2
Downtown improvement guides many efforts By Mark Reimers [email protected] FERNDALE — It’s not that downtown has been the only thing on the city’s collective mind. But improving it has certainly been a driver for a lot of actions over the last two years, as Community De- velopment Director Jori Burnett is happy to admit. Downtown Ferndale is one of the few places that hasn’t seen sub- stantial growth in the last decade. That is partly because of inherent obstacles such as the floodplain, newer retail expectations and per- haps some impressions of current less attractive land uses in down- town. Efforts by the city to promote downtown Ferndale equal a rare effort to create a market, Burnett said. However, he isn’t under any illusions about replicating past forms of success, like what was in place between the 1950s and ‘80s. Downtown efforts emphasize mixed-use, dense residential units within walking distance of down- town businesses. The theory is that once someone gets into a car, other parts of the Ferndale or Whatcom County are just as accessible. Bringing development costs down has gone hand-in-hand with city investments such as the River Walk, Pioneer Pavilion, a new li- brary and Main Street paving — it all adds up to over $20 million over a decade. Those efforts are at least see- ing some fruit since downtown Ferndale is currently at its lowest vacancy rate in over decade. “There aren’t a whole lot of vacant stores now,” Burnett said. See Downtown on 2A Ferndale is thinking outside the box to promote a healthy climate for growth. Below is an overview of some of the many lean initiatives and rule changes undertaken by the city to encourage business and development. 50% fees RED TAPE TO GREEN LIGHT Deferring impact fees until final inspection In 2011, the Ferndale City Council suggested that the city provide an option to developers that would allow them to pay up to 50 percent of the impact and connection fees on projects at the time of final inspection, rather than at the permit stage. While not decreasing the total fees, this does allow developers to delay payment of some fees until projects are closer to being sold/rented. It also implicitly recognizes that the majority of impacts do not occur until the structure is occupied. According to Community Development Director Jori Burnett, the deferment plan hasn’t opened up the city to more risk from defaulting builders since the point is to 50% fees help viable projects become even more viable and certain. Although the same amount is paid to the city, a smaller initial bank loan can be secured, saving the builder significant interest during the building process. “We aren’t trying to take unviable projects and make them work. The goal is to take projects that are viable and make them more viable.” —Jori Burnett According to Burnett, custom “spec” homes have become the exception and not the rule. Today, most land use developers build based on building templates that they are familiar with, often cycling between four to eight home designs within a single subdivision. Reviewing building repeat plan review designs becomes redundant, especially in a 100-lot development, where one building design may be used 10-20 times. Ferndale has instead created a program that allows contractors to submit a home design once and re-use it on an unlimited basis for significantly reduced building review costs. Those costs can drop by up to 50 percent. Now, not only do developers save on permit costs, but the program also allows city staff to process building permits much more rapidly — in many cases issuing a building permit within 24 hours of its submittal, Burnett said. Similar discounts can be enjoyed if contractors submit several identical building permits at once. For years, the City of Ferndale charged uniform rates for water or sewer connections, regardless of whether the connection was for a single-family residence or a large shopping mall. In 2011 the Ferndale amended its policies to reflect anticipated water and sewer use, otherwise known as an “Equivalent Residential Use” or ERU. The program has three primary goals: first, to accurately reflect the actual impact on the city’s infrastructure; second, to end the disproportionate burden that had been placed on residential development; and third, to incentivize conservation measures — projects that use Water and sewer: equivalent residential use high efficiency plumbing or other demonstrated conservation measures may decrease their expenditures significantly. Lower usage can also be demonstrated as past practice through a previous billing statement. For example, the builder of an actual recent project was able to reduce the anticipated water and sewer connection fees from nearly $100,000 to about $5,000 by providing previous billing information and proposed conservation measures.

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March 20, 2013

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Garbage tax hike proposedFerndale plans to fund library gap through half percent solid waste tax hike By Mark [email protected]

FERNDALE — On April 23, vot-ers in Ferndale will decide whether to add the final cost of a new Main Street library to their property tax bill. But the City Council went into its Monday meeting still unsure of how it would cover its earlier com-mitments to the library through matching campaigns. About half of the $1.05 million commitment, according to Finance Director Mark Peterson, can come from good returns on the city’s real estate excise tax. However, that still leaves about $50,000 each year in financing that the city will need to come up with. At Monday’s meeting, the Fern-dale City Council voted to adopt a half-percent increase in its tax on solid waste. That would apply to all waste brought to the city’s two trans-fer stations. The measure would bring the tax up from 12 percent to 12.5 per-cent, overall. Peterson noted in his prepared figures that the extra half-percent will bring in about $53,000 annually. The other options mapped out as possibilities by Peterson include tapping into $65,000 in annual banked property tax capacity and a 1 percent increase in the city utility tax, bringing in an estimated $50,000 each year. The city’s preference for using a solid waste tax increase as the means of covering the commitment short-fall was tempered by several council members’ statements that they don’t want the tax to be a constant, go-to pot for anything that needs funding.

