Mayor Kelli Linville is proposing the first step
in creating a new community park -- the Chuckanut Community Forest -- with a
rezone proposal before the Planning Commission in June.
The Bellingham Planning and Development Commission will
consider recommending to the City Council a request for a Comprehensive
and Neighborhood Plan amendment to rezone various City-owned Chuckanut Ridge
area properties. The rezone request is one of eight proposals being
reviewed, beginning with the docketing process at a public hearing scheduled
for Thursday, June 14. Those proposals that are recommended to, and
approved by the City Council, will become part of the Planning Department's
work program for the coming year.
Linville proposes rezoning 88 acres in the South
Neighborhood from “Residential Multi, Planned” to “Public, Open Space” in order
to permanently preserve Chuckanut Ridge and create the Chuckanut
Community Forest, which she envisions as forested public space with trails and
other recreation opportunities.
Under this proposal, she said, the remainder of the
City-owned property (25 acres) would remain zoned residential until options for
paying back the loan to purchase Chuckanut Ridge -- $3.3 million from the Greenways
Maintenance Endowment Fund -- are fully explored.
Options for paying back this loan are expected to be
developed and considered by the Bellingham City Council early in 2013, Linville
said.
“The Council approved the purchase of this property so we
can protect Chuckanut Ridge, and this proposed rezone is one step in
implementing that direction,” Linville said.
