Hearing Examiner Reviews Proposed Changes to Lincoln Street

A public hearing at Bellingham City Hall was held on Feb. 12 by Hearing Examiner Dawn Sturwold to discuss variance requests for the Lincoln Street development. The meeting also addressed the site’s permit plans and public concerns voiced by spectators at the meeting.

The development will feature three separate phases. The first phase includes a 7000 square foot apartment complex to be built near East Maple Street featuring 175 units, the second will add 216 more apartment units and the third phase will build the Lincoln Street commercial center.

The permit applicant, Stebner Real Estate, plans to reduce East Maple Street’s width to 11 feet as well as reduce sidewalk width on Lincoln Street from 8 feet to 5 feet in order to build as far away from Lincoln Creek as possible.

Plans for the development also include a 60-foot right-away lane for The Grove Apartments on East Maple Street as well as added street parking on Lincoln Street to adjust for overflow parking from the commercial center.

Speaking on the behalf of Stebner Real Estate who owns the development lot, Ali Taysi, principal of AVT Consulting addressed concerns about the East Maple Street sidewalk reductions and traffic on Lincoln Street.

A footbridge will be added connecting Lincoln Street to Samish Way to allow for pedestrian walkways to the commercial center in order to reduce car traffic, Taysi said.

“The traffic load on Lincoln should be lower than a typical through street,” he said. “We believe with the bridge, the Maple Street sidewalk will become a secondary pedestrian access to the development.”

Aside from traffic, the addition of 16 street parking stalls may cause problems for business owners on Lincoln Street.

Gary Barnett, owner of Sehome Carwash and Zoom Zoom Espresso, voiced concerns about parking blocking the entrance to his business.

“If cars can’t get in and out on a nice day to my carwash, I’m in real trouble,” he said.

Barnett already has problems with vehicles blocking his entrance. Bus drivers from the Whatcom Transportation Authority take their breaks in the bike lanes that intersect the business entrance, he said.

“I’m just trying to have a little safety here while continuing business”, he said.

Taysi suggested eliminating one parking stall to help reduce the risk of cars blocking the business. He also added that the city had completed a traffic analysis of Lincoln Street for the next 20 years to analyze the impact of added traffic and concluded there should not be an issue.

For Puget Neighborhood Association president Gaythia Weis, bicycle lane width and drainage of Lincoln Creek are the unresolved issues with the development.

“The Puget neighborhood generally supports the idea of the development of this location,” Weis said. The neighborhood, however, is very opposed to reducing any sidewalks and bicycle lanes, she said.

The sidewalk on the east side of Lincoln Street will remain the same width and the road will have wide travel lanes, Taysi said.

Brent Baldwin, development manager with the Bellingham Public Works department, said the city requires at least a 5-foot bike lane along Lincoln Street. A narrow sidewalk will be added during phase one of construction, starting at the park and ride continuing past Fred Meyer mainly for student use.

“The housing type in this location is really going to be targeted to college students,” Baldwin said. “A standard sidewalk won’t fit there due to physical limitations of the creek.”

Mitigation of Lincoln Creek wetlands is also very important and the city needs an overall watershed level plan, Weis said. A drainage problem already exists on East Maple Street, she said.

“We will be detaining all of our site storm water,” Taysi said. “Anything we do will not have an effect upstream of the creek since we are downstream from the drainage problem.”

The city does not require a watershed level plan for this site, Baldwin said.

“We have in-depth review and require facilities to handle storm water in regards to how it effects the creek,” he said.

Hearing examiner Dawn Sturwold expressed concern about plan permits being consistent with planning department requirements for the development site.

The public works department is currently reviewing the construction plans. Sturwold will make her decision on the proposed adjustments to Lincoln Street and East Maple Street next week.