tax credit for businesses in the downtown pedestrian core — 100% of tax due for the first 7 years (urban villages, phased) or first 7 years (pedestrian core). Council Member Lilliquist successfully amended the urban village credit to a flat 100% for the first 3 years rather than a phased approach, and struck the word "phased" from the title. Staff noted only about five businesses currently use the existing credit. Finance staff found minimal budget impact, with potential offset from sales tax revenues from new businesses. Council Member Anderson abstained on the amendment, citing discomfort with the curveball timing but not opposition to the concept.
Vote on amendment: Passed 6–1 (Anderson abstained).
Vote on full ordinance as amended: Passed 7–0.
Council Member Lilliquist also moved to direct the administration to track usage, job creation, sales tax, customer use, and business numbers and report back to council.
Vote on tracking directive: Passed 6–1 (Cotton opposed).
First Quarter 2026 Financial Review (Agenda Bill 24987)
Finance Director Andy Bejnson presented the Q1 2026 financial review (information only, no vote). Key points: sales tax revenue is down in lodging, retail, and restaurants, but up in construction materials and automotive — slightly ahead overall. Most departments are on or under budget. A more detailed mid-year report is expected in August.
Galbraith Mountain Update (Agenda Bill 24982)
The Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition's Executive Director Eric Brown presented an annual report. Highlights: 7 new trails constructed; 38,690 trail uses across 361 days in 2025; 700+ youth program participants; programs include afterschool bike clubs, a program for female students (Flying Squirrel), and "Vamos" — an 8-week Spanish-language program where students earn a bicycle, helmet, and lock. Volunteers contributed over 6,900 hours. Presented for information only; no action taken.
Tree Trimming and Removal Services Contract (Agenda Bill 24981)
The council awarded a contract to Stumpy's Tree Care of Lynden for citywide tree trimming and removal services, not to exceed $450,000 for an initial 3-year term, with an optional 1-year renewal at up to $150,000. Three bids were received; Stumpy's submitted the lowest responsive bid. Not subject to the apprenticeship utilization program due to contract scope.
Vote: Moved by Williams, seconded by Hammill. Passed 7–0.
Alternative Response Team Interlocal Agreement with Whatcom County (Agenda Bill 24984)
The council approved an interlocal agreement with Whatcom County to fund continued operations of the Bellingham Police Department's Alternative Response Team (ART). The state legislature reduced ART funding in the last session; a grant of $688,760 over 25 months from the Criminal Justice Training Center will replace that funding, allowing the city to retain trained ART personnel and continue the program.
Vote: Moved by Hammill, seconded by Williams. Passed 7–0.
City Council Communications and Community Engagement Work Plan (Agenda Bill 24973)
The council's communications work plan for 2026 was presented and discussed in committee of the whole. No action taken; the item was referred back to the communications work group for further refinement and will return at the July 27 meeting.
Initiative 2026-01: Prohibiting Algorithmic Price-Fixing in the Rental Market (Agenda Bill 24974)
The Whatcom County Auditor has verified that petitioners collected sufficient signatures (3,167+, representing at least 10% of votes cast for mayor in the last election) to qualify Initiative 2026-01 — which would prohibit algorithmic price-fixing in the rental housing market — for council consideration. Council must act by July 27 to meet the August 4 deadline for November ballot placement. Council directed staff to prepare a resolution deferring the initiative to voters at the November general election.
Vote: Moved by Lilliquist (as resolution), seconded by Hammill. Passed 7–0.
Charter Amendment: Mayor/Designee Contract Execution and Electronic Signatures (Agenda Bill 24977)
The council approved a resolution to place a charter amendment before November voters. The amendment would allow the mayor or the mayor's designee to execute contracts electronically and remove the requirement that the Finance Director physically attest the mayor's signature and affix the city seal. The change would enable use of DocuSign, which is already required for some state contracts.
Vote: Moved by Stone, seconded by Williams. Passed 7–0.
Charter Amendment: Independent Salary Commission to Set Mayor's Salary (Agenda Bill 24978)
The council approved a resolution to place a charter amendment before November voters that would remove the requirement that the mayor be the highest-paid city employee (a provision that currently ties mayoral pay to staff salary compression rather than public intent) and instead assign the mayor's salary to the same independent salary commission that sets council salaries. Mayor Lund noted she would volunteer to write the "pro" statement if voters are asked to ratify the change.
Vote: Moved by Stone, seconded by Huthman. Passed 7–0.
Council Member Lilliquist then moved to direct the administration to draft resolutions formally expressing the council's support for both charter amendments (urging a "yes" vote), to be timed closer to the election. Council confirmed this is permissible under state law.
Vote on resolution-of-support directive: Passed 7–0.
Lake Whatcom Watershed Land Acquisition (Executive Session)
Following executive session, council authorized the mayor to close a purchase and sale agreement for a 1-acre property in the Lake Whatcom watershed (APN 37042141350) from Jeff Kradenpath for $190,000. Closing is on or before August 7, 2026. Funded through restricted watershed surcharge funds paid by city water customers.
Vote: Moved by Huthman, seconded by Hammill. Passed 7–0.
Consent Calendar
Four accounts payable authorizations (covering May 29–June 25, 2026) and one payroll authorization (May 16–31, 2026) were approved without discussion.
Vote: Moved by Lilliquist, seconded by Williams. Passed 7–0.
Additional Council Reports
Regional Fire Authority: Lilliquist and Hammill reported that a planning committee (including the mayor and Fire District 8 commissioners) is actively exploring forming a Regional Fire Authority — a new government entity that would require voter approval, potentially on the 2027 ballot.
EMS Levy: Hammill reported that work is underway toward a 2028 EMS levy renewal for advanced life support, basic life support, and community paramedic services.
FIFA/World Cup Tourism: Huthman reported the official Bellingham Fan Zone website saw 53,000+ visits; watch parties drew thousands; border crossings in June were up 13% year-over-year (though still down 22% from June 2024).
Legislative Lobby Team: Council approved Williams, Lilliquist, and Cotton to serve on the council's legislative lobby team for the upcoming state session. Passed 7–0.
Key Takeaways
Parking reform is headed to a work session. The council voted 4–3 to send the permanent elimination of parking minimums to a committee of the whole before final action, after council members raised unresolved questions about commercial parking, ADA access, neighborhood spillover monitoring, and public communication. The interim ordinance was simultaneously extended to keep current rules in place.
Two charter amendments will go to November voters: one to allow electronic contract signing by the mayor or designee, and one to remove the requirement that the mayor be the city's highest-paid employee and instead have an independent salary commission set mayoral pay.
The algorithmic rent price-fixing initiative will also go to November voters. The council unanimously directed staff to prepare a resolution referring Initiative 2026-01 to the general election ballot.
$688,760 secured to sustain the Alternative Response Team after state funding cuts, through an interlocal agreement with Whatcom County backed by a state grant.
A $1.48 million non-motorized safety project was awarded to Ram Construction for 10 citywide locations, including crosswalk beacon upgrades and bike/ADA improvements — well under the $2.1 million engineer's estimate.
AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.
What happened at this meeting
In-person: Headsets are available to attendees in Council Chambers.
In executive session, staff provided information on a potential litigation matter presented by Herb. This was strictly for information and discussion purposes, with no action taken by the Council.
Online: Join the Zoom meeting at cob.org/cczoom, then select the interpretation channel at the bottom of the screen. Those wishing to offer public comment in Spanish will be able to do so and their comments will be interpreted into English. Meeting records: Video recordings of each meeting are available online at cob.org/meetings within five business days following each meeting.
In executive session, staff provided information on a potential property acquisition matter presented by Rosenblat. This was for information and discussion only, with no action taken.
Online: A sign-up form is available at cob.org/ccsignup on the day of the meeting.
In executive session, staff provided information on a second potential property acquisition matter presented by Rosenblat. This was for information and discussion only, with no action taken.
In person: Sign-up sheets are available outside the Council Chambers doors starting at 6:30 p.m. the evening of the meeting.
In executive session, staff briefed Council on the city's pending agreement to purchase a 1-acre property from Jeff Kradenpath. The property is located in the Lake Whatcom watershed and is identified by assessor's parcel number 37042141350. This was for information and discussion purposes.
An ordinance relating to land use and zoning, extending interim zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide
# Summary
Staff presented an ordinance to extend interim zoning regulations eliminating minimum parking requirements citywide, citing Bellingham's failure to meet housing targets (850 units annually) and upcoming state mandate compliance via SB5184. Elizabeth Ericen detailed that the interim ordinance, adopted in January of the previous year and extended twice, is now moving through permanent regulations via a Type 6 process with Planning Commission support. Public comment revealed mixed perspectives: Andy advocated for multiple transportation options, Carrie Burnside supported parking reform but urged pairing it with affordability measures to protect low-income residents, and Justin Danbury opposed the blanket elimination, arguing parking demand would relocate given Bellingham residents' car dependency. Council Member Anderson raised significant concerns about ADA accessibility and impacts on neighborhoods lacking infrastructure like sidewalks and on-street parking, requesting clarification on complaint procedures and monitoring plans; after procedural debate, her motion to refer the item to committee of the whole passed 4-3. Following discussion and a work session, the Council voted 7-0 to approve the extension of interim zoning regulations, allowing time for the permanent regulation process to proceed.
Staff presented an ordinance to extend interim zoning regulations eliminating minimum parking requirements citywide, citing Bellingham's failure to meet housing targets (850 units annually) and upcoming state mandate compliance via SB5184. Elizabeth Ericen detailed that the interim ordinance, adopted in January of the previous year and extended twice, is now moving through permanent regulations via a Type 6 process with Planning Commission support. Public comment revealed mixed perspectives: Andy advocated for multiple transportation options, Carrie Burnside supported parking reform but urged pairing it with affordability measures to protect low-income residents, and Justin Danbury opposed the blanket elimination, arguing parking demand would relocate given Bellingham residents' car dependency. Council Member Anderson raised significant concerns about ADA accessibility and impacts on neighborhoods lacking infrastructure like sidewalks and on-street parking, requesting clarification on complaint procedures and monitoring plans; after procedural debate, her motion to refer the item to committee of the whole passed 4-3. Following discussion and a work session, the Council voted 7-0 to approve the extension of interim zoning regulations, allowing time for the permanent regulation process to proceed.
Agenda items (30)
Procedural (9)
1ProceduralIn-person: Headsets are available to attendees in Council Chambers.
Headsets will be available for attendees present in City Council Chambers to use during the meeting.
What happened
In executive session, staff provided information on a potential litigation matter presented by Herb. This was strictly for information and discussion purposes, with no action taken by the Council.2ProceduralOnline: Join the Zoom meeting at cob.org/cczoom, then select the interpretation channel at the bottom of the screen. Those wishing to offer public comment in Spanish will be able to do so and their comments will be interpreted into English. Meeting records: Video recordings of each meeting are available online at cob.org/meetings within five business days following each meeting.
Residents can join the meeting online via Zoom at cob.org/cczoom and access Spanish interpretation, and video recordings will be posted online within five business days.
What happened
In executive session, staff provided information on a potential property acquisition matter presented by Rosenblat. This was for information and discussion only, with no action taken.3ProceduralOnline: A sign-up form is available at cob.org/ccsignup on the day of the meeting.
A sign-up form for public comment is available online at cob.org/ccsignup on the day of the meeting.
What happened
In executive session, staff provided information on a second potential property acquisition matter presented by Rosenblat. This was for information and discussion only, with no action taken.4ProceduralIn person: Sign-up sheets are available outside the Council Chambers doors starting at 6:30 p.m. the evening of the meeting.
Sign-up sheets for in-person public comment will be available outside Council Chambers starting at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the meeting.
What happened
In executive session, staff briefed Council on the city's pending agreement to purchase a 1-acre property from Jeff Kradenpath. The property is located in the Lake Whatcom watershed and is identified by assessor's parcel number 37042141350. This was for information and discussion purposes.6ProceduralIn person: Meetings are held in Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall.
City Council meetings are held in Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall.
7ProceduralOnline: Join the Zoom meeting at cob.org/cczoom and follow staff instructions at time of the hearing or public comment period.
Residents can participate in the meeting online by joining the Zoom meeting at cob.org/cczoom.
8ProceduralOver the phone: Call 253-215-8782, enter Meeting ID 871 5188 5205, and Password 9. Follow staff instructions at the time of the hearing or public comment period. Before or after a meeting: The City of Bellingham meets the Open Public Meetings Act by accepting written public comment in advance of City Council meetings. Send written input before or after a meeting.
Residents can call 253-215-8782 to participate by phone using Meeting ID 871 5188 5205 and Password 9, or submit written comments before or after the meeting.
9ProceduralBy mail addressed to: City Council, 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Written public comments can be mailed to City Council at 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA 98225.
10ProceduralOnline: o For a public hearing: cob.org/publichearing. o For general public comment: E-mail all Council Members at ccmail@cob.org.
Residents can submit written comments for a public hearing at cob.org/publichearing or email all Council Members at ccmail@cob.org for general public comment.
Council Business
5Council BusinessOld or new business
Council members can raise any old or new business items not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
24973Council BusinessA presentation and consideration of the City Council Communications and
City staff will present information about City Council communications for Council review.
What happened
The city council communications and community relations manager presented the 2026 work plan designed to increase and improve community engagement with the council. The proposed tactics address priorities identified by council members at their April 20th, 2026 retreat, with input from the city council communications work group. The Committee of the Whole conducted preliminary discussions and review of the work plan but took no action. The item was referred back to committee for further discussion at the next meeting, with the communications work group meeting scheduled for the following day to review council feedback and make additional changes before bringing it back for possible adoption.24974Council BusinessA discussion of initiative no. 2026-01 prohibiting algorithmic price-fixing in the rental market
The City Council will discuss a proposed ballot initiative that would prohibit landlords and rental companies from using algorithms to set coordinated rental prices.
What happened
# Summary of Initiative No. 2026-01 DiscussionCouncil discussed Initiative No. 2026-01 prohibiting algorithmic price-fixing in the rental market, which was verified by the Whatcom County Auditor to have collected 3,167 signatures, meeting the required threshold of 10% of votes cast for mayor at the last municipal general election. Council considered three options: enacting the initiative as written, deferring it to voters at the November general election, or rejecting it in favor of an alternative measure. Council Member Liquist moved to request that administration draft a resolution to refer the initiative to voters, which was seconded by Council Member Hamill and passed unanimously (7-0). Council must take final action by July 27th, 2026 to meet the August 4th deadline for ballot measure preparation for the November ballot.
24977Council BusinessA resolution proposing amendments to article 5, section 2 and to article 8, section 6 of the City of Bellingham's charter to allow the mayor or the mayor's designee to execute contracts in the name of the City and to eliminate the related requirement that the finance director attest the signature of the mayor
The City Council will consider proposing a charter amendment to allow the mayor to sign contracts on behalf of the city without requiring the finance director's signature approval.
What happened
# SummaryThe City Council discussed two charter amendments scheduled for November voter approval. The first would eliminate the requirement that the mayor earn the highest city salary, instead having compensation set by the same salary commission that determines council salaries; the Mayor volunteered to write the pro statement and invited interested council members to join her. The second amendment would allow the mayor or designate to execute contracts without requiring the finance director's signature attestation, streamlining the process for electronically signed documents required by the state. Council Member Liiloquist moved to direct administration to develop resolutions supporting voter approval of both amendments, and Council Member Anderson seconded, noting that resolutions would provide voters with more context than simply presenting the measures; the motion passed unanimously (7-0), with Deputy Herb recommending the resolutions be timed for September or October distribution rather than July 27th.
24978Council BusinessA resolution proposing an amendment to article 2, section 9 of the City of Bellingham's charter to assign responsibility for reviewing and fixing the mayor’s salary to an independent salary commission
The City Council will consider proposing a charter amendment to create an independent salary commission to review and set the mayor's salary.
What happened
# SummaryThe City of Bellingham Council discussed a proposed charter amendment to Article 2, Section 9 regarding mayoral compensation. Deputy Administrator Forest Longman explained that the amendment would transfer mayoral salary review from the current requirement that the mayor be the highest-paid employee to an independent salary commission, increasing transparency and aligning with best practices. Council Member Liiloquist moved to direct administration to develop a resolution supporting voter approval of the amendment, with resolutions to be brought back in September/October to coincide with ballot distribution, and Council Member Anderson supported the approach. The motion passed unanimously 7-0. Additionally, Council Members Williams, Liloquist, and Cotton were nominated and voted on to serve on a lobby committee for the upcoming legislative session, with that motion also passing 7-0 with no opposition.
24981Council BusinessA contract award for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity tree trimming and removal services, Bid No. 12B-2026 Public Health, Safety, Justice, and Equity 1:35 p.m.
The City Council will award a contract for tree trimming and removal services across the city.
What happened
Staff presented a contract award for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity tree trimming and removal services (Bid 12B 2026). The city received three bids publicly opened on April 15th, with Stumpy's Tree Care of Lynnwood submitting the lowest responsible bid. The contract includes a maximum term of three years with optional one-year renewal, not to exceed $450,000 for the initial term and $150,000 for the optional renewal year. Parks and recreation staff recommended approval, and Council Member Williams made a motion seconded by Council Member Hamill with no discussion or concerns raised. The motion passed 7-0 in favor of awarding the contract to Stumpy's Tree Care of Lynnwood.24982Council BusinessAn update on Galbraith Mountain from the Whatcom Mountain Bike
The Whatcom Mountain Bike Association will provide an update on trail conditions and developments at Galbraith Mountain.
What happened
Council member Williams reported on the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, which received an annual update from Eric Brown, executive director of the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition. The coalition constructed seven new trails on Galbraith Mountain with 38,692 community members using all trails over 361 days in 2025. The coalition ran 13 programs serving over 700 participants, including the Vamos program for Spanish-speaking students providing bike education, road safety, and community building. Volunteers contributed 2,000 hours of trail work, 1,400 hours of event support, and 3,500 hours of program support. The presentation was for information and discussion only, with no action taken.24983Council BusinessContract award for Citywide Non-Motorized Project, project ES572, Bid
The City Council will award a contract for the Citywide Non-Motorized Project (project ES572) to improve biking and walking infrastructure.
What happened
Council Member Liilquist presented a contract award for the Citywide Non-Motorized Project (ES572), which consists of improvements across 10 locations to make walking and biking safer. The city received seven bids on June 16, 2026, and Ram Construction General Contractors submitted the lowest responsive bid of $1,480,117.15, below the engineer's estimate of approximately $2.1 million. The project includes bike lane and ADA ramp improvements, plus seven rectangular flashing beacon crossing enhancements, and implements recommendations from the city's bicycle and pedestrian master plans. Council Member Liilquist noted the connection between this project and the Safe Streets Bellingham campaign's advocacy efforts for non-motorized safety improvements, and the committee unanimously recommended approval. The full Council moved and seconded the motion to award the contract.24984Council BusinessAn interlocal agreement with Whatcom County for funding to maintain operations for the Alternative Response Team
The City Council will approve a funding agreement with Whatcom County to support the Alternative Response Team, which handles certain emergency calls without police.
What happened
# SummaryAn interlocal agreement with Whatcom County was presented to fund the Alternative Response Team (ART) operations, with the Bellingham Police Department requesting $688,760 over 25 months through the Criminal Justice Training Center grant program to maintain operations, retain trained personnel, and analyze program data. Council Member Hamill noted that state legislature reduced funding during the last Olympia session, and this grant will replace that contribution. The Public Health, Safety, Justice, and Equity Committee voted to approve the agreement, with Council Member Hamill making the motion, Council Member Williams seconding it, and the full council passing it 7-0 with no discussion.
24985Council BusinessAn ordinance to amend Chapter 6.04 of the Bellingham Municipal Code to expand the urban village phased tax credit and establish a new downtown pedestrian core tax credit
The City Council will consider an ordinance to expand a tax credit for urban village development and create a new tax credit for downtown pedestrian areas.