Downtown improvement guides many efforts By Mark [email protected]

FERNDALE — It’s not that downtown has been the only thing on the city’s collective mind. But improving it has certainly been a driver for a lot of actions over the last two years, as Community De-velopment Director Jori Burnett is happy to admit. Downtown Ferndale is one of the few places that hasn’t seen sub-stantial growth in the last decade. That is partly because of inherent obstacles such as the floodplain, newer retail expectations and per-haps some impressions of current less attractive land uses in down-town. Efforts by the city to promote downtown Ferndale equal a rare effort to create a market, Burnett said. However, he isn’t under any illusions about replicating past forms of success, like what was in place between the 1950s and ‘80s. Downtown efforts emphasize mixed-use, dense residential units within walking distance of down-town businesses. The theory is that once someone gets into a car, other parts of the Ferndale or Whatcom County are just as accessible. Bringing development costs down has gone hand-in-hand with city investments such as the River Walk, Pioneer Pavilion, a new li-brary and Main Street paving — it all adds up to over $20 million over a decade. Those efforts are at least see-ing some fruit since downtown Ferndale is currently at its lowest vacancy rate in over decade. “There aren’t a whole lot of vacant stores now,” Burnett said.

See Downtown on 2A

BusINess

Absorption Corp gets new ownerLocal managers of a Ferndale manufacturing company are optimistic about what a new German-based ownership group means for U.S. market share, as well as possible expansion. 3A

Ferndale is thinking outside the box to promote a healthy climate for growth. Below is

an overview of some of the many lean initiatives and rule

changes undertaken by the city to encourage business

and development.

50% fees

Red tApe to gReen lightDeferring impact fees until final inspection In 2011, the Ferndale City Council suggested that the city provide an option to developers that would allow them to pay up to 50 percent of the impact and connection fees on projects at the time of final inspection, rather than at the permit stage. While not decreasing the total fees, this does allow developers to delay payment of some fees until projects are closer to being sold/rented. It also implicitly recognizes that the majority of impacts do not occur until the structure is occupied. According to Community Development Director Jori Burnett, the deferment plan hasn’t opened up the city to more risk from defaulting builders since the point is to

50% fees

help viable projects become even more viable and certain. Although the same amount is paid to the city, a smaller initial bank loan can be secured, saving the builder significant interest during the building process.

“We aren’t trying to take unviable projects and make them work. The goal is to take projects that are viable and make them more viable.”

—Jori BurnettAccording to Burnett, custom “spec”

homes have become the exception and not the rule. Today, most

land use developers build based on building templates that they

are familiar with, often cycling between four to eight home designs

within a single subdivision. Reviewing building

repeat plan review

designs becomes redundant, especially in a 100-lot development, where one building design

may be used 10-20 times. Ferndale has instead created a program that allows contractors to

submit a home design once and re-use it on an unlimited basis for significantly reduced building

review costs. Those costs can drop by up to 50 percent. Now, not only do developers save on permit costs, but the program also allows city

staff to process building permits much more rapidly — in many cases issuing a building permit within 24 hours of its submittal, Burnett said. Similar discounts can be enjoyed if

contractors submit several identical building permits at once.

For years, the City of Ferndale charged uniform rates for water or sewer connections, regardless of whether the connection was for a single-family residence or a large shopping mall. In 2011 the Ferndale amended its policies to reflect anticipated water and sewer use, otherwise known as an “Equivalent Residential Use” or ERU. The program has three primary goals: first, to accurately reflect the actual impact on the city’s infrastructure; second, to end the disproportionate burden that had been placed on residential development; and third, to incentivize conservation measures — projects that use

Water and sewer: equivalent residential use

high efficiency plumbing or other demonstrated conservation measures may decrease their expenditures significantly. Lower usage can also be demonstrated as past practice through a previous billing statement. For example, the builder of an actual recent project was able to reduce the anticipated water and sewer connection fees from nearly $100,000 to about $5,000 by providing previous billing information and proposed conservation measures.

