Planning Commission

Planning Commission Minutes City of Bellingham, Washington Thursday 7:00 PM June 22, 2023 City Council Chambers Video Recorded https://meetings.cob.org Call to Order The Planning Commission meeting was called to order by the Chair at 7:00 PM. Roll Call Present: Mike Estes (Chair), Jed Ballew, Scott Jones, Barbara Plaskett, Mike McAuley, Russ Whidbee (joined at 7:20pm) Absent: Rose Lathrop Approval of Minutes Minutes for April 20, 2023 and June 1, 2023 were submitted for approval and approved by general consensus. Public Comment Period During this time, citizens may take up to three (3) minutes to address the members about any topic not on the agenda. Citizens wishing to speak during this time will be recognized by the Chair for comment. No public comments received. Agenda Items Presentation 1. The Bellingham Plan briefing p. 2 Elizabeth Erickson provided an overview of the launch of The Bellingham Plan. She shared the project scope and schedule, and explained how the City will be inviting the community to participate in the process and how their participation will guide the update. She pointed out that there will be six themes considered as each chapter of the Comprehensive Plan is updated: ADEI, Climate, Economy, Housing, Placemaking, and Public Health and Safety. She talked about the different approaches staff will be taking to encourage the public to be engaged in the process. She shared the next steps that the City will be taking for the rest of 2023. There was a brief discussion about the community outreach efforts, the reasons why it seems to be more robust this time around, and what some of those efforts might be. Staff explained that there are more updates being done this round and there is a concentrated effort being made to reach as many community members as possible, especially those that may not otherwise participate. Staff shared some examples of the types of questions that may be included in the community survey. 2. Buildable Lands Report Presentation p. 19  Chris Behee provided an overview of the Buildable Lands Report. He shared some background information and explained how the report was created since the state guidelines for participation were changed in 2017. He spoke to the property owner survey that was conducted in 2020 and explained how the responses helped to determine what changes should be considered. He reviewed the methodology that was used to gather the data, and spoke to the planned and achieved densities for both residential and employment. He shared the countywide housing findings. Chris Behee presented some data specific to Bellingham, including number of housing units, new residents, new jobs, achieved density and total number of acres developed. He also shared how much buildable land is available and where in the City it is located. He briefly reviewed how efficient the land has been used with regard to housing production and what the housing mix may look like by 2036. He reviewed the existing incentives for housing development; the programs the City has in place for housing protection, preservation and monitoring; some of the code updates that have been enacted to encourage more housing; and some of the ways the creation of affordable housing is supported. There were brief discussions on the following topics:  How COVID has impacted the employment figures  What the inclusionary housing study entails  How the areas that should have yielded units, but have not done so to date are reflected in the report  Urban growth areas and annexations  Collaboration efforts between jurisdictions Other Business 1. Director's Report Adjournment Minutes prepared by: ____________________________________________ Heather Aven, Recording Secretary Minutes edited by both staff and Planning Commission members.