What happened
# Summary: Urban Village Phase Expansion and Parking Reform OrdinanceThe council discussed an ordinance to amend Chapter 6.04 of the Bellingham Municipal Code regarding urban village phase expansion and parking minimums. Supporters, including Scott Pilton of the Wakom Housing Alliance and Andy Hansen from Watcom Falls, argued that eliminating parking minimums would increase housing availability and cited over 100 cities that have successfully implemented similar reforms. However, Alex McClean from Happy Valley raised significant concerns that parking reform must be paired with investments in missing infrastructure like sidewalks, crosswalks, and trails, particularly in neighborhoods with poor transit access and high poverty rates. Council Member Cotton expressed concerns about state preemption under SB5184 and the elimination of the Fair Parking District, while Council Member Anderson requested deferral to a work session for further community engagement on this substantial zoning change. The council ultimately passed an amendment, proposed by Council Member Liloquist, to simplify the urban village tax credit to a flat 100% for three years rather than a phased seven-year approach, and directed staff to track the ordinance's impact on job creation, sales tax, and business metrics.
24986Council BusinessA resolution updating the fee schedule for public use of City-owned electric vehicle charging stations Community and Economic Development 10:35 a.m.
The City Council will update the fee schedule for public use of city electric vehicle charging stations.
What happened
The Climate Energy Manager presented data showing sharp increases in usage of the city's EV charging stations, along with discussions on establishing standards for over-the-curb charging safety and a new EV car-sharing pilot program funded by grant money at locations including the Bellingham Food Co-op and Opportunity Council. Staff recommended revising charging rates because current rates were losing approximately $11,000 annually; market studies showed Level 2 rates were appropriate but Level 3 fast charging rates were below market, so staff proposed increasing fast charging to 40 cents per kilowatt hour to make the program cost-neutral. The committee unanimously recommended approval of the rate resolution, and Council Member Liiloquist moved to approve with a second from Council Member Huffman; the motion passed 7-0.24987Council BusinessFirst quarter financial review for 2026
City staff will present a financial review of the City's budget performance for the first quarter of 2026.
What happened
Council member Anderson reported on the Budget and Finance Committee's review of the first quarter 2026 financial report, presented by Finance Director Andy Bejnson. The city experienced lower sales tax in lodging, retail, and restaurants, but gains in construction materials and automotive offset some losses. Most city departments are staying on or under budget, with a few exceptions due to larger early-year expenses like the RG Haley site. A more detailed report will be provided in August with better perspective on the full year's performance.Ordinance
24968OrdinanceAn ordinance relating to land use and zoning, extending interim zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide
The City Council will consider an ordinance to make permanent the temporary zoning regulations that eliminate minimum parking requirements for cars and establish consistent bicycle parking standards throughout the city.
What happened
# SummaryStaff presented an ordinance to extend interim zoning regulations eliminating minimum parking requirements citywide, citing Bellingham's failure to meet housing targets (850 units annually) and upcoming state mandate compliance via SB5184. Elizabeth Ericen detailed that the interim ordinance, adopted in January of the previous year and extended twice, is now moving through permanent regulations via a Type 6 process with Planning Commission support. Public comment revealed mixed perspectives: Andy advocated for multiple transportation options, Carrie Burnside supported parking reform but urged pairing it with affordability measures to protect low-income residents, and Justin Danbury opposed the blanket elimination, arguing parking demand would relocate given Bellingham residents' car dependency. Council Member Anderson raised significant concerns about ADA accessibility and impacts on neighborhoods lacking infrastructure like sidewalks and on-street parking, requesting clarification on complaint procedures and monitoring plans; after procedural debate, her motion to refer the item to committee of the whole passed 4-3. Following discussion and a work session, the Council voted 7-0 to approve the extension of interim zoning regulations, allowing time for the permanent regulation process to proceed.
Public Hearing
24970Public HearingA public hearing to consider an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, amending multiple chapters in the Bellingham Municipal Code (BMC) to adopt permanent zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide
A public hearing will be held on a proposed zoning change that eliminates minimum parking requirements for cars and establishes consistent bicycle parking standards throughout the city.
What happened
# SummaryBlake Lion, Planning and Community Development Director, presented a permanent ordinance eliminating minimum automobile parking requirements citywide and establishing consistent bicycle parking standards, stemming from the Mayor's November 2024 executive order to remove regulatory barriers to housing production. The ordinance, 90% identical to an interim version, includes refined bicycle parking ratios aligned with peer cities and increased electric and cargo bike charging space ratios, while permitting conversion of existing parking spaces for alternative development and maintaining ADA and EV charging compliance with state requirements. However, public commenters raised significant objections: Adam Bellinger and another commenter Adam expressed concerns that eliminating commercial parking minimums would not address housing affordability and could increase costs for small businesses and neighborhood parking spillover; Omar Firestone argued that bicycle and automobile parking requirements should be voted on separately and warned that permitting high-density housing without on-site parking would create conflicts in neighborhoods with inadequate infrastructure; and Marylu White questioned whether the city had demonstrated adequate citizen participation and whether the ordinance satisfied environmental protection requirements.
24975Public HearingConfirmation of the Mayor's appointments to the Historic Preservation
The Mayor's appointments to the Historic Preservation Commission require City Council confirmation.
What happened
The Mayor presented three appointments to the Historic Preservation Commission for Council confirmation: Emily Worthy for a first term, David Christensen for a ninth term, and Alexandra Costic for a third term. Council Member Williams moved approval and Council Member Husman seconded the motion. With no discussion, the motion passed unanimously by a vote of 7-0.24976Public HearingMayor's reappointment to the Community Development Advisory Board (information)
The Mayor is reappointing a member to the Community Development Advisory Board.
What happened
The Mayor announced for Council information purposes the reappointment of Shannon Laws to a second term on the Community Development Advisory Board, which did not require a vote.Consent Calendar
24971Consent CalendarAuthorization of AP transactions issued May 29, 2026 through June 4, 2026
The City Council will authorize routine payments and invoices processed between May 29 and June 4, 2026.
What happened
A quasi-judicial matter was discussed relating to an appeal to the Bellingham City Council of SUB2022-00011, V2022-00002, and CAP2022-00005 concerning the Woods at Bucharest. Legal counsel provided information about the process and scheduling of the appeal. No action was taken at this time, and no further report was made.24972Consent CalendarAuthorization of AP transactions issued June 5, 2026 through June 11, 2026
The City Council will authorize routine payments and invoices processed between June 5 and June 11, 2026.
24979Consent CalendarAuthorization of payroll labor cost payments dated May 16, 2026 to May 31, 2026
The City Council will authorize payroll payments to city employees for work performed between May 16 and May 31, 2026.
24980Consent CalendarAuthorization of AP transactions issued June 12, 2026 through June 18, 2026
The City Council will authorize routine payments and invoices processed between June 12 and June 18, 2026.
24988Consent CalendarAuthorization of AP transactions issued June 19, 2026 through June 25, 2026
The City Council will authorize routine payments and invoices processed between June 19 and June 25, 2026.
Additional votes recorded in minutes
Refer parking ordinance to committee of the whole
nay 3 · aye 4
Daniel Hammillnay
Edwin Williamsnay
Hannah Stoneaye
Hollie Huthmanaye
Jace Cottonnay
Lisa Andersonaye
Michael Lilliquistaye
Approve Historic Preservation Commission appointments
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve lobby committee member assignments
aye 1
voice voteaye
Award contract 33B-2026 for citywide non-motorized project to Ram Construction
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adopt resolution updating EV charging station fee schedule
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adopt ordinance amending BMC chapter 6.04 for urban village and downtown pedestrian core B&O tax credits
aye 1
voice voteaye
Amend B&O tax credit ordinance – change urban village credit to 100% for first three years and strike 'phased' from title
aye 6 · abstain 1
Daniel Hammillaye
Edwin Williamsaye
Hannah Stoneaye
Hollie Huthmanaye
Jace Cottonabstain
Lisa Andersonaye
Michael Lilliquistaye
Direct administration to track and report on B&O tax credit usage and results
aye 6 · nay 1
Daniel Hammillaye
Edwin Williamsaye
Hannah Stoneaye
Hollie Huthmanaye
Jace Cottonnay
Lisa Andersonaye
Michael Lilliquistaye
Award contract 12B-2026 for tree trimming and removal services to Stumpy's Tree Care
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve interlocal agreement with Whatcom County for Alternative Response Team funding
aye 1
voice voteaye
Direct legal to prepare resolution referring initiative 2026-01 (algorithmic price fixing prohibition) to voters
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adopt resolution proposing charter amendments on contract execution (Agenda Bill 24977)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adopt resolution proposing charter amendment on mayor's salary commission (Agenda Bill 24978)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Direct administration to prepare resolutions urging yes votes on both charter amendment ballot measures
aye 1
voice voteaye
Authorize mayor to close real estate transaction for Lake Whatcom watershed property ($190,000)
aye 1
voice voteaye
Approve consent agenda
aye 1
voice voteaye
Final consideration – extend interim parking ordinance (Agenda Bill 24968)
aye 7
Daniel Hammillaye
Edwin Williamsaye
Hannah Stoneaye
Hollie Huthmanaye
Jace Cottonaye
Lisa Andersonaye
Michael Lilliquistaye
Verbatim transcript available
629 transcript segments indexed
[music] Good evening and welcome to the Bellingham City Council regular meeting. Today is Monday, July 13th, 2026. Going to call the meeting to order and we will begin with roll call. >> Holly Hman >> here.
City of Bellingham City Council Regular Meeting minutes July 13, 2026, 7 p.m. Chair: Hannah Stone Phone: 360-778-8200 Members: Hollie Huthman, Daniel Hammill, Email: ccmail@cob.org Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Lisa Anderson, Web: cob.org/council Michael Lilliquist, Jace Cotton Regular meeting The following items are heard in the Regular Meeting only.
Call to order and roll call The meeting was called to order by Council President Stone at 7 p.m. Present: Council President Hannah Stone, First Ward Council Member Hollie Huthman, Second Ward Council Member Daniel Hammill, Third Ward Council Member Edwin H.
Dan Hamill here. >> Skip Williams >> here. >> Lisa Anderson >> here. Michael Liiloquist here. Jay Cotton here. >> Hannah Stone >> here. All council members are present. >> Thank you very much. So, the Bellingham City Council meets all requirements of the State of Washington Open Public Meetings Act.
We begin this evening with the land acknowledgement. Before we begin, we acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional and unseated territory of the Lummy, Nuksack, Samish, and Seamu people who have cared for and tended this land since time and memorial.
"Skip" Williams, Fourth Ward Council Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Council Member Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Council Member Jace Cotton, At-Large Announcements and upcoming meetings The Bellingham City Council meets all requirements of the State of Washington Open Public Meetings Act.
1. Land acknowledgement statement Before we begin, we acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional and unceded territory of the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish and Semiahmoo People who have cared for and tended this land since time immemorial.
Truth and acknowledgement are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth.
We pay respect to their elders, both past and present. Please take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events.
Truth and acknowledgment are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth.
We pay respect to their elders past and present. Please take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events.
The Bellingham City Council provides Spanish interpretation at all regular evening meetings. Interpretation can be accessed by in-person attendees by utilizing the headsets that are at the front of the room.
2. Language access The Bellingham City Council provides Spanish interpretation at all regular evening meetings. Interpretation can be accessed by in-person attendees by utilizing the Page 1 of 13 headsets located at the front of the room.
Remote viewers can log on to co.orgccoom and click on the language icon at the bottom of the screen to listen in Spanish. Alfa. Thank you. Just let you know our next council meeting will be in two weeks.
It will be held on July 27th. So with that, we will begin this evening with a public hearing. So this is agenda bill 24970. This is a public hearing to consider an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, amending multiple chapters in the Bellingham Municipal Code to adopt permanent zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide.
Remote viewers can log on to cob.org/cczoom and click on the “Language” icon at the bottom of the screen to listen in Spanish. 3. Next Council meeting The next City Council meeting with be held on July 27, 2026.
Public hearing 24970 1. A public hearing to consider an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, p. 7 amending multiple chapters in the Bellingham Municipal Code (BMC) to adopt permanent zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide Summary: Blake Lyon, Planning and Community Development Director, and Elizabeth Erickson, Senior Planner, presented the ordinance, which adopts permanent zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establishes consistent bicycle parking standards citywide.
This draft ordinance proposes permanent zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide. This parking reform reflects the city's current priorities, removes obstacles to housing production, reduces environmental impacts, and supports climate goals.
Council Members discussed the ordinance and asked questions. Summary: Council President Stone opened the public hearing. Eighteen individuals provided public testimony. Council President Stone closed the public hearing.
A type six public review process is required for permanent amendments to the parking regulations in the Bellingham Municipal Code. Following two extensions of an interim parking ordinance originally adopted in January of last year 2025, the planning commission recommended approval of the proposed code changes at a public hearing on June 4th of this year, 2026.
So, we'll begin this item first with um Blake Lion, who is the planning and community development director. Thank you. And good evening, uh, council members, mayor, public, thanks for coming. Um, I'm going to talk a little bit about the why and then I'm going to turn it over to Elizabeth and talk a little bit about the how, uh, if you will.
Action: Jace Cotton / Hollie Huthman moved for first and second reading. Action: Lisa Anderson / Michael Lilliquist moved to refer the ordinance for a Committee of the Whole work session at the July 27, 2026 meeting.
MOTION CARRIED 4-3. AYES: Stone, Huthman, Anderson, Lilliquist NAYS: Hammill, Williams, Cotton Page 2 of 13 Appointments 24975 1. Confirmation of the Mayor's appointments to the Historic Preservation p.
And when I I want to start this evening's comments with a little bit of a kind of a a recount of what got us here. You all recall the mayor's executive order in November of 2024 that identified about 16 different administrative initiatives and three different legislative pieces.
And one of those was parking reform. And it really was honing in on the ability to help address and take out some of the regulatory hurdles that were causing impediments for our housing uh in particular housing production and just the overall numbers that we need to see in this community to help address a wide range and variety of issues.
135 Commission Summary: Mayor Lund made the following appointments to the Historic Preservation Commission: • Emily Worthey to a first term expiring on July 13, 2029 • David Christensen to a ninth term expiring on March 1, 2029 • Alexandra Costic to a third term expiring on June 30, 2029 Action: Edwin H.
And so one of the things that um came out as a part of that conversation was really kind of the overall um abundance of supply that we have not only in this community but nationwide. There's some statistics out there that I offer up that we have as many as six parking spaces per vehicle in this country.
"Skip" Williams / Hollie Huthman moved to confirm the Mayor's appointments of Emily Worthey, David Christensen, and Alexandra Costic, to the Historic Preservation Commission. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24976 2.
Mayor's reappointment to the Community Development Advisory Board p. 151 (information) Action: Mayor Lund reappointed Shannon Laws to a second and final term on the Community Development Advisory Board expiring on August 21, 2029.
And so we have this overabundant supply and looking at different opportunities around the city to find where we can leverage the ability to get more compact urban infill development. So you may recall this slide that was part of that conversation that looks at um you know a static image of the Bellisphere mall and and the underutilization of that.
Mayor's report Standing time for briefings, updates, and reports to Council by the Mayor. Summary: Mayor Lund shared that the Bellingham Food Bank is hosting a TownHall at the Whatcom Museum on July 14, 2026 to discuss local produce and hunger relief.
I scoured back through uh both our historical aerials, uh Google Earth, all these different images that we could find. And this was a picture that was taken in 2008 when it was the most populated parking that I could find.
And you can see that this area up here in the upper leftand corner that I've kind of put the the red oval around. Um many of you all may have known that more recently as kind of the motorcycle uh training ground area.
Mayor Lund highlighted agenda bill 24977, a resolution that will establish a salary commission to set the Mayor’s salary and remove the requirement that the Mayor be the highest paid employee. The resolution authorizes a charter amendment for the voters to approve.
And every single year I looked at that photograph, there was not a single car parked in that lot. Um and then if you look over here, those that have taken the opportunity to go out there now know we have a new Chick-fil-A that's out there.
She will write the statement in favor of the measure for the voters’ guide and invited Council Members to collaborate. Mayor Lund recognized recent community events across the City including: • World Cup watch parties Page 3 of 13 • Pride Parade, recognizing and thanking the community and Pride IN Bellingham for celebrating and improving visibility for the LGBTQ+ community • Northwest Tune-Up Festival • Lettered Streets hosted LetterFest • Downtown Sounds kicked off and will continue with concerts every Wednesday through August 5th • Bellingham Festival of Music, which is a premier virtuoso orchestra festival Mayor Lund encouraged the community to enjoy all Bellingham has to offer this summer.
So we have a wide range of different uses that have come up um and opportunities where we have an overabundance of parking available. This is by and large what this has looked like for the last 40 years where it's been underutilized.
Council assignment reports Standing time for Council Member reports from assigned committees, boards, and other groups. Summary: Council President Stone shared that after drawing names, Council Members Cotton, Lilliquist, Williams were selected to participate in the lobbying workgroup.
Action: Hannah Stone / Lisa Anderson moved to appoint Council Members Cotton, Lilliquist, and Williams to serve on the City's lobbying workgroup. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Summary: Council Member Lilliquist provided an update on the Regional Fire Authority (RFA), which seeks to consolidate the City Fire Department and Fire District 8 into a new authority, separate from the City.
I'm happy to say that now we have this particular project. This came out of a a photograph that um Rachel Scholar of the Bellingham Herald. It's actually in today's paper uh if you didn't have a chance to see it.
To date, four meetings have been held, with the next scheduled for July 20, 2026. Council Member Lillquist anticipates a detailed Council presentation in August about the planning process. Learn more at bellinghamrfa.org.
And she highlights three different projects and I decided to I reached out with her permission to to utilize those projects for a few of my comments this evening. But this is 129 permanently affordable senior housing units that are going on this particular property and 80 child care units.
And I would offer to say that many of that uh these probably would not have happened but for making that the city came in acquired the land from the mall owners offered it up um opportunity council came in and has built this.
Council Member Hammill shared the EMS Levy Board is working on the 2028 EMS renewal levy and he’ll continue to keep the Council appraised of their work. Council Member Huthman shared updates from the Tourism Commission related to the Bellingham Fan Zone activities.
So we have now again 129 additional units 80 childcare units um where otherwise a a parking lot used to sit. The next example in this uh many of you may recall some of the metal recycling operations that Parberry had down in Oldtown and some of this area sat really underutilized um and you know and kind of adjacent to our downtown adjacent to our waterfront and and started seeing a lot of this and but for the city's efforts but for the private developers efforts and a variety of other folks we now have Iron Works which is set to open up um that is an opportunity to get additional 80 units on that uh particular site.
• The Fan Zone website received over 53,000 visits. • Watch parties were successful, the Commercial Street Party had 1,800 visitors, Trackside had around 7,000 at their first event with 1,500 of those individuals living 50+ miles away, second watch party at Trackside had 4,800 individuals with 1,500 of those individuals living 50+ miles away .
• Personal vehicles from all ports of entry increased in June by 13% compared to June 2025. While positive, still down 22% from June 2024. Page 4 of 13 Council should anticipate a more comprehensive report in the fall.
What you may not realize by looking at just the the new building that's there is that this particular project went through several different iterations before we landed on this one. The first of which, if memory serves me correctly, is when we had the different parking requirements for the Oldtown Urban Village.
And it required parking on that site. And what we saw was a threestory parking structure with three stories of residential units above. And so you had effectively 30 units on this particular project site.
Committee meeting reports The following committee meetings are held during the day. Committee chairs will present a summary of each agenda item during the evening meeting, and further discussion or action may take place if needed.
And now we have 84 that have been constructed. Now, there are additional parking spaces that are on this site. You don't see them in this particular photo. And I should also note that the property owner does own multiple blocks.
Committee meetings are open to the public to attend, however committee agendas do not include public comment sessions. Public Works and Natural Resources 10 a.m. Michael Lilliquist, Chair Lisa Anderson, Jace Cotton 24983 1.
