Reader Urges Vote for Nuchims, Councilmember Responds to SV Article

To the Editor:

Two Water District #10 Commissioner positions are up for election this fall. We’re fortunate that a new candidate has offered to serve: Paul Nuchims of Sudden Valley, challenging incumbent Vince D’Onofrio for Position #1. The other incumbent, Tom Hadd, Position #4, is running unopposed.

Every voter who resides in Water District #10 will vote on the commissioner positions. This is an important opportunity to support a long-term vision for the public health of all of the Lake Whatcom watershed communities by voting for Paul Nuchims.

Many Sudden Valley residents will recognize Nuchims as the gutsy, good-humored guy who has challenged the corporate mindset and the “Build It Now” attitude of the Sudden Valley Board since his election to that board last year. While often bringing up topics or suggestions that shake up the old ways of thinking, he consistently seeks open and honest dialogue in an effort to achieve understanding, cooperation and consensus.

Paul Nuchims has the ability to bring long-range planning skills and vision to the table, and has the academic background to support creative problem-solving with a solid and critical understanding of research. He advocates fiscal responsibility and the avoidance of costly litigation. He collaborates with all interested parties, with the ability to think “outside the box” to find long-range, permanent solutions to problems that have plagued our community for years.

Paul is unafraid of stating that urban development in the watershed can endanger our source of drinking water. He is for encouraging sustainable forestry practices, establishment of more greenways, and land acquisition programs to decrease density throughout the watershed.

I hope you will join me in supporting Paul Nuchims for the District #1 position. Call a few friends and neighbors right now, and encourage them to vote for Paul Nuchims, Commissioner, Water District #10.

To the Editor:

Editor’s note: This letter refers to Tim Paxton’s article in the August 2003 Whatcom Watch entitled, “City of Bellingham Fights Urban Growth Area Designation for Sudden Valley.”

The Whatcom County Council has worked very hard over the past couple of years to protect Lake Whatcom. I proposed a significant down zone for the lake that will reduce the potential development around the lake by approximately 2,000 building units. The council has also put forward very comprehensive development standards that include significant tree retention and stormwater management for development on existing vested lots. The county has also purchased several large tracts of land within the watershed.

At a glance it truly seems absurd that a County Council intent on protecting Lake Whatcom would allow for the designation of an Urban Growth Area (UGA) in the watershed. However, one has to keep in mind that Sudden Valley (SV) was platted in the early 1970s such that over 4,200 lots were created and vested. The lots exist whether the area is an urban growth area or not. To the Sudden Valley Association’s credit they set and have nearly completed a goal of reducing the number of lots in Sudden Valley by 1,400.

Prior to being designated a provisional urban growth area Sudden Valley was part of a Resort/Recreational Area designation. The proposal by Sudden Valley to change the designation to provisional UGA included a down zoning of undivided land within Sudden Valley. Some of these parcels could have been divided into 12 units per acre prior to the designation. At least three owners of the 12 units per acre zoning were opposed to being down zoned. Hence the first down zone in Lake Whatcom or for that matter, within my short memory, within Whatcom County, took place in Sudden Valley.

In addition, the designation to PUGA for SV created another opportunity. Several large tracts adjacent to SV to the north and southeast were dropped out of resort/recreational designation into a rural designation, but the zoning of three units per acre was left in tact. I have subsequently included those areas in the broader down zone proposal that also includes areas at the north and south ends of the lake.

The Clean Water Alliance has appealed the PUGA for SV as described by Tim Paxton in the August Whatcom Watch. What if the Clean Water Alliance prevails in their appeal? The result is simple: Sudden Valley and the adjacent former resort/recreational areas will immediately return to a resort/recreational designation and the down zoned areas will return to their previous zoning of 12 or 3 units per acre. Hence we will revert back to greater potential density in the Lake Whatcom Watershed.

Tim Paxton’s suggestion at the end of his article that the County Council could simply withdraw the UGA designation is wrong. The change would require a one-year process and would certainly be appealed as well.

Personally I remain skeptical that SV will be able to pull off becoming a city within the five-year period the PUGA provides. Two years have gone by since the designation and so far I have heard nothing about any progress towards Sudden Valley gaining city status.

Becoming a city will not be easy. Sudden Valley will need to figure out how they will fund police services and innumerable other responsibilities that come with being a city. Then they will need to convince the county and Bellingham that this option is viable and sustainable over the long term. If either Bellingham or Whatcom County is not convinced either one would have significant opportunity to block Sudden Valley from being granted city status.

As stated earlier, the County Council has made significant strides over the past two years to protect Lake Whatcom. And for that matter so has the city of Bellingham. None of this would be possible without the hard and often thankless job of activists. As these efforts to protect our water quality move forward I feel much obliged to the huge effort of activists such as the Clean Water Alliance and particularly Sherilyn Wells and Tim Paxton. Lake Whatcom would not be the issue it is today in local politics if it had not been for their constant hard work to make it so. While much as been started, much remains to be done. I can only hope that our elected officials, including myself, will have the perseverance that the Clean Water Alliance has demonstrated.

Letters of 400 words or less are printed in full. Longer letters might be edited. Send letters to: Whatcom Watch, P.O. Box 1441, Bellingham, WA 98227. Please include a daytime phone number.