Development Plan for Lincoln Street Moves Forward After Years of Planning

BELLINGHAM- AVT Consulting LLC is one step closer in the process of approving Phase 1 for the Lincoln Street Mixed Use Development project.

Ali Taysi, the principal and founder of AVT Consulting, plans to take the next step in the approval process and submit a Design Review Permit Application and Building Permit Application to the city.

The project will include multi-phase development on the 22-acre property bound by Fred Meyer to the North, Lincoln Street to the East, 1-5 to the West, and Maple Street to the South.

Phase 1 of the development will consist of four multi-family residential apartment buildings, with associated parking, landscaping, access, storm water and other improvements.

AVT Consulting has acted as the project manager on behalf of the owner, Langstan Management of Bellingham. The developers originally submitted the project for a permit in 2005 for a planned development contract. Since then they have gained approval from the city with a Critical Areas Permit, Planned Development Permit and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Review.

“We are through the entitlement planning process and have moved into an actual design planning process. Now we are preparing to submit building permits,” Taysi said.

Todd Fuller, the design architect, says they are not looking for strictly students to move into the housing.

“They are basically going to be designed as apartments and not student housing. The design will consist of four-story buildings over building parking,” Fuller said.

The units will consist of studios, one bedroom, and two bedroom-housing units.

Plan Raises Traffic Concerns Among Residents

The issue with exits and entrances onto Lincoln Street has raised concerns among residents living nearby.

Deborah Bemis, a Lakeway Mobile Estates resident, is concerned with how she will make a left turn out of her driveway onto Lincoln Street. The mobile home park is located directly across the street of the proposed project.

“There is already a lot of traffic there now,” Bemis said. “The south entrance of the Mobile Home Park is hard to get out of because of the narrow streets and it doesn’t have a turn in lane.”

The developers plan to improve Maple Street and create a bridge that will be directly onto Lincoln Street.

“Lincoln Street will be rechanneled. As you are heading Northbound, you won’t be sitting in a suicide lane,” Taysi said.

The developers plan to create three access points onto Lincoln Street once the project is completed. These will be located at the North and South end, as well as the primary access point with a left turn pocket.

“We have been working with the Public Works department on the channelization plan and on the street frontage improvements required so hopefully that will mitigate the impact as a result,” Taysi said.

Residents Want a Traffic Light Installed on Lincoln

The developers went through a SEPA modifications process this year to look at new impacts of the area, which included different traffic impact analysis. This resulted in the SEPA modification that resulted in the project.

Jesse Dennis, a resident of the Mobile Home Estates, would like to see the developers include a traffic light in the plan.

“There are too many dangerous left turns in the scheme of things,” Dennis said. “I don’t want to have to play the luck of the draw trying to turn left in this town.”

According to the city, a traffic light is not required at this point based on all of the traffic planning that has been done.

Drainage and Flooding Issues Raise Concerns

Gaythia Weiss, president of the Puget Neighborhood Association, suggests that the project developers do a full watershed analysis before proceeding with the project. This is due to the fear that flooding on Lincoln Street will only get worse.

According to the developers, there will be no additional discharge or runoff onto the street and the development that occurs on the site will go into storm water facilities. Runoff will then go directly to Lincoln Creek.

Residents of the mobile home estates have had issues in the past with flooding from Lincoln Street due to old pipes that are not able to handle runoff.

“It floods into our front yard and its only going to get worse once they develop,” Bemis said.

“There is storm drain infrastructure in Lincoln Street and that is probably what is blacking up and overflowing,” Taysi said. “When we improve Lincoln Street, we are going to have to add the curb, gutter and sidewalk along the West side and that will include storm infrastructure improvements. It may actually improve the function of the existing storm system on Lincoln Street.”

The developers plan to move forward with submitting applications to the city and if approved, construction will begin. 

Head Start Program Works on Aligning Curriculum with Bellingham School District

BELLINGHAM- The Head Start Preschool Program at Carl Cozier Elementary School has recently introduced a program called the David Matteson Teaching and Learning Method to its classroom of sixteen.

This program is not a curriculum, but is a strategy used for teaching children to tell stories by keeping a journal called “My Pictures and Stories.”

As of this year, the Head Start program has began to shift its focus on aligning with the Bellingham School Districts literary instructions so that preschoolers will experience the same teaching strategies throughout grades K-6.

Kim Walbeck, Preschool Services Manager of Opportunity Council, said “The work that we are doing with aligning our curriculum with the elementary school system really helps the preschoolers be ready for Kindergarten and sets them up for success.”

With the David Matteson learning method, children draw events that have happened to them in order to communicate a story to their teacher. This new innovative strategy aims to allow parents to understand the literary components that their children are learning.

Kat Kayser, the preschool Head Start teacher at Carl Cozier, has noticed firsthand how her students have improved their storytelling by using this method. She has also noticed improvements in memory and recall as well.

“The students get so excited about drawing their story in their yellow journal and love telling teaches and other students their own stories,” Kayser said.

At Carl Cozier Elementary, there is currently one morning Head Start preschool class that began when Opportunity Council partnered with the Bellingham School District. Other grades at the school are using the Dave Matteson method, allowing the two curriculums to align and familiarize preschoolers with the process.

Eric Paige, the Principal at Carl Cozier, said, “kindergarteners who participate in a quality program like Head Start typically transition into kindergarten easier than children who do not participate in preschool.”

Although the program is not officially part of the Bellingham School District, it is housed at the school.

“Having Head Start staff working in our schools allows the two faculties to collaborate,” Paige said.