And so, they've got the opportunity to provide some opportunities for off-site parking should they choose to or should they feel like they have a need for that. And these are market rate and some middle income rental units.
Contract award for Citywide Non-Motorized Project, project ES572, Bid p. 155 No. 33B-2026 Summary: Jessica Bennett, Capital Engineer, and Mike Wilson, Public Works Assistant Director of Engineering, presented the contract award for the Citywide Non-Motorized Project.
[snorts] Some of you may recall kind of the south end of State Street right near the roundabout. This was the um former site where the most recently where the county used it for uh emergency winter shelters.
The project addresses bicycle and pedestrian improvements across ten City locations pulling recommendations from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans adopted in 2024. Council Members discussed the contract award and asked questions.
Action: Michael Lilliquist / Jace Cotton moved to award contract No. 33B-2026 for the Citywide Non-Motorized Project (ES572) to RAM Construction General Contractors, LLC, in the amount of $1,480,017.15.
Um it was called the crearyy for a while there. This is now a uh market rate condominium project that has almost 100 units that's there. It too has some on-site parking available to it. Um, this is an opportunity where there's a new future home buyers organization that's partnering with Janicki Residential to do first-time home buyer assistance.
And so you can talk about an opportunity to get initial home um ownership opportunities that are anticipated maybe in the uh high twos, low 300,000s when they hit the market. Um so again trying to look at the range of things from permanently affordable to market rate rental to uh individual home ownership opportunities and again uh these are from the Bell Bellingham Herald.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24986 2. A resolution updating the fee schedule for public use of City-owned p. 160 electric vehicle charging stations Summary: Seth Vidaña, Climate Energy Manager, presented the resolution, which updates the fee schedule for City-owned electric vehicle charging stations.
Now I know that there's been some conversation about what if they don't provide any parking. So here's an example of a project that's in the Samish Way urban village. Um if you see kind of right in the middle of this photograph this is Samish Way.
Council Members discussed the resolution and asked questions. Action: Michael Lilliquist / Hollie Huthman moved final approval of Resolution #2026-15. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Page 5 of 13 Community and Economic Development 10:35 a.m.
Then you have Bill McDonald Parkway. Um there's transit lines. In fact, it's the blue line, the go line that serves both of that. The subject property is what I've identified there in the in the red rectangle.
Jace Cotton, Chair Hollie Huthman, Edwin H. "Skip" Williams 24985 1. An ordinance to amend Chapter 6.04 of the Bellingham Municipal Code to p. 180 expand the urban village phased tax credit and establish a new downtown pedestrian core tax credit Summary: Mayor Lund, and Tara Sundin, Community and Economic Development Manager, presented the ordinance, which expands the urban village phased tax credit and establishes a new downtown pedestrian core tax credit.
And I put on the screen here just for an example of um what's within proximity. So you've got transit stops both on McDonald Bill McDonald Parkway and on Samish Way. You've got grocery store in Hagens which is you know a little less than 500 ft away.
Council Members discussed the ordinance and asked questions. Action: Jace Cotton / Edwin H. "Skip" Williams moved for first and second reading as amended. Action: Michael Lilliquist / Edwin H. "Skip" Williams moved to amend the ordinance, BMC 6.04.105 (A) (1) "The credit shall be 100 percent of the tax due for the first three years 90 percent of the tax due for the first year, 75 percent of the tax due for the second year, and 50 percent of the tax due for the third year.
BMC 6.04.105 (B) (1) The credit shall be 100 percent of the tax due for the first seven years. If the taxpayer transacts business in the city at two or more separate physical locations, the credit shall apply only to the tax liability attributable to the gross receipts of the business located within the downtown pedestrian core.
We got two differentarmacies as you all know. We get kind of the CVS and the and the Walgreens um always in close proximity to one another. Coffee shops, hardware stores, over a dozen different restaurants and a variety of kind of goods and services.
It's also to mention that this project as it's at least being contemplated right now is um additional studio units or studio units and in told and so we know that from our perspective the state has passed Senate Bill 5184 which does not allow local governments to require parking for units that are under 1,200 square ft in size.
The credit does not apply to any penalties or interest. Title change: An ordinance to amend Chapter 6.04 of the Bellingham Municipal Code to expand the urban village phased tax credit and establish a new downtown pedestrian core tax credit” AMENDMENT CARRIED 6-0.
ABSTAINED: Lisa Anderson AMENDED MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Page 6 of 13 Action: Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to direct the administration to track usage and monitor impacts of the B&O tax credit program, in terms of employees, customers, sales tax and other economic measures, and to report back to the City Council at the appropriate time.
So likely if this project is to move forward um it would result in um needing to comply with that depending on the timing of that. But again taking a step back and looking at some of these this project when it was originally came into the city um in 2023 was 12 units with 14 on-site parking spaces.
MOTION CARRIED 6-1. OPPOSED: Jace Cotton Budget and Finance 10:55 a.m. Lisa Anderson, Chair Daniel Hammill, Michael Lilliquist 24987 1. First quarter financial review for 2026 p. 189 Summary: Andy Asbjornsen, Finance Director, and Eric Johnson, Budget and Treasury Manager, presented an update on the City's financial position for the first quarter of 2026.
There's a little rendering down there. You can see a little bit of the site plan. You can see over here on the right hand side this is where it was being proposed. twothirds of that site was parking and only about a third of it was the building.
Council Members discussed the update and asked questions. Parks and Recreation 1 p.m. Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Chair Daniel Hammill, Jace Cotton 24982 1. An update on Galbraith Mountain from the Whatcom Mountain Bike p.
And then they looked ahead in 2025 and they redid some plans and they went to 35 units and then they started playing around with a 40unit project and started thinking about some on-site parking spaces and kind of working through and then Rachel put out an article if you saw it a few days back on July 10th which talked about this particular iteration of the project which will ultimately end up at 54 if they choose to pursue this project.
It's still in a pre-application phase, so we don't know what the final uh result may be, but what I can tell you is it's a far cry from the 54 to the 12. So, you got 42 units that arguably, now I can't say will happen because we don't know what's ultimately going to get approved on that site, but again, it's all about providing opportunities for that housing.
208 Coalition Summary: Nicole Oliver, Parks and Recreation Director, Steve Janiszewski, Park Operations Manager, and Eric Brown, Executive Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition, presented the 2025 annual report on Galbraith Mountain from the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition.
And I want to leave you with one final image uh with my comments. This is our housing tracking numbers. So we look we've tracked it for the last 26 years. You can see on that list and I took the opportunity to put a red line and that red line indicates the um House Bill 1220 which is our housing planning uh housing for all planning tool that the state requires us.
Council Members discussed the report and asked questions. 24981 2. A contract award for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity tree trimming p. 244 and removal services, Bid No. 12B-2026 Summary: Nicole Oliver, Parks and Recreation Director, and Steve Janiszewski, Park Operations Manager, presented the contract award for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity tree trimming and removal services.
And you all know, you've seen it in the Bellingham plan where we're we are have housing target allocations. And for the city of Bellingham, that equates, and I won't go through all the math this evening, but that equates to approximately 850 units uh per year for the next 20 years.
This contract allows work to be performed as-needed Page 7 of 13 over a maximum of three years, with the option for a one-year renewal. Council Members discussed the contract award and asked questions.
Action: Edwin H. "Skip" Williams / Daniel Hammill moved to award contract No. 12B-2026 for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity tree trimming and removal services to Stumpy's Tree Care, which is not to exceed $450,000 during the initial three-year term with an optional one-year renewal up to $150,000.
Over the last 26 years, we've hit that mark seven times. It's 26% of of the time that we've met that mark. Now, that is not the sole responsibility of the city. I want to be clear about that. We can do our part to address zoning, think about parking regulations, work about through our process and streamlining our development opportunities.
A lot of this has to do with market readiness and lending capabilities and labor availability and supply chains. And there's a whole series of why things do and don't get built. But if we are to have any hope at aspiring to getting those numbers where we need across the housing spectrum, not only affordable but market rate and beyond and ownership opportunities, we need to look for those opportunities to make better utilization of the land that we have available to us and continue to do that.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Public Health, Safety, Justice, and Equity 1:35 p.m. Daniel Hammill, Chair Hollie Huthman, Edwin H. "Skip" Williams 24984 1. An interlocal agreement with Whatcom County for funding to maintain p.
248 operations for the Alternative Response Team Summary: Ty Elmendorf, Deputy Police Chief, and Malora Christensen, Whatcom County Health and Community Services Response Systems Division Manager, presented the interlocal agreement (ILA) with Whatcom County, which funds the Alternative Response Team (ART) Program.
And I would submit that in the last year and a half when we've been doing this through the interim, last I checked, the sky hasn't fallen. We're getting projects through. We're going through. And I should also mention on this so far that 2026 date is year to date.
Council Members discussed the ILA and asked questions. Action: Daniel Hammill / Edwin H. "Skip" Williams moved to authorize the Mayor to enter into the interlocal agreement with Whatcom County for the Alternative Response Team (ART) Program.
So, um, we still have some time this year to to to work through and bring those numbers up. But, um, we we want to continue down this path. We think that it's a good opportunity to look at ways to address the needs that we have in this community and continue to strive to do better than we have in generations past.
So, I'm going to stop there. um turn it over to Elizabeth. She's going to walk us through a few of the specifics and then we'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Good evening. I'm Elizabeth Ericen with the planning and community development department as well.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Committee Of The Whole 1:55 p.m. Hannah Stone, Chair Hollie Huthman, Daniel Hammill, Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Lisa Anderson, Michael Lilliquist, Jace Cotton 24973 1. A presentation and consideration of the City Council Communications and p.
Um, as Blake said, I'm just going to go through some of the details of the how and what's really being proposed tonight. I am going to go through this relatively quickly, so I won't talk through every point on every slide, but we are more than happy to answer questions.
259 Community Engagement 2026 Work Plan Page 8 of 13 Summary: David Brauhn, City Council Communications and Community Relations Manager, presented a City Council Communications and Community Engagement 2026 Work Plan.
I know you all have seen a lot of this before, um, as have a lot of the audience members tonight, so I'll keep it fairly brief. We're going to talk a little bit about um, the why that that Blake just just started us with.
Council Members discussed the plan and asked questions. This item will return for further consideration at the July 27, 2026 meeting. 24974 2. A discussion of initiative no. 2026-01 prohibiting algorithmic price-fixing p.
268 in the rental market Summary: James Erb, Interim City Attorney, presented an overview of initiative no. 2026-01 prohibiting algorithmic price-fixing in the rental market. Council action must be taken by July 27, 2026 to enact the initiative, defer it to the voters, or reject the measure and propose an alternative measure that would appear on the ballot along with the initiative.
um a little bit of the background, talk through what the actual regulations look like, summarize those, and just tell you a little bit about our recommendation. Um so Blake really gave you a lot of the kind of impacts and why we are hoping to remove our parking minimums across the city.
Um there's a lot of information in the packet about some of the kind of history and other cities that that have done this. Um more than happy to go into some of that as well. Um, but as far as what we here in Bellingham have done, Blake alluded to the interim uh ordinance on this, we adopted that just two months after the mayor's executive order on housing.
Council Members discussed the initiative and asked questions. Action: Michael Lilliquist / Daniel Hammill moved to direct the administration to draft a resolution to defer the initiative to the voters for the general election.
And so we've been under this interim ordinance since January of last year. We've extended it twice. Um the most recent one was just last month in order to give us time to go through this process, but we anticipate not needing that full six months, but we will um see how how tonight goes.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24977 3. A resolution proposing amendments to article 5, section 2 and to article 8, p. 279 section 6 of the City of Bellingham's charter to allow the mayor or the mayor's designee to execute contracts in the name of the City and to eliminate the related requirement that the finance director attest the signature of the mayor Summary: Forrest Longman, Deputy Administrator, presented the resolution, which amends the City Charter to allow the mayor or the mayor's designee to execute contracts in the name of the City and eliminates the related requirement that the finance director attests the signature of the mayor and physically attaches the City seal.
And um under that that interim ordinance, it's very similar to what you see proposed today. So I'll walk through what those differences look like, but that interim ordinance did remove parking minimums across the city and enact bicycle parking minimums across the the city.
Council Members discussed the resolution and asked questions. Action: Hannah Stone / Edwin H. "Skip" Williams moved final approval of Resolution #2026-16. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 24978 4. A resolution proposing an amendment to article 2, section 9 of the City of p.
You can see that kind of counterbalance. Um we are now moving through this type six process. We went through um the beginning of that with planning commission just recently and they recommended what staff had brought forward with just a couple minor changes where they had increased the uh ratios for some of the bicycle parking categories but otherwise it remains pretty similar to what was brought to them.
284 Bellingham's charter to assign responsibility for reviewing and fixing the mayor’s salary to an independent salary commission Page 9 of 13 Summary: Forrest Longman, Deputy Administrator, presented the resolution, which amends the City Charter to assign responsibility for reviewing and fixing the mayor’s salary to an independent salary commission.
Council Members discussed the resolution and asked questions. Action: Hannah Stone / Hollie Huthman moved final approval of Resolution #2026-17. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Action: Michael Lilliquist / Lisa Anderson moved to request Council draft a resolution clearly expressing support for the charter amendments.
So as we're bringing forward these per these permanent regulations um Blake alluded to SB5184. That's a fairly significant bill that passed. I'll go through that in a little bit more detail on a later slide, but that's definitely something that will impact some of the conversation tonight and that goes into effect in January.
So, we only have um you know about about six months left um but before we have to be in alignment with that. Um we also are really focused on having a market driven approach. Blake mentioned that we are really seeing the impact of removing parking minimums not as removing parking by any means.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 5. Old or new business Summary: There were no discussion items for Old/New Business. Executive session 3:30 p.m. Closed to the public. Report in the Regular Meeting only. 1. Potential litigation (Erb, approx.
10 min.) Summary: Staff provided information on a potential litigation matter. For information and discussion. No action taken. 2. Potential Property Acquisition (Rosenblatt, approx. 3 min.) Summary: Staff provided information on potential property acquisition.
most almost all of the parking of the projects that have come in are still proposing significant amounts of parking, but that we are hoping that the market will really drive how much parking is proposed by developers.
And we also have done quite a bit of work and collaborated with our public works department in particular on parking management and ensuring that as these changes go into effect, we're able to track what the impacts are and react to them with the tools we do have.
For information and discussion. No action taken. 3. Potential Property Acquisition (Rosenblatt, approx. 3 min.) Page 10 of 13 Summary: Staff provided information on potential property acquisition. For information and discussion.
No action taken. 4. Potential Property Acquisition (Rosenblatt, approx. 3 min.) Summary: Staff briefed Council on the City’s pending agreement to purchase a 1-acre property from Jeff Kradenpoth. The property is located in the Lake Whatcom Watershed and is identified by Assessor’s Parcel Number 370421 41350.
Um, there are a lot of different bills on this slide. I'm really not going to go through them because 5184 really was such a big change that all of these smaller things that that led up to it don't make that much difference.
So, I'm going to skip right down to this next one and just say that a lot of the other legislation had bits and pieces which we've worked into this bill if they still apply. But 5184 comes into effect in about six months and um has maximum amounts of parking we're allowed to require for a number of categories.
The purchase price is $190,000. Closing is set to occur on or before August 7, 2026, subject to Council approval. The property will be acquired through the City’s Lake Whatcom Watershed Land Acquisition and Preservation Program using restricted funds dedicated to that purpose.
But the big one is that we cannot require any parking for uh dwelling units that are under 1,200 ft in size. So pretty much any multif family project we are not allowed to require parking for from January on out.
The Program is funded by City water customers through a watershed surcharge on their utility bill. Action: Hollie Huthman / Daniel Hammill moved to authorize the Mayor to close the real estate transaction described in the City’s executed purchase and sale agreement with the property owner, Jeff Kradenpoth with a purchase price of $190,000.
So, that's a really big change to how this conversation went when we first enacted the interim ordinance because this bill came forward after we adopted the the interim. Um, there are also a few other kind of types of projects that we cannot require parking for or that there are kind of maximums for as well.
MOTION CARRIED 7-0. 5. Quasi-judicial matter: Discussion relating to an appeal to the Bellingham City Council of SUB2022-0011, VAR2022-0002, and CAP2022-0005 Relating to the Woods at Viewcrest (Stamps, approx.
20 min.) Summary: Legal counsel provided information concerning process and scheduling of the appeal. Consent agenda Consent Agenda items are considered routine and/or non-controversial and may be approved in a single motion.
Just really highlighting that that 1,200 ft. Most um projects that are um multif family and many of our middle housing projects are smaller than that. We also did quite a bit of work on the work plan as I mentioned um and so we explored a number of categories.
There's a lot more information in the packet about this um but really working with public works to track a lot of information to um look at how we're managing our public parking supply and ensure that if we see unexpected consequences of these um changes, we we can be be nimble and make updates to how we manage our public parking supply as well.
A member of the Council may ask that an item be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered separately. 24971 1. Authorization of AP transactions issued May 29, 2026 through June 4, p. 288 2026 24972 2.
So, one example of that is looking at ADA parking, our our accessible parking, and taking a look at um how the changes we are enacting might impact the availability of that and see if maybe we need to shift um the amount of ADA parking we provide in the public right of way, for example.
Authorization of AP transactions issued June 5, 2026 through June 11, p. 289 2026 Page 11 of 13 24979 3. Authorization of payroll labor cost payments dated May 16, 2026 to May p. 290 31, 2026 24980 4.
Authorization of AP transactions issued June 12, 2026 through June 18, p. 291 2026 24988 5. Authorization of AP transactions issued June 19, 2026 through June 25, p. 292 2026 Action: Michael Lilliquist / Edwin H.
So to summarize some of the changes we're proposing in this ordinance, when you compare it to the interim ordinance, it is 90% the same as the interim ordinance and really the the intention is is the same, but we had a little bit more time to really work through some of those details.
And so um we're still eliminating minimum automobile parking requirements across the city. That has not changed in the proposal. Um, and we are uh shifting the bicycle parking requirements which currently only apply in the urban villages before we had the interim ordinance, [cough] [clears throat] excuse me.
"Skip" Williams moved approval of the Consent Agenda in its entirety. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. Final consideration of ordinances 24968 1. An ordinance relating to land use and zoning, extending interim zoning p.
293 regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide Action: Daniel Hammill / Hollie Huthman moved approval for third and final reading.
Um, we're shifting those to apply citywide. That was also true in the interim ordinance. However, we have taken a closer look at some of those categories and uh ratios. And so we've added a few more categories to just get a little bit more nuance and also increase the ratios a little bit to be in alignment with some of our peer cities as well.
Upon motion, said bill was placed on final passage and approved by the following roll call vote: AYES: Stone, Huthman, Hammill, Williams, Anderson, Lilliquist, Cotton NAYS: (None) EXCUSED: (None) MOTION CARRIED 7-0 and was thereafter named Ordinance #2026-07-017.
So there's more information in the packet that shows you some of those peer cities and research that that we did and where we got th those numbers from. And two of those categories are what were increased by the planning commission to be more in alignment with some of those cities as well.
Um we are continuing to require ADA parking but only as it's required um as a ratio and that's based on how how the state requirements um have us calculate that. And so if they choose to provide parking overall, a certain percentage of that must be accessible.
Public comment period City Council heard public comments from six individuals. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Page 12 of 13 Hannah Stone, Council President ATTEST: Kelley Goetz, Deputy City Clerk APPROVED: 7/27/2026 Page 13 of 13
Um the 5184 does not actually allow us to require more than that. And so in the interim, we required one ADA stall, but under 5184, we can no longer even require that one stall. Um that is something that the state might look at in the future.
So if they change that that requirement, we could look back at our um code as well. And similarly the electrical vehicle charging is also a percentage of total stalls have to have be kind of EV ready um etc.
