Two of our primary objectives in producing this blog are to:
1) encourage voters to participate by attending meetings to get informed about important issues, and
2) replace rumors with facts.
The fire commissioners – see last post – have not yet answered our previous question, so here are a few more rumor-based ones they may want to answer:
1) Is it true that some developers, including those who eventually sued you, offered to pay you mitigation fees that you refused? If so, how much did they offer? How does that amount compare with the mitigation fees in your draft capital facilities plan, dated June 20 ($2,078.45 per single family residence and $2,983.70 for multi-family housing)? The plan states that amounts as much as 50% lower might be sufficient due to a variety of factors. That could mean as little as $1,039.23 for a single-family home. Is that more or less than the developers offered?
2) Is it true that you want to charge mitigation fees only to developers and not single home builders –- thus if an individual family buys a lot in the middle of a developer's project and builds it's own house there, you would not charge the individual home but would charge the developer of adjacent houses?
3) Is it true that, because Blaine contracts for fire district services, you are dependent on the Blaine city council to impose mitigation fees, and so far they xhave not?
4) Is it true that Jon Sitkin, the fire district legal counsel, is also city attorney for Blaine? Does Mr. Sitkin have a conflict of interest.
By way of background, John Stark reported in the Bellingham Herald after the Washington Court of Appeals ruled against the fire district:
“The issue flared in the fall of 2006 when the Whatcom County Council approved a 200-home development in the Birch Bay urban growth area, Horizon Village at Semiahmoo, over the fire district's objections.
“Fire district commissioners wanted county officials to allow to collect “voluntary” impact fees to cover the district's costs to provide the added services they said the new development would need. While fire districts have no legal authority to demand impact fees, they do have the power to grant or deny the concurrency letters.
The county's concurrency ordinance states that such a letter is required before a new subdivision can be approved, but developers and county officials contended that the levels of emergency service were deemed adequate when land use plans for the Birch Bay area were updated effective in 2005. In their view, Horizons Village and other developments could be approved on that basis, without further view by the district.”
With Blaine opting out and the fire district not charging mitigation fees in rural areas, it appears that Birch Bay alone, with about a third of the district’s assessed value, is being asked to pay for the district's new development.
Because the capital facilities plan must be approved by the Whatcom County Pllanning Commission and the County Council in the process of updating the county's growth plan, the fire district commissioners – normally not forthcoming – find themselves required to schedule discussions with the community. A series of public workshops are scheduled for next month including:
Developer Specific
Monday, August 10 3 p.m Lynden Fire Station
307 19th St., Lynden
Blaine City Officials
Tuesday, August 11, 3 PM, Blaine Fire Station
9408 Odell St., Blaine
West Side Communities including Birch Bay
August 11, 7 PM, Blaine Fire Station
9408 Odell St., Blaine
Some people with whom we've discussed these issues say they are reluctant to challenge the fire commissioners because they will be branded as “pro development.” Our first response is that practically everyone in the Birch Bay community is affected by development stalled by litigation since 2006; Birch Bay has abundent opportunity for growth before the community would be overbuilt. Our second response is the overriding issue from the standpoint of voters and taxpayers: Quality management is essential from elected officials. With their opaque nature, the fire commissioners are not revealing their decision-making process. Taxpayer questions and oversight can change that. There will be elections.
ak
(Comments are not only welcome, they are eagerly sought.)
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