Planning Commission

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON Thursday 7:00 PM October 6, 2022 City Council Chambers Video Recorded www.cob.org Call to Order / Roll Call Present: Mike Estes (Chair), Jed Ballew, Rose Lathrop, Mike McAuley, Barbara Plaskett, Scott Jones, Russ Whidbey Approval of Minutes Public Comment Period Opportunity for citizens to speak informally to the Planning Commissioners on any subject not listed on the agenda. Speakers are allowed a MAXIMUM of three (3) minutes to address the Commission. Speakers will not be required to disclose their address. Presentation Urban Village Design Review Darby Galligan, City of Bellingham provided an overview of the update process and shared the Urban Village Design Review project goals. She shared that there were three focus areas that included guidelines, standards and process/applicability. She explained how they determined which of each should apply to all urban villages universally and which would be only applicable to specific urban villages. Grace Kim, Schemata Workshop shared information on the work that has been done to date and introduced the proposed Design Guidelines document, which is a stand-alone document that combines all of the urban village guidelines into a single document and assists the applicants in how to apply the design principles. Darby Galligan pointed out that each individual urban village has it’s own appendix at the end of the document and if there are any specific guidelines that apply to that urban village alone – it would be listed here. Emy Scherrer, City of Bellingham explained that staff combined the historic guidelines for both the Fairhaven and City Center urban villages and made them applicable to all urban villages. She stated that these guidelines are intended to be applicable to buildings that are historically significant or eligible for listing. Darby Galligan reviewed the proposed updates to the Design Standards, which are part of the Bellingham Municipal Code. She explained that one of the major changes that occurred during this process was moving all of the regulations under the development regulation of each urban village code. She briefly reviewed where in the BMC the regulations are being proposed to move to. She reviewed the new structure of the standards, as well as the proposed public process the applicants would follow. Commission comments and request for additional information  There was support for the pilot projects  Timeline of getting before the Design Review Board  Staff stated there have been conversations about building in some standing meetings to help improve this process  Also looking to improve some of the application review processes  Staff is also considering example packets  What could a neighborhood meeting look like / Why does an applicant need to have one  What are the expectations for the different phases of the process  Rationale for removing the step-back requirements  Allowing for more flexibility to allow for creative design  What are the typical departures that we changed from a standard to a guideline Old/New Business Chris Behee announced that the emergency Covid measures have been rescinded by Mayor Fleetwood and the City’s Boards and Commissions will return to in-person meetings in November, 2022. Adjournment Minutes prepared by: ____Heather Aven_______________ Heather Aven, Recording Secretary Minutes edited by Planning Commission members and various Planning Staff.