And so those are also just in alignment with the state. We can't go beyond that. Um and so [cough] excuse me just highlighting those um changes in a little bit more detail. The ordinance itself is very long because our existing code mentions parking in many many many places.
Um, and it's slightly different language throughout. And so what we've done is really found all of those places. Um, crossed out what used to be there and added a reference to the main parking section so that it all references that same section and uses the same language.
And then in that section, which is at the top of the ordinance so that it's much easier to find, um we've made those changes and said parking minimums are not required. Um but if you do require parking or I mean I mean if you do provide parking, here are some design requirements and that's what that that looks like.
And then here are what the bicycle requirements look like. It's consistent categories and requirements across the city and then also some design requirements there. One of the things that we um are proposing uh in in the packet that goes beyond what um planning commission approved is staff um has some proposals around increasing the ratio of um electric bike charging and cargo bike um uh spaces um to really align with the fact that electric uh bikes are becoming much more popular.
So rather than matching some of our peer city our peer cities codes that were you know adopted in the last 10 years really looking forward and increasing that that ratio. Um and so that if you agree with that um what's in the packet, you will need to um vote to change that because it's not built into the ordinance because it's not what planning commission approved.
But planning commission did discuss that and considered it and then transportation commission discussed it a few days later and also was interested in seeing those ratios increase. So staff went back, looked at it, did some some research and have come with you to um a proposal to increase those a little bit.
So, um there's also a fix of one typo in there. So, those two things are before you as as a um a consideration to adopt as well in these updates. There's also um really explicit language that wasn't in the interim ordinance around allowing the conversion of parking.
So, let's say you had developed a project 20 years ago under those parking requirements, you had a very large parking lot that is really underutilized. Um we are explicitly allowing the conversion of some of those spaces.
So, if you choose to um reduce your parking in order to develop another part of your site, you can do that. So, we were kind of silent on that under the interim and now we're we're being clear about that.
And then we're also repealing the Fair Haven Parking District um without the the parking um minimum requirements. That no longer um applies. And then the bicycle parking requirements we have also um addressed in this ordinance and they really align with a lot of the city's goals.
Um you had a lot of conversation last year along with the Bellingham plan about our our mode shift uh goals and really trying to get people out of single occupancy vehicles and into more sustainable lower emissions um choices as well.
And so this this really aligns with that and and providing more opportunity for um biking. Um and then we also just noted that the bicycle parking that we had in the interim ordinance was based on requirements that we um put together almost 20 years ago when we um initially adopted those and those were really based on Portland's requirements at the time.
They have since adopted new more stringent regulations as well. So, we're really just proposing increasing those a little bit to be aligned with our times and that's really what's referenced on this slide as well, just um adjusting those and um ensuring that they really meet the requirements.
So, there's also a whole section for instance on the size of the bike spaces to be really clear on what what counts as a as a space for for a bike. And I mentioned the ADA parking. So, we adjusted that in the ordinance um to align with what we're allowed to require under 5184.
Same with EV charging. Um it it can be voluntarily provided, but we aren't requiring more than what the state requires. Um we do note that there might be a few things that as this goes into effect, we want to track and consider in the future.
So really looking at our temporary and our timerestricted parking. Um like really all of our uh parking within public spaces within our right ofways, street parking, those kinds of things. Um being able to be nimble and responsive with that.
So public works is really tracking that. Um considering in the future parking maximums, we could do that if we wanted to. If we saw people still over parking and really not ending up using those, we could.
We don't anticipate that though since parking is expensive as noted. Um and then again like I mentioned tracking the ADA parking demand. So this is just summarizing the recommendation. Um really the uh ordinance before you is very similar to the interim ordinance with those changes that I I outlined.
Um but also noting that there's that attachment in the park in in the packet um about the ebikes and cargo bikes. So if if you agree with that, let us know and we can loop that into the ordinance as well.
And with that, I will um open it or hand hand it back to to you all to start the public hearing. >> If I if I may just make uh two more comments. One is um as we've been going through this last year and a half with the interim and working with the development community, looking at the suite of different options that are put forth in the mayor's executive order.
The two that are most notable that we've heard from the development community are the changes to the MFTTE, the multif family tax exemption program, and the parking reductions. And so, we just wanted to highlight that.
The other thing and I hesitated whether or not to bring this up because um it really is kind of a future state but I'll offer it just for your context and consideration and that is um we are seeing in larger cities not not across the globe but in larger cities the utilization of Thomas autonomous vehicles.
So Whimo is a good example. We've seen some bus shuttling services. So, as we think about what that future state might look like now, we have plenty of time to adapt and adjust uh before we get to that future state.
But, you know, ebikes weren't a thing 10 years ago. Uh and so, you know, we have the ability to adjust and adapt. Uh this doesn't have to be like we did where we adopted the parking regulations in 1969 and haven't substantially changed them.
We can adjust to that. But, I just want to offer that for your consideration as we deliberate this evening. Thank you very much. Um any clarifying questions from council members before we open the public hearing.
Seeing none, um we will open the public hearing and I will turn to the deputy clerk to call names of those who have signed up to speak. >> Right. We have 14 individuals signed up for the public hearing.
Uh first up we have Adam Bellinger, Omar Firestone, Mary Lou White, and Miles Silverman. Good evening, council, uh, Maryland, uh, staff and, uh, community. Um, my name is Adam Bellinger. Um, I view this uh ordinance as uh applying uh a parking policy citywide, which really makes the most sense in my mind in places like near campus, Western's campus.
Um, and I have a hard time with the kind of the this being just so broad. um when the state laws that are kind of driving this uh were much more targeted and to me made a little bit more sense because we get the opportunities for uh a little bit better uh util um navigation of the trade-offs.
The one thing that I have the hardest time with is that commercial um parking is also being eliminated. And the impetus being that we're trying to promote housing, but the commercial uh parking minimums have nothing to do with affordability of housing.
There's really very little connection except for maybe in multi-use uh properties and there is a carveout for that in the state uh law. So the commercial parking minimums have really uh uh it it's I think it should be handled separately and it should be addressed uh with some minimums.
I've seen a number of times when um commercial properties had under um provided for uh parking. One example is Twin Sisters Brewery when they opened up. Uh they had inadequate parking. the disruptions spread out all over the neighborhood and it was quite uh adversarial relationship.
Trader Joe's on James Street has too little parking and um they had to open up a whole another store in order to make it work. Um but it it and it spills out into the neighborhood around there and it causes issues and this is this isn't going to help our housing issues by addressing this on the commercial side.
Parking will get more uh expensive as it gets more scarce and it'll exacerbate affordability. Just it'll show up in transportation costs, not in housing. The smallest businesses like mine, um which is a pretty micro business, um we're relying on the excess capacity in the community, in the neighborhood around us in order to um function.
We need that excess capacity. Um, so by taking away from the in the commercial side, it I think it really does a disservice to uh the community. Um, but I am supportive of some of the things like I do like the bicycle parking minimums and I do think that there was a room for adjustment overall in the parking minimums.
It just it's I think it's going too far in the in the commercial space particular. Thank you. Thank you, Adam. >> Thank you, Adam. Uh, good evening, esteemed council members. Um, my name is Omar Firestone.
I reside at 17174th Street. I am speaking tonight against passing this ordinance as written for two reasons. One, in my opinion, bicycle parking infrastructure and minimum automobile parking requirements merit separate consideration.
There is insufficient overlap in the respective communities of interest to justify lumping them together. When you come up for reelection, Bellinghamsters deserve to know how you voted on these issues separately.
Reason number two, and quoting the exhibit A summary text, in addition to the code amendments, the staff also recommends continuing to pair the removal of minimum parking requirements with on street parking management strategies to prevent spillover and make effective use of existing parking.
The operative word here is spillover. Our little pocket neighborhood bordered by fourth Donovan 10th and Kgill has neither sidewalks nor curbs. Many landscaped yards march right up to the asphalt. Not only are streets too narrow for parking, Kogill measures 15 ft 6 in, but older homes such as ours have no garage and minimal setback, precluding widening the roadway or adding sidewalks.
For many, existing parking is our own yard. Permitting a sixplex without an on-site parking in in neighborhood without street parking will create an unhoused vehicle population. Like any of you, I would leave a note the first time I found a given car on my grass and maybe a more strongly worded one the second time.
The third time, however, would prompt a call to the tow company like any of you would make. So, I have two questions. One to the council. Do you really want to see Johnson towing signs sprouting up in neighborhoods abuting highdensity housing without on-site parking?
And two, the officers of the Bellingham Police Department, do you want to be responding to the dozens of trouble with a person calls that will inevitable inevitably result when an enraged car owner confronts a homeowner homeowner who had to towed off their lawn or worse the tow truck driver who is hooking it up?
Spillover is a euphemism. I urge you to act now and deescalate homeowner renter tension and revise the ordinance to include carveouts for neighborhoods without street parking. Or don't and throw gasoline on the fire, but those who have to clean up the spillovers will remember them on election day.
Thank you. >> Thank you, Omar. I'm Marylu White. I'm here to talk about SB5184. I live at 2905 Birwood Avenue in Bellingham, Washington, where I've been a resident for about 38 years. Um, I didn't really prepare anything tonight, but there's a couple RCWs I have written on something else that I feel applies to this.
Um, the proposal violates the following. Planning goes under RCW26.78.0. 020. Number 10, protect and enhance the environment. Enhance the state's high quality of life, including air, water quality, and availability of water.
I'm really talking about high quality of life here. We could all jam, you know, parking in in everywhere. But, for example, the other day I came into my house and there was blood everywhere. Blood everywhere.
and it was my dog. I had to run her to the vet. Thankfully, I was able to get my car out of my driveway and go over to the vet. Had this been a child and the car is parked in a parking lot that's a large parking lot, but it's not near my residence, that would be a huge problem.
What about the um possibility of volcano eruption? The possibility of an earthquake in this area? I have not yet heard the city tell me how they plan on getting everyone out. What about these transportation modes that like in Italy recently when there was 110 temperatures and the transportation wasn't working and the people were stuck in their apartments that didn't have air conditioning.
It's not that um we should or shouldn't have cars. It's finding the balance of what's appropriate and what isn't. I also got to thinking about these big developments which get HUD, LIHDTC, they get uh waiverss on parks and school transportation fees and they get density bonuses.
And I as a senior who is still working after 65 to pay bills. Um all these high subsidy things come out of my taxes. So uh this also affects that. uh citizens participation is another RCW2670A 02011. This comes down from the state and we are not getting appropriate citizen participation on these um climate change and resiliency.
We're all for climate change. We're all for helping housing, but again it's a balance. Um number 14, same RCW. Foster resiliency to climate impacts, natural hazards, protect and enhance the environment, econ economics, and human health and safety and environ and advance environmental justice.
I live in the Birwood neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood that is one of the lowest income neighborhoods and has the highest pollution. Time >> is up. >> Okay, I'm I'm done. I said enough, but for not having anything prepared.
>> I hope I said enough to make an impact. Thank you, Mary Lou. >> All right. And after Miles, we have Alex Ross, Tom Scott, Brian Gas, and Scott Pelton. >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Miles Silverman and I'm from the Cordata neighborhood.
First, before I say anything else, I would like to say I support the higher ebike and cargo bike ratios because these are potentially real car replacements. And if we want to foster alternatives to driving as this ordinance seeks to do to encourage people to use other modes of transportation and which of course is also good for environmental goals and for lowering the cost of housing, we should make it easy for people to be able to use these modes of transportation.
So I strongly support having the higher ebike and cargo bike requirements. Um, as for issues with spillover, really the problem there is that people currently need to drive everywhere for many people in Bellingham.
So then the question is, what type of city do we want in the decades to come? Do we want to continue to have a city where people continue to have to drive everywhere or do we want a city where people don't have to drive and so it's easier for people to use other modes of transportation which also means that there would be less demand for parking because I could bike to Trader Joe's.
I could take the 331 because it's going to be faster. And if we remove parking minimums, we are shifting our city towards a place where people do not have to drive everywhere. Um, with that in mind, um, I would say it is worth it to manage smaller location specific growing pains as they appear, local issues with spillover and manage those on a neighborhood by neighborhood level to help make sure that this broader shift towards a more multimotal city can move ahead.
therefore protecting our environment, lowering the cost of housing, and um keeping people healthier. Um and thank you for addressing the project in Samish. You beat me to the punch there. Um but I think you al you even understated just how much sense that place makes as a place without to have less parking.
it stu because it's studios and because those studios are close to western a lot of the people living in those studios are going to be western students and they probably aren't going to all need cars and studios already you're also less likely to need cars because you're not shleing kids soccer practice or whatnot and it's also in bike distance of downtown and there are 60 spaces of bike parking in the proposed project again this shows that developers are pursuing these lower parking projects in a way that actually makes sense.
They are choosing the first obvious places to move in this direction, which is the direction we should be going anyway to build the city we want to build. So, please support this change and please support higher ebike and cargo bike requirements.
Thank you. >> Thank you, Miles. Hello, my name is Tom Scott, 1445 Grant Street. Thank you very much for hearing us. Um, the gentleman just before me brought up a lot of interesting points. Uh, in a council meeting past, we were, you know, addressing this very same issue.
student uh car ownership was brought up. And I remember being a student and at that time and I still repeat a lot of students still have cars cuz they go home to mom and dad, get the laundry done, get a warm meal, you know, well-cooked meal.
Um so I don't know that they really have that few cars in reality. Um, a couple places that kept coming up that kind of bely the some of the fallacies are well, one was Bellis Fair in the opposite way.
Bellisare itself is pretty vacant. Pardon me. Um, Bellis Fair itself is quite vacant. So, yeah, who's going to park there when there's no store to go to? So, that's not a great example. Sorry. Um, Trader Joe's is a place where people like to go to and people circle that place.
say fender benders, they park out in the neighborhood. It's not a good thing, you know. It's it's a cluster. Um, let's see. Another one that was mentioned. Oh, yeah. Twin Sisters was on my list also. That was another one.
And it was a mess on its grand opening. They had I can't remember six or 11 disturbance calls where the police had to respond. Part of that had to do with the parking and just plain that it was a bad idea.
It was a kind of a zoning oversight that hadn't been caught by that point as far as noise and light industrial right up against residential. But bottom line was parking was an issue until they finally added a parking lot in their own footprint later.
But up until that point, they even had the hood to put up a sign showing people where to park in the neighborhood to work, you know, to go to their business. So that wasn't a great deal. The whole idea of a 1,200 square foot residential project being built and worrying about parking for that.
Well, as of the state's removal of single family zoning, not much of an issue. There aren't that many houses that are that small. I live in one of them. No one's going to build one like that now. Uh and certainly not to make profit at it.
Commercial, I see some of the same arguments that the gentleman brought up earlier and including when you talk about 3,000 square ft. Um, one thing I had a question about. Um, I didn't come here to talk about it, but boy, it sure kind of stuck out.
Um, I believe it's RCW5184 that folks were talking about, and it looks like it tries to um, uh, counter parts of the ADA, the 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act. Well, I believe the supremacy clause might make that illegal.
So, I think that might be a major problem. And there was a lot of talk about compliance with the state laws. >> Thank you. >> And I saw nothing about federal compliance. Thank you, ma'am. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you, Tom. >> Good evening. Um, I'm just going to tell you a couple of facts real quick. Uh the current reigning law in Bellingham says that the minimum size for a off- streetet parking space is 9 ft by 18 ft.
Now if you do some simple multiplication on that you will find that that is 162 square ft. Now I am not exaggerating when I tell you the following story which is that when my greatgrandfather came to this country as a refugee with his mother and his father and his sister who was so traumatized by the pilgrims in Ukraine that they had rendered her mute.
When they came to this country they moved into an apartment in Chicago that was no bigger than 150 square ft. That was an entire family of four living in less space than we mandate is given to automobiles in this city.
Now it is the year 2026 and that means that there are once again many people trying to flee the country of Ukraine as my greatgrandfather had to. And you will find that if they tried to come to Bellingham in the year 2026, it would be very difficult for them to do so.
For one, the United States has not actually admitted any refugees over the course of the last year and a half, except for a handful of white South Africans fleeing white genocide. But, you know, that's federal issues.
Uh, but for another reason, because they could not afford to live here. They could not afford to come here as refugees because we quite literally made it illegal to build the kinds of apartments that had literally been their refuge in decades past.
At the same time that we have been making it difficult for people to live in our city, for people to afford to live in our city, we have been saying that we are more than happy to regulate and mandate the construction of large surface parking lots throughout this entire space.
Once again, 162 square ft. The average size of a tent is 30 square ft. The average size of a extra extra large family tent on Amazon is 120 square feet. The average size of a dormatory at Western Washington University is 135 so sorry 175 square ft and the smallest dorms there are at 85 square ft.
We are mandating this limited amount of space that we have in this city be dedicated to people's private twoton automobiles. And personally, I am not a fan of these priorities. I think that this is a fundamental statement about what kind of city we want to be.
Do we want to be a city that makes it as easy as possible for the poorest, the most vulnerable amongst us to find shelter? or do we want to make it a city where it is very easy to park your car? Thank you.
>> Thank you, Alex. [snorts] Hello, >> everybody. Brian Gas here. Um, I wanted to talk about this parking, which has always been a crazy thing. So, what happens is since the the uh plan director's here is that nobody's going to disagree that people need to we need to do something better.
And but I don't like the disingenuous of just presenting pictures of Bellis Fair. Yes, it's too much. It's too much asphalt or pictures of, you know, Albertson's old parking lot. Yes. But what you're not showing is having 6x density in Sunnyland or Columbia where those streets are going to go.
Or throwing people onto the street where some little kid's going to get run over cuz they can't run between the cars anymore. So you don't have to sit there and do this blanket gaslighting campaign to hate on parking because one of the things that people don't want to talk about is yeah sure you gota you want to have uh no parking great.
Who's going to come visit you? I guess you don't want family to me you don't want family members to come visit. You don't want to have is your mom going to take the bus and then walk down the street and then come knock on your door.
at some point, can we just, you know, can we aspire to have a better life than just living in a little cave somewhere and not, you know, not having the ability to move around and and enjoy Bellingham?
One of the things I've seen is everybody here uh has property uh mostly u and they bought their houses when it was cheap and the opportunities were there and but nobody feels guilty about killing opportunities.
You know what you never bring up? I never hear anybody talking about income. Never hear about jobs. You talk about the year of housing. Uh, I appreciate the mayor's uh, efforts, but you know what? I don't see any affordable housing being built.
I don't see people coming down. I I also don't like that the city's len claiming that the state is requiring it. The state's not requiring you to get rid of all the parking everywhere. Can we just ask you to be more reasonable about it and expect that people want to live in these places where they put a lot of their money and the the middle class has amassed a great amount of wealth through that?
Is it okay to not crap on it and ruin the things that they want to live in because you guys just want to do some blanket, you know, box to to check the state's not requiring you to get rid of all the parking.
It isn't. So that you shouldn't be telling people that. Now, the big hypocrisy is that I can't stand is boy, you want to let the market decide for parking. Get rid of parking. Let the market decide. But you got to have bikes.
Why can't the market decide your bike parking? Why can't the market decide your your uh motor scooter parking? You can't you it's like why do you have to pick and choose what side you want to crap on and what side you want to support?
Just say it. Don't be disingenuous. Don't gaslight everybody like we're all a bunch of idiots. One of the things, too, is don't forget you want to get rid of cars. Well, cars generate tax revenue. They generate license re license revenue.
They allow people to go outside the city and shop and and entertain, right? How many scooters are paying tax or bikes paying tax on that? Just starting paying a little more attention. Thank you. >> Thank you, Brian.
>> All right. And then after Scott, we have uh Alex McClean, Andy Hansen, and [snorts] Pickard. And then and Carrie Burnside. >> Uh good evening. Scott Pilton, manager of the Wakom Housing Alliance. [gasps] I'm here to ask you to stay the course you set now that study after study and safety city after city has proven it right.
