For Immediate Release: Contact: Carolyn Casey, Port of Bellingham
360-676-2500
Port Commission Receives Proposal for Waterfront Development
[Bellingham,Wash.] For the past two months, Port of Bellingham staff and consultants have worked to develop more information about details of the redevelopment of more than 200 acres of downtown Bellingham waterfront.
Today the Port of Bellingham's Board of Commissioners met and received an update and a formal redevelopment proposal that could be used as a preferred alternative in the environmental analysis for this 20 to 30 year project.
In April, the Commission directed port staff to work with waterfront consultants and with city project partners to find answers to questions that were raised during public comment and agency review of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in 2007. These questions primarily were about development density, road and trail alignment, phasing of the development and establishing a sustainable development strategy.
Today the port brought forward a Proposal that can be used as a clear set of recommendations to define the elements needed for a preferred alternative. This 106-page Proposal, which is available on the Port's website includes new analysis and recommendations in all of those areas as well as in additional detailed research and information. One section includes updated project costs, based on new engineering work.
This Proposal will be presented to the Waterfront Advisory Group at 6 p.m. tomorrow (June 11) in the Harbor Center Conference Room, 1801 Roeder Avenue. Both meetings will be rebroadcast on the city's BTV10 cable station.
If this Proposal moves forward as the Preferred Alternative, it will be studied further in the draft Environmental Impact Statement and a new public comment period on the plan will occur later this summer.
Following completion of the environmental analysis, the goal is to move forward with a Draft Master Plan and eventual adoption by the Port and City of a final Master Plan, along with accompanying development regulations and agreements.
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