Wendy Harris, RECEIVED On behalf of Petitioners NOV 3 0 2007 3925 E. Connecticut Street Bellingham, WA 98226 City of Bellingham (360) 922-0442 Planning [email protected] Tim Stewart, Planning Director City of Bellingham Planning and Community Development Department 210 Lottie Street Bellingham, Wa, 98225 November 30, 2007 LETTER OF INTENT To Submit Neighborhood Plan Amendment Application For The "Complete" Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Pursuant to the provisions of BMC Sec. 20.20.020 B, and BMC Sec. 21.10.150 B(l )(b ), the below signed Silver Beach residents ("petitioners") request that the Bellingham Planning Director initiate the "complete" Silver Beach Neighborhood plan amendment, which is attached hereto as Attachment A. Petitioners request that the complete plan amendment be docketed concurrently with, and joined to, the "official" neighborhood plan amendment that was submitted by the Silver Beach Neighborhood Association ("SBNA"). Further, petitioners request that, pursuant to BMC Sec. 21. l 0.190 A, the Director waive normal submittal requirements for review of this application as such necessary information is contained in the application filed by the SBNA, rendering additional documentation duplicative. Finally, petitioners request that any relevant fees for this application be waived on the theory that the "complete" plan amendment is, in fact, the true result of the neighborhood plan review process required under BMC Sec. 20.20.070. This assertion is supported by the facts discussed below, and in the separate request for fee waiver submitted to your office by petitioners on November 16, 2007. THE "COMPLETE" SIL VER BEACH PLAN AMENDMENT IS THE PROPER PLAN AMENDMENT FOR THE PLANNING DIRECTOR TO INITIATE The "Complete" Plan Amendment Has Strong Support Within The Neighborhood Following An Inclusive Process Letter of Intent for "Complete" SB Plan Amendment 2 The history surrounding the creation of the "complete" plan amendment is set out, in relevant part, in pages I through 8, of a 128 page document entitled, "2007 Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Update Process." Said relevant pages are attached as Exhibit B. The complete document has been included in the plan amendment submitted by the SBNA and may also be found on the SBNA website, http://silverbeachneighbors. googlepages.com/silverbeachneighborhoodassociation. In late 2006, a group of Silver Beach residents met to re-establish the SBNA and work on a neighborhood plan amendment. Over the course of a year, the SBNA invited Silver Beach residents to participate in the plan amendment process. This invitation was made through signs posted through-out the neighborhood, announcements in the Bellingham Herald and local alternative newspapers, on several radio stations, through emails, by postal mail and via a website. (Exhibit B). The Silver Beach plan amendment was drafted by more than 20 different Silver Beach residents, many of whom had conflicting beliefs about the action items. ("Silver Beach Plan Authors", pages 125, 126 and 127 of the 2007 Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Update Process, attached as Exhibit C). In addition, 237 different people attended SBNA meetings between November, 2006 and September, 2007. These residents had the opportunity to provide in-put at various stages of the amendment process, and such in-put was actively solicited, reviewed and responded to by the Silver Beach plan amendment authors. This is reflected in Exhibit B, as well as the "SBNA September Open House Comments & Responses", and the "October & November 2007 Plan Comment & Responses", pages 9 through 51, and pages 111through124, of the 2007 Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Update Process, attached hereto as Exhibits D and E, respectively. In final draft, the "complete" Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Amendment, dated October 11, 2007, reflected approximately 5000 hours of research, consultations, community outreach, education on relevant issues, drafting and revisions. In sum, the "complete" plan amendment complied with the requirements for updating a neighborhood plan under BMC Sec. 20.20.070, as documented in Exhibits B, C, D and E. In contrast, the "official" Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Amendment submitted by SBNA reflects only a small portion of the "complete" plan amendment action items. This discrepancy is the result of a policy adopted by the Board of Directors of the newly established SBNA. Under this policy, only those plan amendment action items approved by a majority vote of Silver Beach residents would be forwarded to the Planning Director for initiation. This policy was premised on the narve assumption that neighborhood residents would engage in the plan amendment process in good faith. On October 11, 2007, a neighborhood vote was held on the "complete" Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Amendment, which contained 128 action items. 