As our planning director said earlier, the sky has not fallen. 18 months ago, this council eliminated parking minimum citywide. Since then, cities across Washington, Breton, Shoreline, both have followed Bellingham's lead.
More than a 100 cities across the country, red and blue, have removed them citywide. So tonight isn't a leap into the unknown. It's finishing what Bellingham started and you were early. The results are in.
Where cities remove these mandates, the housing still gets built. The parking crisis critics predicted hasn't shown up in in the cities that went first, including Spokane, where a council member is on record saying there's been no negative side effects since removing parking minimums in 2024.
But you know what? Maybe there will be inconveniences and it will still be the right policy decision to remove parking minimums. Now, the real debate here is affordability. So, let me take it head-on.
The critics are right about one thing. Parking reform does not build affordable homes. But that was never the point. What it does is clears clears a barrier that makes every kind of home from a forplex to the affordable housing project harder to build.
Strengthening affordability is a separate job with separate tools. Why? Because parking mandates are a broken tool for affordability. If an affordability requirement costs a developer more than the parking relief is worth, they'll just build the parking and walk away.
We get the asphalt. We don't get homes. There's one there's new national research on exactly this question which was just released weeks ago. It's worth reading in full because the headline number tells only half the story.
Yes, it of course finds that market rate building alone won't close the gap. In most major metros, not for a century, in some not for centuries. But it's a toolkit and its real finding is that deregulation, subsidy, preservation together with other programs, if done right, close the gap in about 17 years, not centuries.
Parking reform is a deregulation piece. Keeping the mandate doesn't protect affordability. It just picks the slower road. And in one of the least affordable small metros in the country, we cannot afford to leave a single barrier standing.
This is a yes and moment. Yes to removing the barrier that makes all housing harder to build and yes to strengthening the real tools that create homes for lower inome families. Two different jobs. Let's do both well.
You led on this. Your neighbors followed. Thank you for making the right decision. >> Thank you, Scott. >> Alex Mlan, happy valley. Uh, I had some written comments that were very detailed and spicy, but I'm going to go more spiritual route.
Um, the Spokane example has been cited before. It's true. They have longer history. Um, Happy Valley as a neighborhood has a long history as well whereby you get to see the impacts of not providing infrastructure while still having uh the highest percentage of multifamily units in the city.
According to the city's data, um we don't have uh in the bike ped master plans when we talked to Chris Ko and Chad Schulzhouser and the guy that um Eric Johnston, they all confirmed that Happy Valley has the highest uh deficit of missing infrastructure in the form of crosswalks and sidewalks and trail count activity etc.
So you have that dynamic whereby you have a neighborhood that also statistically is one of the poorest uh most economically challenged uh [sighs and gasps] populations in the city according to 2020 census data.
Um and high density and 7,000 people and yet you're not providing the infrastructure. I'm a hippie. I studied environmental science. I studied environmental journalism and my degree was sustainable design.
I'm also a builder. I've built every form of uh large scale and smallcale projects, multif family, um you know, I should qualify. I'm a project manager. In my past, I've done a lot of big stuff in this town and out of state, uh including building affordable housing.
So, uh, you have a dynamic where you're not providing, uh, people a route to get out of their vehicles. Spokane had, uh, you know, 700,000 people. Happy Valley has 7,000. You've now, uh, had permits for two projects that have zero parking provided.
There's a third project that I believe is going to be 45 or 50 units on Douglas Avenue where you vacated a trail, a public trail in 2021 and that will have seven off- streetet parking units. There's no sidewalk on that street.
Uh there's no sidewalks on Douglas Avenue between the largest high school in the city and the largest elementary school in the city. And I can uh have public works or parks come to our meetings relentlessly for years.
I was the neighborhood president for 8 years and it's not going to change anything. But you guys need to put up guard rails because you can build a building out of nothing but parking racks and it won't change the fact that people aren't going to get out of their cars.
Hello, my name is Andy Hansen. I'm from the Watcom Falls neighborhood. Um, I should be putting a six-year-old to bed right now, but instead I decided to come out here because I am so pro for this um this legislation that I thought it was that important to come out here.
We have avalanches of evidence that this is a great thing. uh it will help in so much so many ways throughout the city. I think you've all heard a lot of those arguments. I think some other people have brought up some good arguments.
So, I'm not going to go any further on that. Um there are some people who have talked about what if you can't get a car there. My mom doesn't drive a car. She's not coming to your store. She's not coming to park there, but she can get around in other ways.
And making a city that has the options for people to use a car or to use a bike or to walk. That's really what's going to be wonderful for us. I don't need three minutes. I'm very pro for this. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Andy. Good evening. My name is Carrie Burnside. I'm the board president of Future Home Buyers Organization. Thank you for the shout out. We're really excited about what we're doing. I'm here speaking for myself though and I have a personal ask.
Um I support parking reform. Um at at the same time, I do believe that we need to be honest about what this ordinance will do and what it does not do. More importantly, tonight I have a simple ask, and that's that we stop calling our current approaches bold.
They're important. They bring us into alignment with state requirements, but they're not bold. And accurately naming a problem is the first step towards solving it. And this distinction matters for people most affected by affordability crisis.
Like the rest of the nation, Bellingham has u two very distinct housing crisises that are happening. Mr. Pelton mentioned the study. I hope you guys will look at this, but this does talk about um it comes from the National Multif Family Housing Council in the NYU lab.
It talks about we have two distinct housing crisises that are happening. One is of inventory and the second is affordability. Crisis number one will be impacted by mar deregulation and and parking reform.
Um crisis number two is the shortest shortage of deeply affordable homes for household below 50% AMI. These include child care workers, para educators, home care aids, many grocery workers, service workers and parking reform helps crisis number one.
But without afford affordability measures, you are going to worsen our affordability crisis and the data is there to prove that Bellingham is one of the most expensive metros in our county. More than half of renters are cost burden.
One in four worker working families cannot afford to meet basic needs and hundreds of children experience homelessness every year. This problem is getting worse year after year and it's not happening in a vacuum.
Bellingham has a long history of exclusionary exclusionary land practices including Edgemore that shaped who could live there and who could build wealth. Those patterns did not disappear. They show up today in our land values, our limited supply of affordable housing and the deep affordability gap.
When we pass blanket deregulation, which is what our ordinance is, without affordability measures, we risk repeating those patterns in a new form. We stabilize the middle of the market, we w while widening the gap at the bottom.
It's not bold. It's incomplete. And we cannot solve this dual crisis with single crisis tools. Parking reform is valuable and it's necessary. But if we're actually going to close this massive affordability gap, then we must pair it with afford with affordability.
We must have targeted affordability measures. My ask tonight is simple. Let's just stop calling it bold until we pair it with affordability up. >> Thank you for your time. >> Have a good night. >> Thank you, Carrie.
>> Um, do we have Ken Peard in the room at all? Ken. Okay. So, we'll go online to Justin. Justin, you should be able to unmute and turn on your camera if you'd like. >> Sure. Can you hear me? >> We can go ahead.
>> Great. Yeah. Council, my name is Justin Danbury. Uh, first of all, I support building more housing in Bellingham, but I oppose permanently abolishing minimum parking requirements citywide. Parking reform is reasonable.
A blanket elimination is not. The basic problem is this. Parking demand does not disappear because the city removes it from the code. It just moves it somewhere else. Bellingham, as you know, is not Manhattan.
We're a city of about 100,000 people spread over about 30 square miles. The census reports that our average commute for most Bellingham citizens is about 18 minutes. That tells us something important that this is a city where we mainly take daily trips that are practical by a car.
And many people rely on cars for work, errands, school, child care, medical appointments, and family life. In addition, the average cars per household in Bellingham is about two and most people uh drive to work alone.
So, this is not an ide ideological argument. This is the current reality. People are not going to ride bikes in the rain in the winter to take kids to school. Ebikes are not. Families are not going to ride their schools to uh ride their kids to schools on uh in Whimos and pay 15 to $20 each ride.
These concepts are dreams and I really find it hard to match the current reality or any concept of it. At the same time, Bellingham is already expensive. The census reports a medium uh the medium owner occupied home value is about $700,000 and the medium income is about 74 and the poverty rate is about 17%.
So when we're talking about parking, we should be careful not to pretend that this is only affecting wealthy homeowners who dislike change. It also affects renters, families, service workers, caregivers, etc.
The city's own timeline shows that this is no longer a short experiment. The interim ordinance eliminated parking minimums went in effect in early 2025. It was extended and is now proposed for permanent regulations.
That means the question before you is not whether to study parking reform. The question is whether to permanently transfer parking decisions from public standards to individual developers. And this is also a fairness issue.
I understand why developers want flexibility, but if residents still own cars, which they will, and savings do not eliminate the parking demands, that shifts the responsibility to parking onto nearby streets.
Developers can reduce their cost, but this translates to public cost. For example, in the Cascadia Daily, a staff member estimated that a a parking spot in the city of Bellingham is about $16,000. The public absorbs impacts.
Crowded curb parking, blocked sight lines, more circling for spots, etc. A good example of this conflict is that there's currently a city ordinance still in effect that if you leave your car in a spot for more than 72 hours, uh, you can get a ticket.
I am not asking the city to keep outdated policies or excessive parking rules forever. I'm asking for a middle path. Reduce the requirements where transit is truly frequent. Allow shared parking. Allow case-by case reductions, but do not abolish minimums citywide and pretend every neighborhood has the same transit access, street access, and resident needs.
>> Thank you, Justin. >> Reform makes sense, but eliminating minimums entirely privatizes the benefit and then socializes burdens to all. >> Justin, your time is up. >> Thank you, Justin. >> Okay. Uh Perry You should be able to unmute and turn on your camera if you'd like.
>> Can you hear me? >> Yes, we can hear you. >> I'm sorry. After six years of Zoom, you'd be able to figure out mute, right? >> That's all right. >> Uh, for the record, my name is Perry Esgridge. I'm representing the Walom County Association of Realtors and the Building Industry Association of Walcomm County.
First of all, I want to uh just state up front, we're speaking in support of this. I think that Mr. Pelton adequately covered the reasons why the professional associations involved in building housing and selling housing um support this this uh removal of a significant barrier to the construction of affordable housing in our city.
I realize that this is not, you know, an entirely popular proposition, but I do have to tell you from discussing this situation with our our members, it's not so much that people agree that they want to remove all parking, but what it does do is give the developers the ability to rightsize their parking.
I really appreciated Director Lion's description of the the project on Byron Street because it filled in so many questions that I had regarding that specific project. And when he talks about the proximity of that building to, you know, urban amenities within easy walking distance, I think suddenly the decision to go with reduced or no parking in that project, I'm not sure what level it is, suddenly made sense.
Um, studio apartments near a college. Um, I do have to disagree that I don't think a lot of younger people are bringing cars to college. In fact, uh, nearly everybody I know has, um, a young adult that has decided to not get a driver's license.
I'm, you know, somebody who collects cars, I'm shocked at that determination, but I also understand it. You know, these are people that are used to ordering their food or ordering a ride um, with with equal ease.
Um, again, I just think it's a step in the right direction. It's not a silver bullet. None of these tools are. But it has allowed our development community to do their market research, think about the individuals that will be occupying these developments and what they need and accommodate those needs accordingly based on that research.
So, thank you very much and I urge you to pass the final ordinance. >> Thank you, Perry. No other names. Um, is there anyone in the audience who did not sign up but would like to speak to this item? >> Good evening, Brian Armstrong.
I wasn't really going to speak, but then after hearing some comments about uh parking and the streets and everything, I was like, well, that there's some things that came to mind. I was just thinking about um some comments about how certain neighborhoods don't have the infrastructure to handle on street parking and then specifically Happy Valley.
And then when we were talking about Western students not having cars, it kind of got me to thinking, well then why do we have all those parking lots that are full around Western? When I go by Wakom Community College, I see the same thing.
So the idea that everybody is uh there's so many of the new generation that's not getting a license and not driving a car just seems ridiculous to me when you see the parking lots are full. And then when we talk about how this is going to help with uh getting affordable housing well has it because all the presentations it seems like well this is going to be market rate and it's like okay well that's great but where's the affordable housing and the picture with Bellisare Mall with the empty parking lot and I think of the Birchwood Park Manor and also Sunset Square.
There's the old Kmart there, right? Um you have these giant empty spots just constantly vacant. Right now, it's going to be a spirit Halloween over in Sunset Square. So, what are we doing in order to like work with those people that own that property and trying to see if they can't work some housing into those spaces?
I mean, could you imagine if somebody built a high-rise on top of the old Kmart and all that parking lot there, how maybe it would be full and or maybe you could expand. There's park, there's a pharmacy, there's a grocery store.
Same with Parkmander Square. It's a food desert in the Birchwood neighborhood. Why aren't we advocating for working with the developer and trying to build a high-rise above that and then putting a grocery store at the base and then maybe that Wraid that went out of business would actually be there, you know.
And then we also have Bellisphere, which is just a ghost town as what it once was back in the late 80s, early 90s when it was a thriving mall. And you have a Forever 21 slot right next to the food court.
Where's a high-rise there? We have plenty of parking, plenty of space. You put housing there. There would be even more business for Bellis Fair. There's a grocery store right across the street. There's another one two blocks down.
There's even another one further down Baker View Road. There's Cordata in that area. You also have the um walk-in clinic for Peace Health. You have a pharmacy in Target. I mean, the these are ideas that I just don't understand why nobody seems to be working on those because we still see the same parking lots empty year after year, but now our proposal is to do parking restrictions and then stress out certain neighborhoods more than others with a blanket restriction.
I just I just think there's more ideas out there that we should be talking about and it I just don't hear it being part of the conversation. But thank you. >> Thank you, Brian. Hello, I am Ryan Cunningham.
I I dear members of the Bellingham City Council, I would like to say affordable housing is important, but we can't have affordable housing without pl without [snorts] signi without significant places for the people who where the people who live in it can work.
I will. [snorts] If that mean if that means building those places up, if that means building those places up up higher, then if that means building those places up higher than we do currently, then we may [snorts] then that that could be then that that may be necessary.
No, we do have to take into account we may have to take into account other concerns like like flight paths or [snorts] um but I do sorry I'm not very good at public speaking at this I'm but but I do I do understand affordable housing is a key component of of a sustainable economy.
Goodbye. >> Thank you, Ryan. >> Hi, my name is Kim Abocrombi. Um, I came just because I heard about this building going on Samish Way and 34th saying that there's going to be 52 units built with with no parking.
And Bellingham is attract people come right because of all that's here to offer skiing and was on the lake and mountain biking and it's just you need a car to do this. And I'm a new resident and I feel like everything I do I have to drive to whether it's bar.
I mean it's far for me to get down street or to bar or you know Costco. It just doesn't the city's not developed and ready for people to just take public transport or if you provide them lime bikes maybe for do that.
It just feels like we're not ready to have no cars and to not have people at least have one place when they're when you're all living there, right? If you have a 52 unit place, it should have at least one parking spot.
Are they going to just park in the park and ride parking lot? You know, where where do they go? So, um I had one more point. Um my my children came to college here. We're new here. Um, but they they did it just for all the outdoors activities and they continue to do all these outdoor activities.
So, it just feels like you have to have a way for them to get around and you can't you can't do that. The other story that comes to mind just quickly is um I know there was a college student that lived on across the freeway on I5 walking to Western in the winter and the snow banks were high and she slipped and fell and died on I-5.
You can look up that was just a couple years ago. Um, my son was in the Anyway, it's you just can't not have a way for people to get around with this weather and the rain and to limit and say, "Oh, just because they're a student and they live by the park and ride, they can easily get to college." And so, just an appeal to say it sounds ex the changes sound extreme to me.
Thank you. >> Thank you, Kim. My name is Rosanne Lawn and I live in Bellingham and I live on Ferry Avenue which is just up the street from Bill McDonald and I know that intersection quite well. Um, right now there's really not a whole lot going on there.
That intersection is getting very busy. There's no left turn lane to go from Bill McDonald to go on Samish. The freeway entrance is also there. Um, it's getting really busy and I'm really worried you put that many units in that corner is going to make it even worse.
If you want to look at a parking example of what happens when you don't have parking or enough parking, just look across the street um directly across there's not enough parking so they park on the street.
That's usually what happens. And what's going to happen if you build that unit 54 units, I don't know if you can put any parking there. They're gonna park across the street at Hagens and they're going to probably park in the neighborhood.
So, I'm all for limiting parking. Um, from when I was at Western, there were more students getting cars. That may have changed. I don't know. Um, I think we need to provide some parking. Also, if you have emergency vehicles that need to get in, caregivers that need to get in, we need visitor parking.
So, that medically wise, there is a place for people to park. You just can't eliminate all the parking. It's not feasible. It's not really practical. And I've heard stories of other cities doing it, and it's a lot of people don't like it.
Um, [sighs] also visitor parking. It's not fair that the neighborhood has to take up all the visitor parking for these no parking apartment buildings because it's really not reality. It's not um I've been without a car before and I liked it, but I also it takes a lot of your freedom away.
It's really is a sacrifice. When you're young, it's a lot easier. When you get older, it's not so easy depending on your situation. So, the other thing, if you have ebikes and you live upstairs, they're very hard to get upstairs.
And if you have to charge a bike, you have to get it upstairs to plug it in cuz I live on the second floor and I have an ebike and I had to get a lighter one. And it's a struggle for me to get it upstairs.
So, with all the bikes and the ebikes, which are great, and the cargo bikes, they have to figure out where to put those and like how to charge them. If you put them in your apartment, can you get it up there?
And is it even safe to park them up there? Cuz ebikes aren't the the batteries are really not. They're kind of a fire hazard. So, they have to just think about what I love ebikes. I have one. and I have all kinds of bikes, but you have to figure out how to how to do that.
So, I just don't think we should eliminate all parking. I think it's it's going to really work. I think we need to compromise. Say the truth. >> Thank you, Rosanna. >> And we will move online to Elizabeth.
One moment. Okay, go ahead, Elizabeth. You should be able to unmute and turn on your camera if you'd like. >> Can you hear me? >> Elizabeth, you're unmuted, but we can't hear you. >> Can you hear me now?
And you hear me now? >> Really, really faintly. >> Hang on. Just >> can you hear me now? >> Elizabeth, we can't hear you. Um, I'm We have one other person online with their hand raised. I'm going to move to Ann.
And if you're able to work on your mic in the meantime, maybe we can come back to you. One one second. Okay, Ann, you should be able to unmute and turn on your camera if you'd like. >> Okay. >> Yes, we can hear you.
>> I have a lot of the same points that other people have made already, but I'll just put in my two cents. I feel like it's putting the cart before the horse by eliminating parking requirements before increasing access to public transportation through the city um throughout the city.
Even to me as a bike bicyclist, uh bike parking and bike lanes are poor substitute in this hilly city in a northern climate with many retirees. And currently there are only a few walkable neighborhoods, especially in the city core, which are especially in the city core.
Uh WTA currently comes through our neighborhood once an hour and our ebikes do not fit on most bike bus bike racks. Therefore, a blanket parking policy throughout the city does not make sense. It seems out of touch or naive to think that residents in multifamily housing or small homes don't need a vehicle to get across town for work, child care, shopping, medical appointments, volunteering, or social events.
Where will they park their vehicle vehicles? Well, it would be in neighboring streets with already limited space. Exhibit A says that the city will use quote on street parking management strategies to prevent spillover.
Well, will the city really monitor and enforce encroachment into neighborhoods? It's difficult now to find parking downtown to eat out or to go for coffee or to the show. And some downtown businesses have cited lack of foot traffic as a reason for closing.
Perhaps that's related to parking issues. I applaud your vision of reduced emissions through bicycling and electric vehicles. But before squeezing more cars onto side streets and neighborhoods um by making this ordinance permanent, I would urge you to reject a total the total elimination of parking requirements and um build up our public transit infrastructure first.
