Pro-Whatcom - New Group Organizes in Town

Harvey Schwartz, a local chiropractor, feels passionately about the unique beauty of our Whatcom County community.

Pro-Whatcom is an organization working collaboratively to protect our quality of life through education and advocacy on growth issues. Pro-Whatcom wishes to pose the question of whether taxpayers in Whatcom County choose to continue subsidizing growth, which is clearly the case at this time. This group was formed after Eben Fodor, author of “Bigger Not Better,” spoke in Bellingham in September of 2002. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in growth issues.

According to Fodor, an astonishing lack of good information exists about the true impacts of growth (economic, social and environmental). A July 1996 Oregon study found that the approximate cost of providing public facilities for a single new house in Oregon was $24,500, which is far less than the fees charged to developers in Whatcom County. At a recent Bellingham Planning Commission meeting it was stated that it would cost over $10,000, per future home, just to maintain the current per capita amount of trails and parks. No specific figures for infrastructure such as sewers, water systems, roads, schools, police and fire services and facilities were given.

I have seen various studies claiming the actual cost of infrastructure for each new house ranges from $24,500 to $83,000 nationally. I talked with several planners for the city of Bellingham and found out that impact fees collected from developers are on-average under $6,000 per house. This does not come close to new development paying its own way.

Fodor points out that the growth community always touts the revenue from new taxes, while the associated costs of expanding public facilities and services are ignored. He points out that any private company with a business plan that looked only at revenues and ignored costs would quickly be out of business. Fodor further points out that the United States has lost 95 percent of its old growth forests, 55 percent of wetlands and 99 percent of its native prairies. North American urban development has covered more land in the past 50 years than in all of previous history.

Between 1970 and 1990 the size of the average home increased from 1,500 to 2,000 square feet while the average number of persons in each house declined from 3.1 to 2.6. From 1969 to 1990, the number of vehicles increased six times faster than the U.S. population, and miles driven per person increased over 50 percent. On average, each North American requires 11–13 acres of ecologically productive land to supply for current consumption levels; people in India require one acre.

We at Pro-Whatcom wish to be the voice of the majority of Whatcom County residents. We exist to educate the public and promote appropriate action steps now. Our mission is, “to enhance Whatcom County’s quality of life by encouraging community well-being, economic prosperity and environmental health, while recognizing and addressing the challenges posed by population increase and imprudent resource use.”

Some of the issues we wish to bring to light are: bigger and faster growing cities have higher taxes, unemployment, crime rates and violence, and more expensive housing. Bigger cities also have reduced public services such as fire and police protection, garbage removal, street repair and maintenance. Bigger cities have more air pollution, have fewer open spaces for playgrounds, and more traffic.

Pro-Whatcom wants to reiterate that environmental regulations are good for the economy, and undeveloped land usually produces more net revenue than developed land. Business subsidies do not usually enhance local prosperity. Following in the steps of other communities, growth can be controlled by adopting policies that discourage undesirable kinds of growth. Pro-Whatcom wants to discontinue taxpayers’ subsidizing of growth in Whatcom County.

The rapid population growth in the last 10–15 years has not paid for itself. Our police and fire systems are more strained and schools are more crowded. Our roads are much more congested; just as buying bigger pants will not help us lose weight, building bigger roads will not solve our traffic problems. No evidence exists to suggest that additional growth over the next 20 years will pay for itself. According to Wynne Lee, a local environmentalist (see sidebar), “The costs of growth have been, and will continue to be, subsidized by county taxpayers in the form of increased sales taxes, new special levies, and increased property tax revenues associated with inflated property values, assisted by state and federal taxes.”

Wynne goes on to say that over the past 15 years, the population has increased dramatically and housing has become increasingly less affordable to average income wage earners. Homeowners are beginning to have trouble paying the rising property taxes brought on by inflated real estate values. Housing becomes less, not more, affordable as the population and new construction increases.

