"Fairhaven Highlands" is a development proposed by Greenbriar Northwest Associates, LLC on property purchased in 2004/2005. Located within Bellingham city limits between Chuckanut Drive, Interurban Trail, Old Fairhaven Parkway, and Old Samish Highway, the property includes an area known locally as the “One-Hundred Acre Wood”.
On April 18th, 2005 the City received Greenbriar’s application for Fairhaven Highlands, a planned development and preliminary plat (sub-division of land) which proposed building 739 units of single and multi-family dwelling units on approximately 85 acres of land. Primary access to the development is proposed from Chuckanut Drive, and street improvements would be provided in accordance with State and local requirements. Wetland impact is proposed, and the application includes requests for variances from street standards and frontage requirements. A SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) checklist was submitted, as required. Click on the links, below, to view the application materials and notices.
On April 25th, 2005, the Fairhaven Highlands Planned Development Application was determined to be sufficiently complete to begin the review process. However, at the developer's request the City took no further action on the application at that time. The following documents are all on file at the Planning Division.
The detailed provisions of the development review process are contained in the Bellingham Municipal Code for development review (BMC Chapter 21.10) and environmental review (BMC Chapter 16.20). The planned development application must follow the Type II process, and the subdivision must follow the Type III-B process.
In February 2007, Greenbriar requested that the City of Bellingham Planning and Community Development Department initiate the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Fairhaven Highlands development. The City hired ESA Adolfson to perform the EIS.
The goal of the EIS is to provide objective factual information about the site and its environment, to complete clear and complete analysis of the relevant aspects of the project, and to determine the regulations under which the development might proceed. The expense of the EIS will be borne by Greenbriar, and the City of Bellingham is the designated Lead Agency. Kim Spens is the Project Manager for the EIS (kspens@cob.org).
The
Scoping Summary describes the alternatives and the environmental
elements to be studied for preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS). State law requires the analysis of at least three
alternatives: the “no action” alternative, the original proposal, and a
proposal with fewer environmental impacts. In addition, the scope identifies
the environmental elements to be analyzed. In this summary, the
environmental elements to be analyzed include those issues raised through
public comment and from City input.
The SEPA Official, Tim Stewart, has determined that the scope is adequate to
proceed with the DEIS. The next public meeting will be held when the Draft
EIS is issued.
A public hearing on scope of the EIS took place on Wednesday, January 16th, 6:30 p.m., Bellingham Municipal Court.
Greenbriar has provided the following additional documents and studies to the EIS process:
Stormwater Site Plan, August 2007; Ron Jepson and Associates
The City issued a Request for Proposals for the EIS consultant. ESA Adolfson & Associates was selected as the consultant to conduct the EIS, and Tim Stewart, Planning & Community Development Director, will act as the SEPA Official. The contract between the City and Greenbriar, "Exhibit A" to this contract (which is the agreement between the City and Adolfson & Associates), and related correspondence from the Applicant can be accessed through PDF, below:
See EIS FAQ sheet for more information.