Thank you. >> Thank you, Ann. Uh Elizabeth, would you like to try again? Sure. >> Can you hear me? You can't hear me now. >> I'm sorry, Elizabeth. We're not able to hear you. We we don't have anybody else online with their hand raised at this time.
Okay. Um then at this time we will close the public hearing and bring the conversation back to council. Um items from council members. Council member Cotton. >> Um thank you staff for the presentation public for your comments.
Um uh yeah to to just go back to the the fundamental benefit here. So we do see in different parts of the city um uh builders provide different levels of parking depending on the context right um uh the availability of transit and other modes of transportation the demographics of people who are going to be living in those buildings.
And so we see that um you know if adequate parking isn't provided that have trouble leasing units usually uh they might have trouble finding a lender who will finance the project if there's not um adequate parking in the plan.
Um, and so I think there is a lot of evidence that um, those contextual factors help inform the amount of parking that's provided a lot better than an arbitrary table that we just made up decades and decades ago and didn't um, update since.
Um, and so um, and the the benefits here are really clear, right? It's um, it's more housing in a time where we have a historic housing shortage. Um, I'm one of those people who doesn't own a home and we know when there's a shortage of housing that creates more market power for um for landlords um for um incumbent property owners and makes it really difficult if you're a first-time home buyer or you're a renter um to afford to live in our community.
Um and um I just want to clarify a couple things about SB5184. Um, this completely exempts I mean pre preempts our ability to enact parking minimums for any dwelling unit under 1,200 square feet. So, not just like a small home but basically most multif family um as well as commercial uses under 3,000 square ft among a host of others.
And so I think we could have a very robust philosophical um debate perhaps about whether or not holding the ability to rightsize parking hostage to try and get other things would lead to the outcomes that we would want.
Um but the fact is that um the state has um has taken this big step to make our communities able to to be places that can be more walkable and more affordable and more inclusive for everybody. Um and I'm excited that we've done this work.
We've tested um this out and seen that um uh this is actually a pretty modest reform, right? and that it's pretty incremental opportunities to reduce some number of parking spaces and gain usually a significant number of units and that there is that contextual you know um decision- making about how much parking to require.
Um so I have a couple teensy little amendments and I do I'm very supportive of the um planning commission's recommendations and we should fix that typo too. Um but um I'll first go ahead and move approval of the ordinance.
>> Second. So we have a motion from Council Member Cotton and a second by Council Member Huffman. >> Did you Council Member Anderson? Just quick clarifi are you moving the recommendations from staff or the whole plan?
I moved the whole ordinance and I'm yeah I we happy to follow up with that additional amendment now if we'd like but council Anderson. >> Okay. Um I won't support that and there's a lot of things in here I can support but some things that I can't.
I was really hoping this would go to a work session so we could have a further discussion on some of the content. So I'm hoping I'm going to get the liberty to explain what my concerns are before there's a vote.
So the first thing that I would like to ask staff um Senate Bill 5184 does provide some carveouts. One was mentioned earlier regarding um the commercial um parking. Um my question like one of my primary concerns is ADA parking and um when this came forward as a temporary that was one of the things that I spoke at length at is that um putting in buildings that do not have ADA parking and we're dependent on um street parking perhaps um or assessing whether or not there's impact.
My concern is that a population in our community who may already have difficulties finding housing will even have it'll exasperate it because if there's not ADA parking and they work and they they don't have the transport needed.
Um it's going to eliminate areas that they could reside in. So I'm wondering um is because if we pass this and there's like no requirement for parking and an example is along Bill McDonald the 54 units if it should go through as planned since um they are intending no parking whatsoever.
Um that means they would not have to put ADA parking in at all um is my understanding and so and we would not require it. But would this bill um does it allow a carveout that even though a developer has decided to build without parking, could the city require a certain amount of ADA parking based on what some metrics of what would have been assumed previous?
I mean, can we require one or two um ADA parking in a building like that? >> So, the state legislation 5184 does not allow that. That was something that we had looked into and discussed, but um they clarified in the work that they've done since our our interim ordinance went into effect that that's not allowed.
There is a pathway where if we felt very strongly about this and wanted to apply to the state to have different regulations, we could go through that process, but we cannot just approve a code and make our own choice there.
We would have to go through a process to get approval from the state. Council member Lilquist. >> Uh first a small thing. A motion to refer an item to committee uh a main motion or motion a main motion under amendment takes priority.
So we can still refer to committee. It's allowed and it's it's prioritized over the main motion. >> Anderson. Well, if I can supersede the motion for um moving this forward, I'd make a motion that we refer this to council of a whole.
>> Second. >> Okay. So, I will seek clarification. We currently have a second motion from council member Anderson, seconded by council member Liiloquist. I believe the motion is to refer this item to committee of the whole for a work session or for further discussion.
Um but we do have a seating motion from Council Member Cotton, seconded by Council Member Hutman um to move approval on the ordinance as presented. So I will turn to Mr. Herb. I don't know if you're able to speak to the impact of a motion to refer.
>> Yeah. So, I I would think either the motion to refer to committee would have to be received as a friendly amendment to the underlying motion. Um or I I don't think you can make that motion on top of the underlying motion to approve the I think that the first motion has to be addressed first before you can >> point of order.
We are governed by Robert's rules of orders, newly revised. Under Robert's rules, the priority for motions is sort of in reverse order. The main motion is the lowest priority order. And motions like tableabling and referring to committee and adjourning the meeting which seem extraordinarily interruptive actually have higher priority because under Robert's rules, you kind of handle things in reverse order and dispose of these other things to get back to the main motion.
So we are governed by Robert rules are newly revised and this is an appropriate and legal and allowed motion. [snorts] >> These are parliamentarian half the time. [clears throat] >> I'm not going to argue the point.
Uh I'll defer to the council president on how she would like to deal with these motions that are overlapping and maybe conflicting. >> Yeah. Um I would say unless you want to I mean we could recess to pull up the code but I think otherwise I mean that's our preference is to use that as a guiding document I think if we're accomplishing what the council you know wishes as a whole.
We had a first motion before us um for approval. So, I think we could accomplish the same by proposing an amendment to move this to committee. And basically, it would be tableabling the vote for this until the next meeting to be able to have a work session.
>> So, I'll even muddy it a little bit more since I already made a motion and it was second. Am I allowed at this point to make a different motion since there's one on the table, which I didn't think I could.
>> Okay. So to make a friendly amendment, I'm not sure if I could do that. >> We'll vote. >> Under Robert's rules of order, certain motions are amendable, others are not. Certain motions are debatable, others are not.
The motion to defer to committee is debatable, but not amendable. >> Could you speak English on that? >> Yeah, it's not. You said it's not. >> Yeah. >> You said it's debatable, but not amendable. >> Yeah.
So an amendable a motion is amendable if sort of its content can fluctuate since a refer motion to refer to committee is very clear what it is you you don't have like shades of it like you you can't like a change the number like in a parking from two units or 10 units or whatever.
So certain motions like motion to adjurnn is not amendable because it only has one meaning. So it's not amendable but it is debatable. So >> question was though about disposing of that current motion.
>> The way to dispose of a current motion is to either just to vote on it >> or to have a superseding motion. And most of those are nuclear and you don't want to invoke them. >> Council member Cotton, >> we do have, you know, two meetings.
We take action over two meetings. that there will be a day session before we reach third and final. Um my recommendation is if at the end of tonight we feel like we would benefit from more discussion that we schedule that.
Um but I don't see a reason to delay first and second this evening. So I um would respectfully vote no on the motion, but very open to scheduling a work session if that is the will of a majority of council members.
Um, I just don't think we should slow down this process, especially with um SB5184's um timeline coming coming right up. So, um that's my two. >> Okay. Um then >> Yes, Council Williams. Microphone. >> Yeah.
What what I'd like to know is um this ordinance has been in effect basically for six months. >> Council Williams, sorry. I'm going to hold you. So if we're currently discussing the most current motion, which is just whether to move it to >> Oh, to committee or not.
Um then I'll hold that until we get to the main motion. If we get >> I think I think my question was speaking to that >> to the main motion >> to motion whether to move it to committee. >> Yeah. Okay.
Go for it. >> Um, when I look at moving something to a committee um like this, um, the first thing I look at and and I'm looking at this this way, the we've had an interim motion or or an interim ordinance for how long?
Six months. 18 months. And has there been any problem with the ADA parking issue in that 18 months that we've had the motion? I I mean, is there a significant change in the ADA parking effort or ADA parking issue that is different than the original ordinance?
The original ordinance contemplated requiring an ADA space uh within that provision and then we've since amended that and it's now based on what is it's a ratio as Elizabeth described it's a ratio based on the number of spaces that are being provided.
So, for example, I'm going off of memory, so I may not get the numbers absolutely right, but if you're providing between 1 and 25 spaces, then then the first space has to be a van accessible ADA space.
Then, when you get to 26 to 50, it's now two spaces and so on and so forth. So, it's dependent on how many spaces a project is providing. I think that's part of the misconception here is it's not eliminating all parking, it's eliminating the mandate for a certain ratio.
And so you still have those obligations uh to meet that requirement if you are providing outside parking. >> Okay, Anderson, >> I know I'm not supposed to speak to my motion. Um so I'm going to try to frame it not speaking to it, but as a colleague had asked for clarification, I'll ask for clarification.
um the temporary um that has been in place for a certain amount of months, did it include eliminating all the parking requirement or any of the parking requirement for commercial space? >> Yes, it did.
>> Okay. So, it had no >> applied citywide regardless of the land use. >> Okay. speak >> the current motion. Council member Hudman. >> Okay. Current motion. Um I I would be fine voting on this tonight.
Fine voting on it. Um discussing further in committee. I think that we have had this inter ordinance in effect for over a year. This has been a conversation we've been having for longer than that. Um I I think that we have all had quite an education in this issue.
We have seen some of the effects of the interim ordinance. um where there are there's a decade of information from other cities that have enacted uh a city-wide um ordinance as this one. I would feel comfortable voting on this tonight or happy to have more conversation later.
More conversation another day means we get to go home earlier. That that's a positive. But uh also if we want to have that discussion here tonight um with the audience that we do in attendance as well, you know, I'm I'm happy to do that.
So my question before voting on this motion um is to members of the council of I know the current motion is that council member Cotton made was to adopt the ordinance as as it is written in the packet.
I also understood that there may be some minor amendments that you were wanting to make. sounded as though maybe there were other amendments or considerations from other council members. So my thought is if this was going to be a lengthy turn into a work session where we consider amendments and start word smithing from the dis potential motions for adoption.
I would personally then want to refer this to committee if there seems to be some consensus about an updown as it is right. I mean that's my own rationale on on the motion. So, just sharing my thoughts about where I'm at and how I may vote.
Um, but my recommendation without the I mean, I could recess to research Robert's rules, but I think we're all in agreement. My executive decision would be to rule or vote first on the motion to refer to committee.
And if that is voted down, then we would proceed within the motion initially brought forward by Council Member Cotton. If that is um passed by the majority of the council, then your motion would sort of stand and in essence be deferred for consideration during that work session.
Um any thoughts in response to that proposal? Council member Cotton? >> Yeah, let's vote. >> Okay. Any other clarifying questions before we vote on whether to refer this to committee or not? Okay. So, the current motion we are going to consider was brought forward by council member Anderson.
Seconded by council member Liiloquist, which is a motion to refer this to committee of the whole for work session. There's no further discussion. All in favor of the motion say I. >> I. Those opposed?
No. >> No. >> No. [clears throat] >> Okay. Do we need a roll call or no? I have four three. >> Do you need those? Did you get the names? >> If I could just get show of hands for nos, that would be helpful.
I have council member Hamill, Williams, and Cotton. Okay. Um so then the motion passes 43 and this will then be referred to committee. Council member Lilquist. >> Um a common practice when we refer something to committee is to give the staff indication of what we would even be dealing with when we got to committee.
So I would kind of like to maybe have Jace give us a some indication of what his amendments would be. Me personally, when this came up last time, I was concerned about situations in neighborhoods where there is no sidewalks and there's no available on street parking.
And so in those cases, a building with no parking can't rely upon off-site parking. And I I won't introduce a amendment language, which did not pass. And I would like to continue discussing ways of reducing impact in neighborhoods where there just isn't on street parking.
And so it isn't realistic to assume that new development can rely upon on street parking. So that is an issue that I was going to bring up tonight and I would bring up in the work session. >> Council member Lquist, if I may, in your scenario, and I'm sorry I didn't ask this earlier, is that new construction that you're that you're hypothesizing about?
>> This would be new construction. >> Okay. So, one thing that I would offer for the council's consideration is that anytime we get new construction, there is frontage improvement requirements that are associated with that.
So I just in the fullness of context you would have what we call currently three quarter street standards which is sidewalk curb gutter improvement of the road if there is an alley access. So you would get at a minimum improvements in front of that property.
That doesn't mean you're having a complete network. Uh but I just wanted to give you that context as well. I'm interested in the ability to have um a casebycase uh trigger in case the blanket assumption doesn't apply.
And you're right, there would could be some improvements. Those improvements could create the sidewalk linkage that didn't exist and solve the problem that way or maybe it wouldn't. >> Council me Anderson, >> thank you.
Um some of the things that I'm interested in I had asked at the last meeting and I I do want to share that um one I didn't support the um temporary the first time because I was concerned about ADA and I was also concerned about the impacts on neighborhoods that don't have the infrastructure and I was kind of hoping there was a little bit of a carrot and a stick and at the time the option could have been available to have affordability be part of that whether it's funding going into the housing fund or something in exchange for a situation about parking.
Um that the state has taken that away. So I know that's not possible. But we're looking at um one of the things that I asked the la the reason why I said yes the last time was because we knew this was coming forward and we needed time to work on it, but we didn't know exactly what was coming forward.
So, when we're saying that we've had a lot of time on this, I see it as I've only really had a week and a half when this was um put to print and I could actually see it in writing what staff were bringing forward.
Um we've talked a little bit about it 18 months ago, but we haven't really talked a lot about it since. So, I don't want the public having the perception that we've been chewing on this for a really long time because I don't think we have at the dis had that opportunity.
And that's what I was hoping for having it go to session. So, um, one of the things that I would like more information on is the commercial parking. Um, even though it was temporary, it wasn't my focus at the time.
It was more on housing. But, um, I am concerned about some areas having too much. And so knowing a little bit more about um when we might be bringing forward maybe limits on maximum, but also um what does [snorts] what will it look like in areas that um we're dealing with maybe commercial infill where there is no parking.
Um another concern is um the one um housing that's going in potentially along Bill McDonald. If you go into those upper streets in that established neighborhood on Seome Hill, they don't have sidewalks.
They have ditches. So, I want to know a little bit more about how we're going to monitor and what would be the tipping point. It's easy for us to say we're going to monitor this and then reassess, but I would like to know what that plan looks like, who's going to be responsible for that monitoring, where the complaint system would go in.
Um, one of my, um, concerns is like on one street that I know, um, it is probably about a a lane and a half street, no sidewalks, but people's gates to their property is really right on the street. And so when somebody parks there because there is no parking for that house that has a lot of people in it or the new development half a block up that didn't put parking in.
Um I know individuals in a wheelchair who could not get into their property because of that blockage. So who do they complain to? And then are we going to have a system in place that people can request no parking signs to be put up if they are potentially going to be in a situation they can't access their property or the mail this one individual this house they didn't get mail delivery for 5 days while they tried to hunt down somebody who kept parking during the daytime in front of their property.
So, there's real situations that will happen and I want to know with some assurance what the plan is, how we're going to be addressing those versus waiting for the complaints to pile up because I know my constituency, I want to be able to tell them with assuredness, this is the plan in place and this is where you could find it and this is how you're going to be doing a complaint.
Um, because I don't want all of those in my inbox having to try to ferret it out with the city. What are we doing about this? because that again is putting the cart before the horse. So I want to make sure that the cart is assembled correctly before we launch on this.
Um, so commercial I have some concerns on. Um, and then also I know the state has made the change that um, anything under uh, 1,200 square feet which is really going to be our ADUs, some of our infill, some of our duplexes and triplexes basically is going to be a lot of our rental.
Um, I think housing that is above that, if I was a developer, I think I'd be putting parking in because I'm going to want to sell it for a premium price. Um, but I'd like to know a little bit more about um, one of the questions I had asked last time is how many projects have come before planning and discussion and how many are maybe um, now vested because they've started the process that are not including parking.
We've heard of one. I've heard rumors about two more. I had asked for that information to come forward for this session and I didn't hear about that. So, I'd like to hear about that for the next one. And um do we know of any commercial um that is being run through the process that is looking at no parking?
I'd like to know a little bit more about what that would look like. So, those are a few of the questions that I had. >> Member Hudman. >> Thank you. Um, Council Member Anderson, you actually touched on a couple things that I was going to mention as some helpful information for the next time that we meet.
Um, particularly what the effects that we've seen from the this interim ordinance. Um, very interested in hearing about that. I know that a year a year year and a half really isn't isn't a good amount of time to to get a good grasp on what effects might be, but um, something's better than nothing.
Uh also a year ago, Iris, our legislative um analyst, did write a a really wonderful white paper on uh parking minimum requirements and different legislation that's been passed in different cities and some of those effects.
Um I would be really interested in hearing from planners perspective. Um what are some of the other cities that we can look to that that have passed this legislation particularly similar size cities? I think is is helpful like Hartford, Connecticut.
Um what have the effects been in those cities? Um how has that informed um the recommendation here in our own city? Um what can we learn? Um positives and negatives. Uh if that's something that can be presented as well at the next meeting.
>> Council member Anderson. And just a request, um we've all started getting emails from people who don't know that there's a state law. Um some folks that I talked to, yes, we did have um an interim based on the mayor's uh directive.
And so people see that and now they're seeing what we're doing as a permanent and they don't know in between that there was a state law change. And so I've been having a lot of conversations this weekend like people wanting me to stop this because of concerns of Birwood or um Happy Valley and I'm like I can't for this area and they didn't know about the state bill.
So I think we need to do a better job to be able to get that information out because people are thinking it's something we're doing. interesting tidbit and I know um you know radio u surveys are not empirical research and you you self log in and it based on who your listenership is but on my way leaving from here to go home before I came back um on the radio they listed a Bellingham now survey and 94% or it was 96% of the respondents thought the eliminating parking was a horrible idea for Bellingham and like three or 4% thought it was good.
And so there are people out in the community who think this is a horrible thing and they may not be educated or aware that this is a state change that we have to comply with. So, I think it's important, you know, maybe the press will pick it up now because I'm talking about it, but I think we need to have some of that information go out so that um whether our uh our staff could help write a response that goes out to people or perhaps there could be something that goes out on press um educating people um even though a majority of people here um at the dis and with administration may be supporting it.
Not everybody does obviously. Um but it is something we're gonna have to comply with. >> Council member Hamill. >> Mayor want to respond. >> Okay. Um since [clears throat] this is going back to to a work session, I would want to understand the um preeemption language on Senate Bill 5184 >> [clears throat] >> uh as well as the timeline for implementation um and when we'd be obligated to uh follow that.
And if I can go in one more question. Then [clears throat] there was earlier in the presentation there was a um a request to vote to change uh ordinance language and it was it had to do with the ratio for I think it was ebike parking or car cargo bike parking.
Is that was that correct? Okay. >> Yeah. The planning commission when they were looking at the suggested ordinance uh recommended a few changes to the bike parking standards a little bit and I can respond to some of the comments that have been brought up tonight or if you would prefer to defer.
Yeah, we can wait till work session. >> Council member Lopez, >> one of the things that was said tonight because I missed it and I still can't find it was the elimination of the fair parking district.
The reason why that confuses me is because the Fair Parking District is an odd thing in that what it does is it allowed for the creation of commercial properties with zero parking. Meaning it already does what I think this ordinance intends to do.
Why should we eliminate it? Because it's not in conflict. And also I kind of thought we couldn't eliminate it because this has been talked about in years past. And basically, it's an executed agreement that already exists and creates a an entitlement that runs with the property.