191 residents attended the meeting and voted on the plan. 114 of these residents had never before attended a single prior SBNA meeting, claiming instead that they had not been provided notice of the on-going plan amendment process. This claim is clearly refuted by Letter of Intent for "Complete" SB Plan Amendment 3 evidence in Exhibit B, which establishes that Silver Beach residents were provided with actual and constructive knowledge of the plan amendment process. Unfortunately, because these 114 residents represented more than 50% of the residents voting on the "complete" plan amendment, the majority of action items were defeated based on false and frivolous arguments. The true agenda of at least 3 9 of these residents is revealed through the fact that they voted against every single action item in the "complete" plan amendment. Some of the defeated action items attempted to prevent chemical contaminants from entering the lake; encourage public donations of land within the watershed for protection; provide educational programs and materials to those who live in or visit the watershed or boat on the lake, and enforce existing rules for the watershed. The SBNA Board of Directors felt duty bound to adhere to its policy of forwarding for initiation only action items with a majority vote. Thus, they were rendered powerless in preventing a minority of Silver Beach residents, who failed to actually participate in the neighborhood plan amendment process, from sabotaging the majority of action items drafted by those residents who donated thousands of hours of work, and months of their time, to draft the "complete" plan amendment. The "official" plan amendment is "official" in name only. The "official" plan amendment reflects the efforts of a small minority of Silver Beach residents who choose to derail the entire neighborhood plan amendment process as the quickest and simplest method to prevent initiation of action items they did support. Such conduct is not in the spirit of the neighborhood plan amendment process and, if not prevented in the future, could cripple the entire neighborhood planning program. These facts indicate that only the "complete" Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan Amendment represents a consensus among those Silver Beach residents who choose to participate in an inclusive neighborhood plan amendment process, i.e., to collaborate, communicate, and compromise with fellow residents on issues they deemed most crucial for the neighborhood. Accordingly, the "complete" plan amendment reflects the true result of a neighborhood association operating pursuant to the requirements of BMC Sec. 20.20.070. Under these facts, it is appropriate for the Planning Director to initiate the "complete" plan amendment being submitted herein by petitioners. The "Complete" Plan Amendment Is Consistent With Bellingham's Comprehensive Plan The existing Silver Beach Neighborhood Plan pre-dates enactment of Bellingham' s Comprehensive Plan, and thus, fails to conform to its provisions. The "complete" plan amendment submitted herein was drafted with reference to the comprehensive plan, as reflected in its basic outline, which mirrors the basic structure of the comprehensive plan. Letter of Intent for "Complete" SB Plan Amendment 4 In particular, the "complete" plan amendment conforms to the framework goal set out in the comprehensive plan with regard to Lake Whatcom Reservoir. The "complete" plan amendment attempts to protect the quality of the water in the Lake Whatcom Reservoir to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Lake as a water reservoir, and to reduce any harmful development potential in the watershed. (See Bellingham Comprehensive Plan, Chapter I, Part 5, page F-13.) One of the primary goals of the "complete" plan amendment is to ensure that the public is educated regarding Bellingham's comprehensive plan watershed goals and that the policies already established within the watershed are enforced. In addition, the "complete" plan amendment is in conformity with the policies established through the Washington State Growth Management Act, Lake Whatcom Reservoir Ordinance, Revised (BMC Sec. 16.80), the Joint Lake Whatcom Watershed Agreement, the Lake Whatcom Management Program, and Bellingham's Lake Whatcom Watershed Property Acquisition Program. In sum, the "complete" plan amendment seeks to promote, at the most local level, the neighborhood level, the Lake Whatcom Reservoir goals that already exist at the state, county and city level. The "Complete" Plan Amendment Does Not Significantly Reduce the Number of Housing Units in Silver Beach The "complete" plan amendment acknowledges that there are about 86 empty single family lots available for