Walbeck has recognized how the location of the program has set up preschoolers for success when it comes to transiting into Kindergarten.

“The benefits for having the preschool program located in the elementary school is that it provides seamless transitions for the students. The parents and children know the school, and that makes that transition effortless,” Walbeck said.

The Opportunity Council describes itself as a “Community Action Agency working to fight poverty, promote self-sufficiency, and address local needs.” The agency has supported low-income and homeless families since 1965, and provides benefits ranging from support and housing services, early-childhood education, food services, childcare, job skill training, home repair, and more.

Opportunity Council Benefits Children and Families

Opportunity Council offers learning opportunities for over 350 children in Whatcom County every year.

Kayser believes that the students and families benefit from Head Start in many ways.

“We work as a team to find resources to help support their needs and accomplish their goals,” Kayser said. “We also strongly encourage parent involvement.”

The preschool program has parents volunteering in the classroom, participating in the Policy Council parent board, and help with organizing family events.

Walbeck has worked for the Opportunity Council for 21 years and was a teacher for the Head Start program before she moved into her management position.

“The most rewarding experience for me is the family engagement piece because we are able to involve parents and support parents as their child’s first teacher,” Walbeck said.

The 3 and 4-year-olds from income-eligible families are provided with breakfast and lunch during the day, where they are continuously learning as part of the program.

“Teachers are working with them during meals and recess. The children learn about food and health, as well as being physically active,” Wallabeck said.

The preschoolers are also taken on multiple field trips throughout the year so they can explore the community.

“I love being able to teach children about the world around them. I want to make their classroom a positive and safe place where they can learn to love school,” Kayser said.

The Opportunity Council program directors frequently monitor the needs of students and families and are looking at ways to partner with other agencies within the Bellingham community.

For further information regarding Opportunity Council, click here.

Bellingham Residents Unhappy With Proposal of University Ridge

BELLINGHAM- Ambling University Development Group’s proposal to build a 527-bedroom student-housing complex known as University Ridge has raised concerns among members in the community who feel the project would affect them directly

The complex would be constructed between Puget and Nevada Streets at 4413 Consolidation Avenue, on a 5-acre lot surrounded by single-family homes.

Dick Conoboy, resident of the next-door Samish neighborhood, had much to say regarding this proposal.

“Crowding almost 600 students in a four buildings on five acres is a recipe for disaster,” Conoboy said. Referring to a “riot” that occurred near Western’s campus, he said, “You only need to look at last Saturday to see what happens when a large number of students are concentrated in an area with virtually no supervision and easy access to alcohol.”

David Baines, a retired Puget neighborhood resident, believes all the qualities of living will be degraded if the proposal is accepted.

“Neighborhood tranquility, relative security, good air, problems that are manageable at present level, will all be adversely impacted,” Baines said.

With 576 new residents, the developers plan to have a 24-hour on site management as well as quiet hours to manage noise and disturbances among the neighborhood.

During the Public Hearing on September 11, Ambling’s architect Glen Peterson addressed how there is a significant demand for off-campus housing, and how many single-family homes in Bellingham have been converted to houses filled with students.

“We are here to provide desirable upper end housing for students. We want to provide easy access to the University and to shopping. Our goals are to minimize impact to the neighborhood,” Peterson said.

Some residents have had a tough history dealing with existing student rentals, with “sleepless nights from noisy parties, car doors slamming, and motor bikes careering through,” Baines said.

The streets of Nevada consist of few sidewalks and streetlights. There is one exit/entrance onto Consolidation, and this raises safety concerns to members in the community in the case of an emergency.

“Imagine fire or emergency vehicles trying to get in as people are fleeing in cars or on bikes, along with additional parked vehicles clogging the streets,” Baines said.

The Traffic Impact Assessment by Ambling responded to the traffic concern by an assumption that most residents will use public transportation. Since the residents will mostly be WWU students, they believe bus transportation will be the most used because of proximity to bus access. Also, according to the Developers, this shouldn’t be a huge problem since most students do not follow an a.m./p.m. schedule.

Ambling developers do not have any direct affiliation with WWU but plan to restrict the complex to student residents only.

Gaythia Weis, President of the Puget Neighborhood Association, is apprehensive about the Developer being subject to fair housing laws and does not believe it could be legally limited to students.

The Hearing Examiner questioned the Developers about the possible violation of fair housing laws by restricting the renters to students, but it is still unknown if the Hearing Examiner will make a pronouncement about this aspect of the application.

According to the National Wetlands Inventory report, the projected site contains no wetlands. The report also shows that there is no priority habitats or species located on the property.

“The construction would certainly disrupt wildlife. There are deer and other animals there, and I have seen raccoons,” Weis said.

For purposes of planning, what would matter is if there was any endangered species on the land but that is not the case.

As a ten year resident, Baines has witnessed a variety of wildlife from his home.

He has seen deer families, coyote, raccoons, bobcat, squirrels and the trees are home to red tailed hawk’s nests.

“Wildlife and birdlife will disappear,” Baines said.

The Hearing Examiner has to decide on many aspects of this project, so the final ruling could be out in weeks or months from now. In the meantime, numerous residents are voicing their concerns and sending petitions to the Mayor and members of the City Council opposing University Ridge.

For further information regarding University Ridge Project , visit:

http://www.cob.org/services/planning/neighborhoods/puget-uni-ridge.aspx

You can hear a podcast of the Hearing Examination here:

http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/neighborhoods/university-ridge/hearing-examiner/UR%20Media.mp3