And there's no ordinance that we can eliminate that removes that contractual right that runs with the property. So during the work session, I'm going to understand what that actually means by quoteunquote eliminating the parking district.
>> Director Lion, did you have any comments you wanted to share this even? >> I'll wait till the work session. Okay, Marilyn, >> I just want to say that um I welcome the chance to work with staff to we've heard a lot of good feedback from council tonight about how to prepare for the work session.
Um but this is a change that I am deeply committed to. I spend an extraordinary amount of time um managing the actual harms of us having underbuilt housing in this community for decades. And so this is an important tool in our toolbox.
It's been in effect for more than a year now. And it is incremental change that will play out over decades. And concurrent with the change that will play out will be an investment of tens of millions, if not a hundred million dollars, in what council approved as a locally preferred alternative for bus rapid transit here.
It will take place concurrent with tens of millions of dollars in bike and ped infrastructure that will play out over the next few decades. We heard about a car share program for EVs earlier today. Car share will continue to evolve and be adopted.
Um, director Lion mentioned autonomous vehicle. That sounds like fantastical fiction. um science fiction of the future, but that will continue to evolve and come to communities like Bellingham. And so I am eager to address the concerns, but also implement this as the important tool that we know that it has proven to be not only in the year that it's been in effect in Bellingham, um but in other communities as well.
So I look forward to the conversation. Thank you, Council Member Anderson. >> Thank you. And and I want to thank everyone for the opportunity because I know this will pass um for a lot of reasons, but I I really think a a good due process is to have the questions answered because those questions that I asked are questions that the community has asked of me and I don't have answers for them.
So I think for people they want to see that we have a discussion questions are being an you know asked and answered because this is a big shift and big shifts require that people feel that they're heard and that opportunity is given and if something's just presented and we pass it the same night um I'll probably hear more about that in complaint than actually the fact that it's happening.
So um I don't think we're missing any important deadlines. I don't think that it undoes good work or what the goals are, but it gives us a good process. And again, for me, it's knowing what's next and what those steps look like.
Um, more than a few lines on a paper. And I don't expect necessarily a completely written out plan of like this is how it's going to work, but just a little more information. So, when the public comes to me about a complaint, I'm going to have some tools to be able to tell them this is what we're doing.
I think that's an important element and so I appreciate the time and I'm glad other council members had some questions that they had the opportunity to forward so that we're all going to be um have a a good toolbox going forward to work with the community.
So thank you. >> Thank you all for the discussion. So again this will come back at our next meeting for a work session. Um, going forward, since we are two hours in, I do want to take a break, but I wanted to defer to the mayor on whether you want to handle the appointments and mayor's report.
I feel like we may lose some of our audience if we take a break and then come back. Um, so whether you want to deliver the mayor's report before the break or when we return, either is fine with me. But >> do you want to just do it before?
>> Sure. Okay. >> Okay. And we just have um the two appointments as well. >> Okay. So, I have a couple of appointments for council's confirmation tonight. All to the Historic Preservation Committee. Um, to the Historic Preservation Commission, excuse me.
I'm looking to appoint Emily Worthy to a first term, David Christensen to a ninth term, and Alexandra Costic to a third term on the Historic Preservation Commission. >> Move approval. >> Second. Motion's been made by Council Member Williams and a second by Council Member Husman.
Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor will say I. I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay. Seeing none, that passes 70. >> And then for council's information, I will be appointing Shannon Laws to a second term on the community development advisory board.
And that's the end of appointments tonight. >> Great. And do you want to deliver the mayor's report? >> Sure time. Sure. >> Uh I'll just do it from here tonight. Um I was asked by our good friends at the Bellingham Food Bank um to share the information that they are hosting a town hall tomorrow night, July 14th, between 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
at the Walke Museum and there is a remote attendance option. Uh the topic will focus on local um produce and hunger relief. So, if anyone is interested, you can go to the food bank socials or reach out to them for additional information about them this important topic.
And later into tonight's meeting, council will consider a resolution to put a measure before voters that eliminate the requirement that the mayor be the highest paid salary um employee of the city of Bellingham.
And this is a unique um salary setting approach that has long been embedded in the city's charter and it requires a vote of the people to change it. Our proposal discussed in the committee of hold this afternoon calls for the mayor's compensation to be set by the same salary commission that sets all of yours, the city council's salaries.
I wanted to share tonight that if council uh approves the resolution to go before the voters, I will absolutely be volunteering to raise my hands to write the pro statement. And I would invite any of you, if you are so interested, to join me in that effort.
And last but not least, it has been an incredibly busy week and a few weeks of summer in Bellingham with multiple community events to choose from. Certainly World Cup has been delighting many of us and over the weekend it was Pride weekend in Bellingham and I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the many volunteers, the businesses and nonprofit organizations that bring this joyful and important event to our city with special thanks to Pride in Bellingham.
Pride honors the identities, contributions, and the dignity of our LGBTQ plus community while recognizing the history of discrimination and vital ongoing work towards equal rights. Pride events help build community visibility and acceptance, and the city is very proud to be a primary sponsor of this event.
Last weekend also featured new Northwest Tuneup Bike and Music Festival, three days of worldclass mountain biking, live music, connections, and more. And it is also supported by the city and fueled um by Pacific Northwest spirit.
The Lettered Streets neighborhood threw a party on Saturday and invited the whole city to come for some summer fun at their first annual Letterfest event. Downtown Sounds kicked off their month-long block party last week with free live music every Wednesday for the next four weeks with local food, drinks, and all ages fun.
And also taking place right now is the incredible Bellingham Festival of Music. It's one of America's premier virtuoso orchestra festivals and it is underway featuring a range of performances by acclaimed players.
There's truly something for everyone going on right now and I hope to see all of you out enjoying all that Bellingham has to offer this summer. And that's the end of Mayor's report tonight. >> Thank you very much, Mayor Lind.
Um and prior to the break, we will also cover just um council assignment reports. So, this is a standing time for council member reports from assigned committees, boards, and other groups. Um, I wanted to start with an item actually from earlier in the day.
We drew names to assign the representatives from council to serve on a member of the lobby team that will be working during the upcoming legislative session. I just wanted to bring those names forward at this time for a formal vote since similar to our reorganization meetings when we vote on those assignments and since this will be an assignment that perhaps will be reported out during this time going forward.
Um, so I would move forward the names of council member Williams, Liiloquist, and Cotton to serve on that lobby committee. >> Second. >> Motions been made by the chair and a second by council member Anderson.
Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, seeing none, that passes 70. >> Council member Lquiz, did you have an item? >> Yeah, this is sort of a joint report out on behalf of myself and council member Hamill.
Um back in April uh we were assigned to a planning committee to explore the idea of a regional fire authority. A regional fire authority is an independent government organization that's composed when you merge more than one fire district or a fire district and a fire department.
Uh it's been explored in the years past. It's being explored again. That that planning committee consists of myself, Dan Hamill, the mayor Lond, and the three commissioners of fire district 8. um to and for this thing to actually form, it's a new government entity that has to be voted on on the ballot.
So, the people decide whether to create this new fire district. And what that would mean is that most of the assets and the employees um of the the city, fire department would transfer to this new entity.
And the same thing with fire commission 8, they would transfer the new entity. so far that we've discussed um the the various need statements about uh needing to achieve adequate and sustainable funding for fire service in the community.
Um we've discussed jurisdictional boundaries, governance issues, operations and services and the organization and administration that that entity might take. A lot of the factors in a regional fire authority are actually templated in state law.
They tell you how to create one. They give you ranges for ways they can be governed. And I just want to report out to the other committee members that were well along in that work. And I've been informed that the administration at some point will bring forward an update for us as well on how that work is going.
And I thought the committee the community might also want to be reminded that that's ongoing work and a possibility that might be on the ballot sometime next year. >> Thank you very much. Any other reports?
Council member Hamill. Yeah, just on my in the vein of uh fire um I serve on the EMS um levy committee as well as the EMS oversight board along with the mayor and others. Uh on the on the levy component I can report that we are moving along towards a 2028 levy.
Um for uh those that might remember there was a voter approved um twice now uh for EMS and that provides uh funding for advanced life support uh basic life support community parame medicine and training and I'll continue to update as we get closer to um the time when that's going to be up in front of voters.
>> Thank you council member Hamilton. Council member Hudman. >> Thank you council president. Uh so for my assignment with Bellingham Tourism Commission, just some initial uh reports about uh Bellingham Fanzone and FIFA events, which I know everybody was very curious how that was actually going to turn out uh for Bellingham.
Um so the uh official Bellingham fans on website run by Visit Bellingham um had more than uh 53,000 visits as of July 12th. So lots of activity on the website for information. The watch parties have been a great success.
Um I think let's see at the last meeting I wrote down that the commercial street party uh had 1,800 visitors. Trackside I think for the first event it was had 7,000 people in the area. Granted this was also graduation weekend and the circus was in town.
Um but a lot and 1500 of those were from 50 miles away or more. So quite a few visitors. Uh, and the trackside second day was 4,800 people and 1500 again from 50 miles away as well. So, great news that people were coming into town for those events.
um personal vehicles head south crossing into Watcom County from all ports of entry in June of this year was up approximately 13% compared to uh last June. Great news on that front. Although while this is positive, June 2026 crossings were still down 22% from June 2024.
Um, and there should be a more comprehensive report probably in the fall with more specific information. That's all. Thank you very much. Any other reports? Okay, seeing none, we are going to take a 10-minute break.
We will reconvene at 9:20. Okay. Thank you very much. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Welcome back. We're going to move forward with committee reports.
If you'd like to stay, please feel free to have a seat. And if you do not want to stay, we hope you'll join us next time. Um, thank you very much. Okay, so at this point in the meeting, we are going to move forward with committee reports from the daytime.
The first committee to meet this morning was public works and natural resources. That committee is chaired by Council Member Liquist. So, I will turn it over to him at this time. >> Thank you very much.
Uh, President Stone, let me turn my page. So, public works natural resources committee includes myself, council members Anderson and Cotton. We met at 10:00 a.m. this morning. We considered two items.
The first of that is a contract award for a city-wide non-motorized project, otherwise known as project ES572, bid number 33B 2026. This project consists of improvements across 10 locations in the city that will make walking and biking safer and more comfortable.
This basically we combine all these projects together to get one bid and get the work done faster and cheaper. The city publicly opened seven bids on June 16th of this year and Ram Construction General Contractors was the responsible bidder who submitted the lowest responsive bid of 1,480,17.15 which includes sales tax.
The engineer estimate was higher than that closer to 2.1 million. Because of the scale of the project it will include an apprenticeship hour requirement. Uh project engineer Jessica Bennett discussed the project.
Um it includes um both some uh um bike lane and and ADA ramp improvements and several I think there are seven yeah I think it's seven of the those rapid rectangular flashing beacon crossing enhancements are also included.
Um anything else I might want to mention? Um the projects help implement the recommendations of both the city's bicycle master plan and the city's pedestrian master plan. Uh this afternoon the committee unanimously recommended to uh approve this.
So I move to award contract number 33B 2026 for citywide non-motorized project to Ram construction general contractors in the amount of 1,480,17.15. >> Second. >> Motion's been made by council member Liilquist and a second by council member Cotton.
Any discussion? Um, I just wanted to mention, I know it didn't come up during the committee meeting this morning, but I think there was reference a bit earlier about the Safe Streets Bellingham, you know, the campaign that we have we've heard from members supporting that campaign right now and sort of their advocacy efforts, um, which sounded like sort of a direct application of this funding, right, for non-motorized projects and sort of substituting these, um, I'm going to forget the acronym for the the lighted beacons at crosswalks um for those other proposals.
Um and so just wanting to make note that you know this project is one of those those pieces that the city is moving forward with um in connection with support for you know multiple plans that have been um put in place for a long time that these projects have been on the um sort of on the list for for completion.
Um and so I I am hopeful that you know the impact positive impacts from this particular project will be you know seen by the broader community and will also address some of the you know safety concerns and other um just desires that that this particular safe streets campaign is also advocating for.
So I believe that there's some you know positive overlap um there but just wanted to make note of that since I believe that this is one of the pots of money that they've spoken to about being able to utilize.
Thank you. Any other discussion? Okay, seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, seeing none, that passes 70. >> The second item we had was consideration of a resolution updating the fee schedule for the public use of city-owned electric vehicle charging stations.
Um, our climate energy manager presented it. Actually, he discussed several things, not just the rate setting. Um, one he presented uh data on the use of the city's EV charging stations. And as you can see this, you see that it's gone up sharply.
Um, which makes a lot of sense. You put in more EV chargers, they're used more. Um, they've been they're proving themselves to be very uh successful. Um, in addition, other topics that were discussed had to do with um staff uh working on establishing um requirements and standards for what's called over the curb charging.
Let's say you need to run an extension cord out to your car because that's how you charge it at your own home. Well, how do you run an extension cord safely across the public sidewalk? So, now there's standards about how those are are covered so they don't create a a tripping hazard or get in the way of of bicycles.
Um, also discuss the EV charging um pilot program that the mayor uh mentioned earlier. Um, this will be a pilot program to create a small pool of electric vehicles that are will be hosted at several locations around the town.
I think in one includes the food co-op and opportunity council and another nonprofit in town. And these are available to of course any employee or shopper at those locations, but it'll be they actually be open for any member of the public to basically reserve an EV car to share those EV car use.
And this that program was funded by a grant that the city received. And then finally to pivot back to the EV charging rate. Um right now the current rates that we charge were slightly losing money to the tune and $11,000 a year.
Uh the intent was never to make money, but also wasn't to lose money. Staff has recommended revising the rates. They did some market studies and showed that for level two charging, our rates are about in line with the market.
We're not going to change those. But the fast charging, the level three charging, we were charging below market rate. And so we saw room for increasing the charge rate to 40 cents per kilowatt hour for using the fast chargers, which is still below the the average market rate.
Um, but that would be enough basically to turn our EV charging program from uh the red to the black and therefore cover those costs. So there wouldn't need no need for a public subsidy to run these public charging stations.
And so this to in order to create that new rate structure, there is an attached resolution. This afternoon, committee unanimously recommended to approve that rate resolution and I so move. >> Second motion's been made by council member Liiloquist and a second by council member Huffman.
Any discussion? I was just going to note you spoke to the EV car share. Um those locations are Bellingham Food Co-op Resources and the Opportunity Council. So anything else? Okay. All in favor will say I.
>> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Seeing none, that passes 70. >> And if committee report. >> Thank you very much, Council Member Lilloquis. Um the next committee this morning was community and economic development.
That committee is chaired by Council Member Cotton. So I'll turn it over to him for a report. >> Thank you, Council President. We had one agenda item and all council members were present. Um this is an ordinance to amend chapter um 6 um.04 04 of the BMC Bellingham mun municipal code to expand the urban village phase tax credit and establish a new downtown pedestrian core tax credit.
Um so this is a business local business and occupation um tax credit for new businesses. Um and the proposed ordinance expands the existing um BNO urban village tax credit to all the urban villages in the city and then also establishes a new targeted BNO tax credit program for qualifying businesses located within the downtown um pedestrian core.
So the most walkable part of downtown. Um the purpose of the ordinance is to provide for um you know consistency in economic development policies within all the urban villages and incentivize the occupancy of vacant spaces, strengthen downtown economic activity and improve um overall vibrancy within the city's primary pedestrian oriented district.
Um great questions and I just want to thank um the mayor for your leadership with your um recent executive order and this is an exciting um step. um to use one of the tools we have. So, there was a unanimous recommendation to adopt the proposed ordinance and I move.
>> Motion's been made by Council Member Cotton and a second by Council Member Williams. Council Member Liiloquist. >> Um I I strongly uh in favor of this ordinance and I appreciate the mayor bringing it forward.
We do have limited tools for direct business support and uh one of the most difficult phases for any business is the first few years. So these BNO tax credits are just for first new years for new businesses, not another business who just changed location within the city.
So these are for new startups. Uh if you uh if you have a startup business of of any sort within the downtown orbit, the pedestrian core, you can have get a small tax break on your local BNO tax and also the same uh BNO tax credit already existed for urban villages.
I would like to introduce an amendment which is that when we established the urban village tax credit, we did it in a needlessly complicated way with a phased approach and different percentages and it's more complicated and it's it's it's already a kind of a small uh incentive and I think it needs to be a cleaner, simpler, better incentive and so I would recommend I would ask that we harmonize our language uh to be the same kind of simple language.
Right now for the ordinance says for the um pedestrian core tax credit it says the credit shall be 100% of the tax due for the first seven years. Rather than a phased approach I would move that BNC 6.04105A1 um be amended to read the credit shall be 100% of the tax due for the first three years.
>> That's a motion. >> Second. >> Motion's been made by council member Liiloquist and a second by council member Williams. Council member Husman. >> Uh Michael, thanks for bringing this forward. I think it's an interesting discussion.
Uh all for simplizing simplizing um our code where we can where it makes sense. >> Complex implicizing. Um I would be interested in hearing from the staff uh their reflections on this proposal. Um how how often is this used?
How often would we potentially be seeing this exemption used in the future and um budget implications? >> Yeah. Uh Forest Longman, deputy city administrator. Uh and I know when we pulled uh how many businesses were currently using this, I believe it was five.
Um so has not been super highly utilized in its current format. and that and I used to manage the BNO function in the city and I can say it's never been uh particularly highly utilized. So, um we I got together with finance earlier this afternoon and they didn't think it would have a meaningful impact on revenues to make it a three-year um 100% credit for the rest of the urban villages.
Um so minimal budget impacts probably offset by potential sales tax revenues or other uh business activities. So no concerns from that standpoint. >> Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I um you know the first three years of a business are certainly the most difficult and uh so I and hearing that it wouldn't have major budget impacts.
It could have huge beneficial impacts for a a business where every dollar counts those first couple years. So I'm supportive. Council >> member Anderson. Thank you. Um I appreciate hearing those numbers because when I first um learned this might be coming forward, I wasn't extremely supportive because um it's a curveball.
I'd like to know what the numbers are, what the impacts are. Um and I also wasn't extremely comfortable that there was like no shelf life for a review where it would come back to us. I always worry that as right now with the economy not being good um there's not a lot of new business startups but you know the pendulum swings the other direction eventually and I guess I'm just uncomfortable that if in like 5 10 years it swings the other way we have a lot of businesses starting up and there is potentially um an impact uh that it's hard to claw things back.
So not having a sunset or a period of time and I don't want to word smith here but a period of time to do a look back where it reports back that one is it working two um what are the financial impacts based on what's happening and then do we need to make an adjustment not knowing those it it makes me uncomfortable voting for it not that I'm against it I just kind of feel like there's too much of an unknown for me just to agree to it so um without some of a sunset or assurityity of a review at a certain point of time.
I'd have a hard time voting yes. >> Maryland, I think those are fair points to raise. Um, we've talked a little bit about the urban strategist position that will be part of their duties is monitoring um the impacts um to the good or potentially bad.
Um, as these play out over time, we anticipate it will be far and away mostly good. Um, and it will be part of their job to promote. Having only five businesses avail themselves to the existing incentives is a strong data point for us that we're not doing a great job communicating the existing incentive structures.
So, as we're out there trying to say Bellingham is open for business, this position will really be amplifying that message and thinking about how are we communicating and making sure um that businesses are aware of all of the resources that they have and that we're structuring for them.
Um, and then paying attention uh to how that's playing out. So, >> thank you. Any further discussion on the motion? Council member Lill, >> I forgot to include in my motion a suggested change to the title.
The title refers to the Urban Village phase tax credit. I think we should just strike the word phased in the title of the ordinance. >> Um, >> is that amendment acceptable to Council Member Williams? You second.
>> Thank you. >> So, it's both. >> It was it was basically an oversight. >> It was in the written materials that were presented. >> And does the clerk have a copy of that written motion? Okay. Thank you.
