Redevelopment opportunities for Old Town have been the subject of several community planning efforts including the American Institute of Architect’s Regional Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT), Whatcom Creek Waterfront Action Program, the City Center Master Plan, and the Community Forum on Growth Management. Old Town as a vital link between the Central Business District and the waterfront and has been identified as a future urban village in the Comprehensive Plan, a strategy for accommodating growth.
While Old Town has a number of components for the creation of an urban village, a master plan (Sub-Area Plan) and supporting development regulations are needed in order to encourage and guide development toward thoughtful redevelopment that sets out to reach the vision for Old Town. In 2005, the City came together with the community to develop a plan for Old Town. This planning effort looked at the broader Old Town area, which includes parts of the Lettered Streets and Central Business District neighborhoods. As the area evolves over time, the community has identified a number of characteristics in Old Town they wish to maintain such as view corridors and vistas, natural features, historic resources, small businesses, while providing opportunities for a range of housing and pedestrian amenities.
The purpose of the Sub-Area Plan is to:
Building on the feedback received in 2005, staff presented an overview of the Subarea Plan to various stakeholder groups in order to get their feedback on the work to date. A final neighborhood meeting was held on September 26, 2007 where an overview of the draft Subarea Plan and development regulations were presented. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on November 8, 2007, followed by three worksessions on November 15, December 6, and December 20. Staff prepared a comment tracker which included both public and Planning Commissioner comments and questions. This tracker was used as a preliminary decision agenda which informed the worksession agendas and included staff recommendations. Planning Commission finalized their recommendations to City Council following the January 17, 2008 public hearing. Both staff and Planning Commission's recommendations are incorporated into the proposal above.
Please send your written comments to Bellingham City Council at citycouncil@cob.org, or to 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Staff Contact: Tara Sundin, Special Projects Manger - tsundin@cob.org or 360-778-8300.
