Common Threads NW received a copy of the email sent to the Whatcom County Council from Perry Eskridge, of the Land Use Caucus, a member of the Planning Unit which has been tasked to complete an updated water planning report by February of 2019. The letter sent to the Council clearly questions the tactics used and failure of the Council …
Nov. 28, 2018 Planning Unit Meeting: Update for Whatcom County’s Water Planning Saga Continues
The group tasked with assuring that locals have a say over water rights in Whatcom County is refusing to change fees, daily usage and metering requirements for new rural well owners. On Nov. 28, the Planning Unit for WRIA1 – the Water Resource Inventory Area designated by state law that includes the Nooksack River basin and Lake Whatcom – passed …
Whatcom Well Owners Voice Concern Over Latest WRIA1 Plan Outline
Private well owners in Whatcom County say they are concerned over proposed fees, withdrawal caps, metering and vague definitions in the County’s WRIA 1 watershed management planning process. The Planning Unit (a citizen based group formed by state statute) is working on an update to the WRIA 1 Watershed Management Plan, as mandated by the legislature’s passage of ESSB 6091 …
Whatcom County Council Continues Search to Legally Restrict Growth at Cherry Point
Whatcom County Council members continue to tweak their proposed new rules adding more hurdles to future growth for industries at Cherry Point. During their Special Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday Sept. 11, 2018, council members resumed discussion of preliminary draft Comprehensive Plan and zoning amendments that would affect Cherry Point. Planning and Development Services staff member Matt Aamot …
Another Interim Moratorium for Cherry Point Industries
For a fifth time the Whatcom County Council has extended a moratorium on new or expanded fossil fuel facilities in the Cherry Point Urban Growth Area. New projects for shipping unrefined fossil fuels will continue to be banned for another 6 months until new permanent zoning laws are written. An ordinance imposing this latest moratorium was adopted Wednesday, August 8th, …