Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

 Whatcom County & The City of Bellingham are proposing to form a steering committee and hire a consultant to find the demand for housing for low-income citizens.  Under the proposal the county and city would each contribute $75,000 to fund the cost of the consultant.  The County Council already deposited their amount last Tuesday and on Monday the City Council will decide on the proposal.

City Councilwoman Joan Beardsley, who is leading the city effort, says “I have great hope that this will be the next step in countycity cooperation in solving a serious problem that has ramifications for our futures,” Beardsle.

The city and county councils have already passed resolutions calling for a plan to address the lack of cheap housing here.

Beardsley said the consultant would work for a committee of local builders, government officials, advocates and interested citizens. That committee of about a dozen people should have its final recommendations ready for public hearings by December 2007. Beardsley wants the city and county to have rules in place before four areas awaiting possible annexation get added to the city.

The consultant will look especially at using rules requiring and incentives persuading developers to build affordable housing in new developments.

“It really needs to be a combination of things that allows builders and developers to stay in business,” says Paul Schissler, the executive director of the Kulshan Community Land Trust — a nonprofit organization that helps low-income people get into homes.

He suggested finding money to offset the costs of government fees for developers, with the stipulation they reduce the home cost.  Via Herald

The affordable housing issue isn’t unique to just Whatcom County, it’s a nation wide problem, especially here in the Northwest where home prices have jumped.  I believe that the real issue comes down to politics.  Over the last 15 years I’ve watched our local situation develop into this very issue.  

On one side of the issue developers are dealing with tough land restriction issues, which in the end costs them more money to build communities.  This added cost is passed on to builders when they buy subdivisions or individual building lots. Then the builders are unindated with escalating permit costs, fees, increasing sub contractor costs, high insurance rates, increased taxes and selling costs on the home.  The Consumer then purchases higher priced homes.

On the other side there are special interest groups that want to restrict housing where ever they can and whenever a project is proposed; their answer almost always seems to be fight it.  Having the “Not in my Backyard” mentality will never solve the issue of affordable housing. This type of stance will only hurt affordable housing.

Back in the early 90’s the state mandated that all the counties and cities within the state abide by the Growth Management Act (GMA).  In principle it’s a great idea, in that we should try to grow within our cities to prevent to much urban sprawl.  In our county it’s essential that we preserve our valuable farm land and sensitive creeks, rivers, lakes and forest.  This is part of what makes Whatcom County so popular.

So what happens then, the cities work on plans within thier city limits and consider their 20 year GMA areas as well.  The county tries to prevent Urban Sprawl in the sensitive areas.  The special interest groups that fight almost every proposed development and in the end the developer looks like the bad guy…it’s a never ending cycle.  The only way to solve this problem is to realize once and for all that concessions and compromise need to be made in order to address affordable housing needs.  The County and City need to be brave, make tough decisions by easing back on some of these restrictions and fight the temptation to apease the “Not in my Back Yard” mantra.

I was born and raised in Western Washington and have lived here my entire life.  I really appreciate the natural beauty of our home life here and like most, want to preserve what we have for the future.  But the common sense side of me says…there’s got to be a give and take.  That’s the beauty of having steering committee’s, neighborhood planning groups and discussion among your neighbors.  After many levels of discussion and thought, we need to deal with tough decisions and hope our elected officials decide what’s best to finally resolve issues like Affordable Housing. In the end this area wouldn’t be what it is if there wasn’t diversity through those who call Whatcom County home and those who hope to as well. 

Jerry Campbell - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA - Bellingham WA Homes For Sale