See Waste Tax on 2A

Page 2: Red Tape to Green Light

2A • ferndalerecord.com • Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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DEADLINE:

April 4PUBLICATION DATE:

April 17

2013 SPRINGHome Improvement

This publication will also be available online at www.lyndentribune.com and

www.ferndalerecord.com

Featuring a look inside local Whatcom County homes and their owners along with tips and articles pertaining

to remodeling, new construction, decorating, gardening,finance, energy efficiency and more! Don’t

miss your chance to be included!

Don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of this very popular special section in the Ferndale Record and the Lynden Tribune!

Council member Brent Goodrich wondered aloud whether a cap could be set, an idea colleague Mel Hansen

said would be unlikely to last, since it has no binding effect beyond future councils’ pref-erences. Council member Jon Mutchler did add an amend-ment to the original ordi-nance motion, stating that the half-percent increase should

Friday lightning hits Lynden home

Lynden firefighters responded to a home on Aaron Drive on Friday evening after it filled with smoke following a lightning strike. The strike ripped a gash at the top of the two-story home, about 10 inches wide and over 3 feet high. The home owners reported that their power outlets turned black with char, but there seemed to be no significant damage to the electrical system. Only the garage door stopped working. Lynden Fire Chief Gary Baar said this was the first time he had seen a lightniing strike on a home. (Randy Fleming/FlemingPhotoStudio.com)

“The ones that do go vacant don’t stay there long-term typ-ically. Hopeful that is where this is going.” While the city is always looking for new ways of streamlining the process, Bur-nett said, the next step still needs to be private invest-ment. Overt examples of efforts to spur include the following:

    •  Discounts for develop-ment on vacant downtown land — In 2012, the Ferndale City Council created incen-tives that would reduce or eliminate administrative fees for the development of vacant properties or redevelopment of non-conforming uses in the Urban Residential and City Center zones (the downtown core). Ferndale has already invested nearly $22 million in infrastructure improve-ments in the core area since 2003. The incentive programs bring the average downtown permitting fees to their lowest level in over a decade.    •  Downtown parking requirement reduction: In 2012, the Ferndale City Coun-cil re-examined off-street parking requirements for multifamily development in the downtown core. The re-

quirement was reduced from a minimum of 2.25 spaces per multifamily unit to 1.5 spaces per unit, not including poten-tial on-street parking. Burnett noted that park-ing is a significant expendi-ture for development and also creates more hard surfacing that must be treated using stormwater ponds. The city also allowed a further reduction for studio apartments, requiring a mini-mum of only one space per unit. These changes promote greater development density. The city also allows develop-ers throughout the city to sub-mit independent calculations demonstrating a reduced need for parking.    • Traffic impact fee dis-count — In 2012, the Ferndale City Council reduced traffic impact fees in the downtown core based on studies showing that, on average, downtowns generate less traffic than most commercial development ar-eas. The city now also allows credits toward these fees for developments that include pedestrian-friendly features such as outdoor seating, pic-ture windows, street-level landscaping and more. That step was based on evidence from other jurisdictions, showing that attractive pe-destrian environments lead to more pedestrian use — and fewer vehicle trips.

DowntownContinued from 1A

Other actions:n Discounts on small business development (citywide)

n Water and Sewer rate reduction (residential, close/medium proximity to treatment plant)

n Townhouse allowances

n Increase in height limits – multifamily

n Reduction in setbacks – multifamily

n Ability to provide documentation/ proof of water/sewer/traffic/parking use

n Conversion from septic to sewer/public water discount

n Removal of Floor Area Ratio restrictions (downtown)

n Residential height limit increase (32-35’)

n Park Impact Fee Reduction (pending new parks plan)

n Building Permit Inspection/ Expiration Guidelines – increased flexibility for keeping a project active

n Technical Review Committee checklist creation

n Planned Action EIS – completed SEPA review for projects in this area

n Subdivision regulations: streamlined process, removed unnecessary regulations

n General code scrub items: Made more uses “permitted,” removed many uses from Conditional Use requirements

n Amended Planned Unit Development chapter; removed many regulatory obstacles/ requirements (20-foot buffers on all sides, reduced minimum size for existing lot)

n Cottage Housing Ordinance

sunset at the conclusion of the library funding commitment it is earmarked for. City staff members noted that no actual steps toward selling bonds for the commit-ment have been taken, nor will they be taken until the li-brary is being built, since that will be when the city starts to accrue interest charges. However, due to the up-coming expiration of several grants and private match-ing commitments for the library, building this year is dependent upon city vot-ers’ approval of the April 23 $550,000 capital construc-tion bond. Otherwise, the lost grant funding will push library construction back by at least a few years.