This problem is not due to regulatory costs or too scarce land, at least not in Whatcom County. Rather, housing is less affordable because the county has become a hot real estate market, while at the same time, the increasing numbers of working residents have moved into low-paying service and retail jobs. The faster the population grows, the worse this affordability problem will become.

She also believes that the faster the growth, and the larger Whatcom County becomes, the harder it will be to reverse the trend in the future if serious growth related problems arise. A small, lean system can change course faster than a fat, bloated system. It’s like the difference in time and effort needed to change course in a small powerboat versus an oil tanker. Keeping growth in Whatcom County to a reasonable, low rate will help us maintain our flexibility and ability to react quickly to changing times.

Pro-Whatcom consists of a cross-section of citizens of Whatcom County who believe that the quality of life and wonderful amenities of our county must be protected from the dangers of sprawl and rapid growth. Pro-Whatcom is a watchdog group working for Whatcom County residents by spanning the political and economic spectrum. We understand the way that county population growth should occur is already defined in our county’s Comprehensive Plan, which clearly states the following:

“Retain the rural character and life style of Whatcom County.” (pp. 2-59, Goal 2CC)

“People should be able to exercise local control in neighborhoods/sub-areas in all land use decisions.” (p. C-18)

“The cost of urban growth, including infrastructure and services, should be paid for primarily by developers.” (p. C-16)

Pro-Whatcom wants to expand the debate from where and how we should grow, to whether we should grow. Growth issues should be carefully considered, and growth should occur only in accordance with local desires and only if it can enhance the quality of life in Whatcom County. We also wish to establish quality-of-life standards and ensure that growth promotes these standards by ensuring that those who profit from development also pay the full costs of development. We want to reach a sustainable county population consistent with the assessed desires of the community, and we want to give communities the ability to say “no” to growth.

We intend to educate the public about the current growth trend in Whatcom County. In 2002, Whatcom County’s population was 172,000. In 2022, we are projected to be at 258,883 people—this represents what seems like a modest 2.06 percent growth rate. If this growth rate were to continue after 2022, the county population would top one million by 2090. Bellingham is projected to grow at a 2 percent rate, which would raise our current population of about 81,000 to 163,000 by 2038. That’s bigger than Everett, Lynnwood and Edmonds combined!

We believe that our county and city could not absorb these huge rates of growth and maintain our current character. We do not enjoy wasting our time, money and natural resources in traffic jams looking at urban blight. We do enjoy an environment that contains green spaces, supports local businesses, and encourages community interaction and input. The attraction of Whatcom County is having a sense of place, which we wish to maintain.

Pro-Whatcom offers several alternative approaches to growth. We should stop taxpayer subsidies of growth by charging developers impact fees that make them pay the full cost of growth. We should set growth threshold standards for such things as traffic levels, and water and air quality, allowing no new development that would compromise these standards. We also should reduce development in watersheds and environmentally sensitive areas through downzoning, and require community impact statements which would determine, before a building permit is issued, the effects of that development on population, schools, social services, public facilities and local taxes.

We want to plan for greenbelts and open spaces through public acquisition or conservation easements, to curb speculative development by requiring that new project proponents perform market analyses to demonstrate actual need for the project. In addition, we want to establish policies giving highest priority to maintaining and improving existing infrastructure prior to new development, making new development affordable, and establish growth moratoria when it can be determined that the public good will be damaged by development in an area.

Pro-Whatcom wants to amend the Growth Management Act to allow local control in establishing growth limits and adopt a benchmark program to determine if conditions are getting better or worse by measuring annually such things as environmental quality, the economy and crime rates.

We encourage you to visit our website at http://www.prowhatcom. org, call us at (360) 671-0813, or email us at info@pro-whatcom.org. Please join with us and become part of an exciting solution. We can not only enhance and preserve our wonderful area, but also become an example to be emulated by like-minded communities elsewhere. We are only as powerful as the sum total of our members and those that agree with our goals. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” §

Thanks go to Sarah Kopke for help editing this article.