Any further discussion on the proposed amendment? Okay, seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Or abstensions? >> Stayain. >> Okay, so that passes 6 with one abstension. >> Okay.
Um, next we will go >> Council Lopez. Yeah, I'm a little bit uncomfortable doing this, but I I think I need to do it anyway. One of the things that we've the administration has asked us is to be very clear and the council's requests for future actions by the administration.
>> Wait, I have to dispose of the main mot. >> Oh, the main motion first. Okay. >> Is it because this is not your comment currently? >> No, it's relevant to this item, but it can be after the main motion.
>> Okay. Um, so we have a main motion from Council Member Cotton and a second by Council Member Williams. So now as amended um which would be to move to approve the ordinance. >> Any further discussion on the main ordinance.
Okay. Seeing none. All in favor will say I. >> I. Any opposed or abstensions? Seeing none that passes 70. >> Now back to you council member. >> Yeah I'm sorry for losing track of where we were. Um this has to do with what the mayor just referred to that the new urban strategists one of their uh jobs will be to monitor the impacts of policies like this one.
um negative impacts and hopefully mostly uh or all positive impacts. Um I made a request this afternoon. It was informal and we're sort of trying to move away from that informal thing. So, I'm going to make it formal and I think it'll completely align with what the administration already is planning to do is that I would move uh that we direct the administration to track the usage and results in terms of job creation, sales tax, customer use, and business numbers and other similar measures and report back to the city council at an appropriate time.
>> Second. >> Motion's been made by council member Liiloquist and a second by council member Anderson. Um, you have that motion written. Has that been shared with >> I got scribbles. I'll share my scribbles.
>> Any discussion on the motion? Is the motion understood by the count? Okay. Um, no discussion on the motion. Then all those in favor will say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> No. >> Or abstension. So that passes 6 0 n 61 with council member cotton opposed.
Okay. All right. Anything further on that item? I believe this is your committee. Council cotton committee report. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um so with that we will turn to the next committee. Um the next committee that met this morning was budget and finance.
That committee is chaired by council member Anderson. So I'll turn to her for a report. >> Thank you. Um we had one item before us today and it was for information and discussion only. Um agenda item 24987.
Uh we had a presentation today um of which was provided a summary of the city's financial position for the first quarter in 2026. Um the March 2026 financial report um was provided to us um to the agenda bill and provide detailed information related to um the first quarter.
Uh the presentation and additional information um is available on the city's website at co.org/reports. um our finance director Andy Bejnson um basically reported out how the first quarter is going. Joining me during the session was council member Hamill and Liiloquist but I believe all council members were present.
Um not a ton of information because it's the first quarter. Um but some things that were to be expected is that some of our sales tax is down in the area of lodging um retail and restaurants. Um which is one of the reasons why we're trying to work hard with incentivizing um helping new businesses and assisting our downtown core.
Um but what was uh nice to hear was that we were um bringing in more sales tax in the area of construction materials and um things to do with automotive. So that helps balance and puts us a little bit ahead.
Um we'll have a much more detailed report coming up in August where we'll have a better perspective of how the year is going. Um, so far a lot of our city departments are staying under or on budget with the exception of a couple, but that's because uh the beginning of the year there was some larger outgoing expenses like um RG Haley site and such.
So, um, it I think the information online might be a little bit more interesting than the video, but if anybody is curious how the city budget is currently the first quarter, definitely um, go to BT10 and you could watch the day session.
Um, but that would be all and I look forward to August where we'll have a little bit better perspective of how things are going. And that was the end of committee. >> Thank you very much. The next committee today was Parks and Recreation.
That committee is chaired by Council Member Williams. So, I'll turn it over to him at this time. >> Thank you, President Stone. At our meeting today, I was joined by um Council Members Hamill and Cotton.
And we had uh two items on our agenda. The first was an update on the Galbreth Mountain activities from the Watcom Mountain Bike Coalition. The uh committee received the annual report from Eric Brown, executive director of the Watcom Mountain Bike Coalition.
and um his report uh was more focused on the coalition's goals and uh key accomplishments in 2025, mostly regarding their work on Galbreth Mountain and working with other community organizations and many individual members of our community.
The report covered areas such as the construction of seven new trails on uh Galbreth with a with a trail use of all of the trails of 38,69 community members. That's a large number. And that happened over 361 days uh in uh 2025.
How they happened to accomplish all that that was through a large number of uh programs serving over 700 participants in in our school systems uh such as afterchool bicycle clubs. um one called the Flying Squirrel Group aimed at female students, but one that I focused on was one called Vamos, which is a program serving Spanish-speaking students over a period of eight weeks where the um students get training in bike education, road safety, and community building.
And at the end of the program, they earn a bicycle, helmets, and a lock. Um, that was just a few uh programs that they offer out of 13. >> [clears throat] >> And um the volunteer impact of that was um 2,000 hours of uh uh trail work, 1,400 hours of event support and 3,500 hours of program support.
So as you can see, this is an active productive organization which reaches significant parts of our community. The presentation was for information and uh uh discussion. So no action was uh taken. But I did thank Eric for the work that that organization does to make this a continuing success for our community.
So the the second item was um a contract award for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity tree trimming and removal services which uh which was a bid numbered 12B 2026. The city solicited bids for an indefinite delivery quantity contract for tree trimming and removal services.
And the work will be performed down on as an on as as needed basis over a maximum term of three years with an optional one-year renewal subject to to not to exceed $450,000 to for the initial term and $150,000 for the optional for an optional renewal year.
The city received three bids that were publicly opened on April 15th and Stumpy's Tree Care of Linda was a responsible bidder who submitted the lowest bid. And because of the scope of this one of this project um contract, the contract is not sub uh subject to the to the apprentice utilization program.
So the recommendation from parks and recreation staff was approval of the contract and after a brief discussion by the committee. Seeing no cons no concerns a motion was made and passed to award the contract to uh Stumpy's Tree Care of London in the in the amount not to exceed $450,000.
And I so move. >> Motion's been made by Council Member Williams and a second by Council Member Hamill. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, seeing none, that passes 70.
>> And there was no further business before us, so we adjourn the meeting. And now I'm sending it back to you. >> Thank you very much. Um, the next committee meeting this afternoon was public health, safety, justice, and equity.
That committee is chaired by council member Hamill. So, I will turn it over to him for a report. >> Uh, thanks, President Stone. Uh, we had one item before us this afternoon. This is an interlocal agreement with Wakom County for funding to maintain operations for the alternative response team.
And this afternoon, I was joined by committee members Hoffman and Williams. The Bellingham Police Department values the relationship with the Alternative Response Team or ART as it's more commonly known.
While applying [clears throat] for a grant through the Criminal Justice Training Center, known as the Enrow Substitute House Bill 2015, public safety funding program, the police department asked for $688 uh,760 uh over a 25month period to help maintain operations of the ART, retain trained personnel, analyze program data to preserve the unit's demonstrated benefit to the Bellingham community.
Uh so a combination of city and county funding as well as state grants have traditionally sustained the program but as part of the last uh s session in Olympia the state legislature reduced the state's contribution and this grant will replace that funding this afternoon the committee voted to approve and I so move.
>> Motion's been made by council member Hamill and a second by council member Williams. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. Any opposed or abstensions? Seeing none, that passes 70.
>> End of committee report. >> Thank you very much. So, next this afternoon, we had committee of the whole. Um, just noting that all council members were present this afternoon. We had multiple items before the committee.
The first was agenda bill 24973. This was a presentation and consideration of the city council communications and community engagement 2026 work plan. So the proposed city council communications and community engagement 2026 work plan lays out recommended tactics for the council to consider implementing.
These communications tactics are designed to increase and improve community engagement with the council. The work plan addresses priorities that council members identified at their April 20th, 2026 retreat.
The city council communications work group provided input on the work plan and will help guide its execution. The city council communications and community relations manager presented the work plan and outlined options for council to consider implementing in 2026.
Um just noting that this afternoon we had preliminary discussions um and review of the proposed work plan. This item is being referred to um committee. So to come back at our next meeting for further discussion in the interim tomorrow we will have our communications workg group meeting um to further review feedback from council, make some additional changes and edits and then bring that back at the next meeting for further consideration and possible adoption.
Um so at this point no action was taken um except to bring that back at the next um the next meeting. So more to come on that. The um next agenda item was agenda bill 24974. So this is a discussion of initiative number 2026-01 prohibiting algorithmic price fixing in the rental market.
So, the city of Bellingham initiative measure number 2026-01 concerns the prohibition of algorithmic price fixing in the rental market. The Watcom County Auditor has verified that the petitioners collected signatures equal to not less than 10% of the total number of votes cast for the office of mayor at the last preceding municipal general election, that being 3,167 votes.
In the work session today, council discussed how to respond to the initiative as required by the charter and the municipal code. The options before the council include that the council may enact the initiative as it is currently written, defer it to the voters at the general election in November, or reject the measure and propose an alternative measure that would appear on the ballot along with the initiative as presented.
Council action must be taken by July 27th, 2026, which is our next council meeting um in order for that um action to be forwarded on to the auditor's office to have the ballot measure prepared by the August 4th deadline to appear on the November ballot.
If council fails for some reason to take timely action, then the initiative bill would be submitted by the finance director to the county's auditor's office for submission to the qualified electors for approval or rejection again at the next general election.
Um, we did clarify this afternoon that there does not need to be a formal assignment or vote for procon statements or authors of those statements. that that um that step in the process will be handled by the administration.
Um but we do need to have a decision ideally at this point just some direction to um legal in particular about how we expect to proceed at the next meeting just so that we can have that that prepared um for consideration at the next meeting.
Council member Liquist, >> I move that we request the administration draft an ordinance that would refer and defer this matter to the voters. We have a motion by council member Liiloquist and a second by council member Hamill.
>> I believe I should have said a prepare resolution. >> Great. I know the title only says initiative, but yes, the resolution we moving the initiative that would ultimately be believe an ordinance if passed by the voters.
Um so the motion before the council right now is to direct um legal to bring forward a resolution that would again send this initiative to defer it to the voters for consideration at the next general election.
Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay. Seeing none, that passes 70. Anything additional needed from staff or legal? >> No, thank you. >> Okay, thanks.
Okay, so more to come on that at the next meeting. The next agenda item before the committee was agenda bill 24977. This is a resolution proposing amendments to article 5 section two and to article 8 section six of the city of Bellingham's charter to allow the mayor or the mayor's designate to execute contracts in the name of the city and to eliminate the related requirement that the finance director director attest the signature of the mayor.
So this resolution would put a measure before the voters to streamline the city's contracting process and facilitate adoption of electronic signatures for city contracts. This includes two components.
So first is allowing the mayor's design to sign contracts and also removing the requirement for the finance director to attest to the mayor's signature and physically attach the city seal. If passed by council, this measure would go before the voters at the November general election.
So this afternoon, um, we heard from deputy administrator Forest Longman. And just discussing at this time, electronic signatures and docuign is used and in fact required um by the state for some contracts.
So for example, a commerce contract or um other items. And so really needing to align again the charter with the current practices. Um there was also discussion about how this would actually provide some additional you know security just thinking about the authenticity and um the security measures that are put in place for things like docuign and other electronic signatures in addition to just helping to streamline um the process.
thinking about the sheer number of contracts that the city um in particular the mayor is reviewing and approving um without having to physically shuffle papers from one office to another in sequence um docuign would allow all of those parties to um review and potentially sign contracts um you know simultaneously or in real time.
So that was brought forward before the committee this afternoon and there was a unanimous recommendation to move to approve the resolution and I so move. >> Second. >> Motion's been made by the chair and a second by council member Williams.
Any discussion? >> Seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Seeing none, that passes 70. The final item before the committee was agenda bill 24978. This is a resolution proposing an amendment to article 2 section 9 of the city of Bellingham's charter to assign responsibility for reviewing and fixing the mayor's salary to an independent salary commission.
So this resolution would put a measure before voters to eliminate the requirement that the mayor be the highest paid employee in the city. The current charter language results in a mayoral salary that is driven by staff salary compression instead of public intention.
The proposed new language would have mayoral compensation set by the same salary commission that sets city council compensation, increasing transparency and aligning with best practices. If passed by the council, this measure would go before the voters at the November general election.
So again, this is another item that would show up on the ballot. this coming November. Um, we heard from Forest Longman, again, deputy administrator this afternoon. Um, and again, this is something that's been on the books in the charter for a long time, um, but had not been brought forward.
So, commending the mayor for bringing this item forward. I know she spoke to this briefly during the mayor's report as well. Um this afternoon there was a unanimous recommendation from the committee to move to approve the resolution and I so move.
>> Second. >> Motion's been made by the chair and a second by council member Hutman. Any discussion? Seeing none. All in favor we'll say I. >> I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Seeing none, that passes 70.
Council member Lquist. >> So, um, Mr. I believe that the city council has, uh, rare and limited opportunities to weigh in on mounts on the measure on ballot measures that we can write a resolution suggesting an opinion to the voters.
Um, is that true for city charter ballot measures as well? I I know it is for ordinances that we've or other votes that have gone to the >> I'm sorry. >> I want to make sure I understand your question.
It's pretty late. Can you >> Yeah, I'm sorry. So, normally if there's something on the ballot, we're not allowed to use public resources and the city council is not allowed to. But we are allowed to do one thing with regard to items on the on the ballot, which is write a resolution asking offering in our opinion whether voters should vote for or against a particular ballot measure.
Is that also true when the ballot measure is a charter amendment? >> If I understand the question correctly, yes. The the prohibition on using public resources to campaign for against a ballot measure would apply equally to these proposed charter measures.
>> I'm saying it doesn't apply. I'm saying there's an exception and that one state law exception is that we're allowed to pass a resolution. >> Right. Yeah. No, exact. We're saying the same thing. the general prohibition applies, but the exception also >> applies.
>> That being said, um I'm wondering if the uh council if would like to not only vote to for resolution to put these on the ballot, but also author and vote on resolution to support voters approving them.
If so, we could ask the administration to develop those a resolution for both of these matters. So, if I can speak to that briefly, I think um in other cases when there's something going before the voters that's not originating from the council or from the city, then maybe voters are unclear about whether there's support or not.
And so, a swing in makes sense to me, at least for these matters, these are basically being placed on the ballot by us, right? We're requesting these charter amendments. So, I would hope that we're supportive.
I can't imagine a case where we would be sending it to the voters asking for them not to change something, then we just wouldn't send it. >> Well, but see, I I can I can imagine we could say, "Let's just let the voters decide." We might have no opinion.
I think it just would be clarify things if we had a resolution said, "Oh, by the way, not only would we think you should vote on it, we think you should vote yes on it." >> So this afternoon, I believe the mayor spoke to um her willingness to write serve as So there will be a statement for and against for each of these items.
Um and the mayor expressed her interest and willingness to participate in that support statement and welcomed council members to join her in that effort. So perhaps just proposing that perhaps that's another way to address it because if a council right if there's council representation myself perhaps as council president and the mayor writing in the pro does that accomplish the same >> unless we vote you can't speak on behalf of the city council and neither can I.
I can only speak on behalf of myself. I'd happily volunteer to join the mayor, but there might be other voices that could join the mayor on that pro statement that would be more diverse and influential and add more value.
So, even though I'd be happy to put my name to it, I think I'd be happier to put our names to a joint resolution. So, and if if the same rules apply, I just think that would be a little extra step we could do.
I'm not asking for something elaborate, but I think we should write short resolutions urging a yes vote, not just asking people to consider the issue. >> Is that a motion? >> That's a motion for both of these.
>> Second it. >> So, we have a motion from Council Member Liiloquist and a second by Council Member Anderson. Discussion on the motion. Council Anderson, >> I don't think it hurts. Um, it's a little extra step.
Maybe it's needed, maybe it's not. Um, but uh I think if it's voted unanimously, and um I think sometimes a resolution can provide a little bit more information and background why there's support. So it gives us the ability to um more than just say we think it should go to the voters, but here is why as a united voice versus just in the voters pamphlet.
So, I don't think it hurts to do it. >> Any further discussion? >> Yes, Deputy um Herb. >> Thanks. I just [laughter] I just have one quick recommendation. If if you're going to vote to um direct the administration, bring back these resolutions that perhaps timing wise we do it, you know, in like September, October time that ballots are going out might be more meaningful than July 27th, you know, the next time we come back.
I agree that makes sense. No specificity as far as the timing in your motion. >> Motion do not include time specification. >> Great. Anything further? >> Seeing none, are we clear on the motion? >> Um okay, we'll call the question.
All in favor will say I. >> I. Any opposed or abstensions? Seeing none, that passes 70. Okay. Any other items related to committee of the whole? No. Okay. We have old and new business. Any items for old and new?
Seeing none, we also had several executive session items today. So, in executive session, first was a potential litigation matter. This was with Herb. staff provided information on a potential litigation matter.
This was for information and discussion only and there was no action taken. Next, um there was potential property acquisition with Rosenblat. Staff provided information on a potential property acquisition.
This was for information and discussion only and no action was taken. The third item was also a potential property acquisition with Rosenblat. Staff provided again information on potential property acquisition for information and discussion only and no action was taken.
The fourth item was also potential property acquisition with Rosenblat. In this case, staff briefed council on the city's pending agreement to purchase a 1 acre property from Jeff um Kradenpath. The property is located in the Lake Watcom watershed and is identified by assessor's parcel number 37042141350.
The purchase price is $190,000. Closing is set to occur on or before August 7th, 2026 subject to council approval. The property will be acquired through the city's Lake Watcom wershed land acquisition and preservation program using restricted funds dedicated to that purpose.
The program is funded by city water customers through a watershed watershed sir charge on their utility bill. This is the proposed action to entertain a motion to authorize the mayor to close the real estate transaction described in the city's executed purchase and sale agreement with the property owner Jeff Kradenpath with the purchase price of $190,000.
>> Move approval. >> Second. >> Motion was made by council member Hudman and a second by council member Hamill. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor will say I. >> I. I. Any opposed or abstensions?
Okay, seeing none, that passes 70. Final item in executive session was a quasi judicial matter discussion relating to an appeal to the Bellingham City Council of SUB2022-000011 V2022-00002 and CAP2022-00005 relating to the woods at Buchest.
This item was discussed with discussed with stamps. Legal counsel provided information concerning process and scheduling of the appeal. There was no action taken or further report at this time. That is the end of executive session.
Next, we have consent agenda with >> approval. Second. >> Motion was made by council member Liiloquist and a second by council member Williams. Any discussion or items to be pulled? Okay, seeing none, all in favor will say I.
>> I. I. >> Any opposed or abstensions? Okay, seeing none, that passes 70. >> Okay. Next, we have final consideration of ordinances. Agenda Bill 24968, an ordinance relating to land use and zoning, extending interim zoning regulations to eliminate minimum automobile parking requirements and establish consistent bicycle parking standards citywide.
>> The third final >> second motion was made by council member Hamill and a second by council member Huffman. Any discussion? Okay, seeing none. And just to confirm, we did have a hearing earlier this evening that was considering permanent zoning regulation changes.
Um, this final consideration is again the interim zoning regulation that was is being extended to allow time to finalize that separate process. So, there's no further discussion. Roll call, please. Holly Huffman.
Hi. >> Dan Hamill. Hi. >> Skip Williams. >> Hi. >> Lisa Anderson. Hi. >> Michael Lilloquist. Hi. >> Jace Cotton. Hi. >> Hannah Stone. I >> the motion passes 70. >> Thank you very much. Okay, so with that that concludes the regular business.
Again, our next meeting will be on Monday, July 27th. So, as I mentioned, that concludes the regular business of the meeting and we will now move to the public comment period. If you're watching live online or on BTV, the broadcast will now end.
However, you can continue watching via Zoom at co.org. RGCC zoom or listen via phone by dialing 253-2158782 and entering meeting ID 87151885205 and password 9. Again, that's co.orgccoom og/cczoom or dial 25532158782 and enter meeting ID 87151888525 and password 9 to continue to watch or listen live.