The City Council will hold a final public hearing on the 2009 Draft Shoreline Master Program (SMP) on November 23, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
Since the July 27th public hearing, there have been four work sessions focused on issues regarding Lake Whatcom and the Waterfront District. These work sessions were held on September 14th, September 21st, October 5th, and October 19th.
The 2009 Draft SMP, which includes all of the revisions that were directed by City Council as confirmed at the October 19th work session; as well as, an adopting ordinance have been presented to the City Council for their approval at the conclusion of the November 23rd public hearing.
Also included below is a link to the City's cumulative impact analysis. This analysis is required as part of the SMP submittal package to the Department of Ecology, and is intended to demonstrate that the SMP - through its implementation - will result in "no net loss of existing shoreline ecological function".
The City has coordinated with and involved the Port of Bellingham, Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources, Bellingham Bay Action Team, Waterfront Advisory Group, Building Industry Association, Whatcom County Realtors and countless citizen inquiries in the creation of this regulatory document.
Copies of the document are available at the Planning & Community Development office in City Hall at 210 Lottie Street for a fee of $12. Comments on the document should be sent to smpupdate@cob.org.