Farm Bureau offers scholarships WHATCOM — The What-com County Farm Bureau is offering $3,000 in scholar-ships to qualified Whatcom County students. A minimum of $500 will be awarded to each winner. These are the eligibility requirements for applicants:

    •  High  school  senior  or planning to be a full-time col-lege, technical school or uni-versity undergraduate student in the 2013-14 school year.    •  A  Whatcom  County Farm Bureau member or the son, daughter, legal depen-dent or spouse of one, with membership dues paid prior to Oct. 1, 2012 and kept cur-rent through May 15, 2013.    •  Not  a  winner  of  this scholarship previously. A copy of the application form can be found at www.

wsfb.com. Go to Programs and Scholarships and scroll through the list of counties to Whatcom. Application must be com-pleted and returned by April 5, 2013 to: Whatcom Farm Bureau Scholarship Commit-tee, P.O. Box 703, Lynden WA 98264. The committee will re-view the applications and make final decisions by May 15, 2013. For more information, contact Leslie Honcoop,

Waste taxContinued from 1A

Whatcom County Farm Bu-reau Scholarship chairperson, at 354-1155 or [email protected].

County surface mining committee needs members BELLINGHAM — The Whatcom County Council seeks applicants for vacancies on the Surface Mining Advi-sory Committee. This committee reviews and recommends changes to the mineral resources section of Whatcom County Compre-hensive Plan Chapter 8 re-garding resource lands. This section is a guide for What-com County in land use deci-sions involving land with min-eral resources. Seven positions on the 11-member committee are vacant. Candidates must be one of the following: geolo-gist, ecologist, environmen-tal consultant, a person in the surface mining industry, a representative of potable groundwater supply, or some-one with knowledge of the for-estry industry. To gain a permit, a sur-face mining operation must be located on land designat-ed as mineral resource land. The Surface Mining Advisory Committee will consider a proposal to change the permit application process from an administrative approval use to a conditional-use permit that requires a public hearing. “The council is consid-ering substantive changes to our surface mining policies so that surface mining permit applicants and neighbors will have adequate information in the first stages of the permit process,” said council mem-ber Barbara Brenner. Also, the committee will help the Planning Depart-ment do a review and update of the Comprehensive Plan, development regulations and

urban growth areas. The plan update must be done by June 30, 2016, representing the county’s vision for the next 20 years. Applications should be submitted to the County Council office, 311 Grand Ave., Suite 105, Bellingham, WA 98225. Forms are available at the County Council office and on the county website at www.whatcomcounty.us/boards/boards.jsp. Vacancies will be filled as the council of-fice receives applications. For more information, contact Jill Nixon at 676-6690 or [email protected].

Appliance Depot takes old appliances BELLINGHAM — The Ap-pliance Depot offers free job site removal of old appliances to contractors working on laundry and kitchen remodel projects. The job training business is seeking washers, dryers, ranges, refrigerators and freezers to support its nonprofit mission of creating jobs from waste. “There’s a double benefit for remodel projects,” said ex-ecutive director Duane Jager. “By making one phone call, the contractor can avoid haul-ing expenses, and the home-owner can get a tax deduction for the donation.” The donated appliances provide work for Appliance Depot’s low-income clients who help run a business where appliances are tested, repaired, cleaned and sold to low-income households at about half the cost of new. Appliance donations are welcome regardless of con-dition, Jager said. Units that cannot be saved for reuse are stripped for parts and then re-cycled. A freon recycling fee is charged for fridges and freez-ers, but is refundable if the unit is saved for reuse. Contractors or home owners who want to donate

an appliance can call 527-2646 or bring it to 802 Marine Dr. between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Peace Arch Business Center opens CUSTER — The Peace Arch Business Center, located in the Windermere Real Estate Building at Interstate 5 Exit 270, opened its doors on Mon-day, March 4. Adjacent to the Birch Bay Square Shopping Center, the business center will offer a number of services including virtual and physical offices, reception, printing, event planning, meeting rooms, state-of-the-art telephone and Internet. It will also pro-vide a virtual business mall for those interested in promoting their business to a wide range of audiences. The public is invited to attend a grand opening on Thursday, March 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. To learn more, call Ka-trina at 366-8500 or visit www.peacearchbusinesscenter.com.