Neighborhood planning in Whatcom Falls

On March 8, the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood Association held a meeting at Moles Funeral Home to discuss the process of updating the neighborhood plan. The meeting featured three guest speakers from the city: Mayor Dan Pike, Neighborhood Coordinator Linda Stewart and Nicole Oliver, communication coordinator for the Planning and Community Development Department.

Pike congratulated the Whatcom Falls neighborhood for organizing a neighborhood association because it empowers residents to take charge of where they live. He added that promoting the WFNA will lead to positive changes in both the neighborhood as well as the greater Bellingham community.

Oliver explained that updating the plan provides a great opportunity for residents to address specific improvements they would like to see in their neighborhood. She said that once the WNFA submits a new version of the neighborhood plan to the city, the document would help guide funding for projects that will benefit both neighborhood residents and visitors.

Addressing resident interests in the neighborhood plan

Iain Davidson, president of the WFNA, said demand is strong for a crosswalk on Electric Avenue for pedestrians to use when walking between Whatcom Falls Park and the neighborhood’s commercial district. Lakeway Drive is still without a continuous bike lane, even though the current neighborhood plan recommends one be installed, Davidson said.

Crosswalks are not addressed at all in the current neighborhood plan, but the desired crosswalk on Electric Avenue was discussed during the WFNA meeting. Pike explained that Bellingham used to provide funding for neighborhood transportation improvements, which the Whatcom Falls neighborhood could have used to finance the crosswalk. Budget constraints forced the program to shut down, but Pike said that some sales tax revenue would be funneled to transportation-specific improvements. Some of that money could be used to construct enhanced crosswalks, he said.

Bellingham has installed several enhanced crosswalks, which add reflective signs and pedestrian-activated flashing lights to the white lines on the road.

“Regular crosswalks I have mixed feelings about because they give people a perception of safety, but drivers don’t always pay attention to them,” Pike said. “But the enhanced crosswalks people do [pay attention], because they don’t know when the lights are going to flash.”

He added that an enhanced crosswalk would be ideal for Electric Avenue because of the number of children in the area.

“If you plan your transportation system to accommodate the very young and the very old, it will work for everybody,” Pike said.

Stewart announced that the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission meeting on April 20 would focus on how neighborhoods can prioritize transportation safety needs. Representatives from neighborhood associations could communicate interests and concerns to Pike or Stewart directly at the MNAC meetings, according to Stewart.

Pike announced that he would like to set up a system where neighborhood residents identify areas that need improvements, because they often know their community better than outside planners. He added that even with the extra revenue from the sales tax, the strained city budget might still prevent improvement projects.

Role of the WFNA in the updating process

Even though funding may be uncertain, Oliver mentioned that it is never too early to start planning.

“This is a great time to plan for when things pick up again and we have more capital again to do improvements,” Oliver said. She added that when, for example, a large development occurs in one area of the neighborhood, the neighborhood plan is updated by the city to reflect the impact on the land near that development.

Problems arise when these changes conflict with the overall vision of the neighborhood or ignore specific interests of residents, Oliver said.

“All the descriptions of the connections that you want to see, for roads that you want to have built or sidewalk facilities [and] pedestrian facilities like crosswalks [are not updated],” Oliver said. By explaining specific desires in the neighborhood plan, residents can gain more control over their community, she said.

Oliver remarked that changes to the neighborhood plan can be submitted once a year to the city and the deadline is Dec. 1. She clarified that the deadline might change soon, but she promised to send a notification to the MNAC and the neighborhood associations regarding the new deadline.

Davidson asked Oliver how the WFNA could assist with updating the neighborhood plan.

“I would get some volunteers and assign people chapters to look at,” Oliver said. “There’s a lot of factual stuff that’s outdated in [the neighborhood] plan.”

Davidson asked if anyone was willing to read through the plan and remove obsolete passages. One resident volunteered to lead the project.

 Oliver recommended looking at key issues such as how residents want to regulate the ways streets are connected during development. Oliver noted she has seen neighborhood plans where descriptions explain exactly where and how certain roads will meet.

Oliver said that regarding road improvements, nothing is built until the project is added to the Transportation Improvement Program. She admitted that she has heard about the need for a crosswalk on Electric Avenue for several years. Residents have to be persistent about projects and a great way to show their commitment to the crosswalk would be to add it to the neighborhood plan, Oliver said.

Promoting the WFNA

Stewart remarked that the WFNA could send a message to the city by updating the neighborhood plan and proving that the association represents a diversity of residents.

“What the city is going to want to see is a demonstration of broad consent and approval and agreement about your safety priorities,” she said. “It’s so important to keep getting people to the [WFNA] meetings and increasing your membership [and demonstrating that] ‘we agree on these priorities.’”

Steve Williamson, a WFNA board member, asked Oliver for ideas about how to promote the meetings and attract more members to the association. She replied that parties and potlucks are great ways to encourage people, especially families, to show up and become involved.

“[People] are much more likely to come to a potluck with a meeting attached to it than just a meeting,” Oliver said.

Pike suggested holding a block party the first Tuesday in August, which is the National Night Out Against Crime. The event could be an opportunity to focus attention on the WFNA and encourage residents to become involved, Pike said.

“You can have sign-up sheets for things people are interested in,” Oliver said. Making the sheets the size of posters would draw more people to them, she said.

Residents also discussed making more signs to advertise the WFNA meetings. Currently, only five are set up around the neighborhood before the meetings. One resident said he might be able to make an additional five signs to further advertise the WFNA meetings.

Stewart said in an interview that Bellingham is unique because the city invites neighborhoods to contribute to the annual comprehensive plan update for the entire city. Being involved in the WFNA is a great way for residents to maintain or change their community, she said.

About 20 residents attended the March 8 meeting, which Stewart said is a great turnout for a new neighborhood association.

“People accepting responsibility for bringing other people to the meetings or getting the word out about the meetings is exactly what needs to happen,” she said.

Identifying goals for the neighborhood and organizing residents to achieve those goals is one of the key functions of neighborhood associations, Stewart added.

At the WFNA meeting, Stewart explained that turnout at other neighborhood association meetings increases dramatically when there is a contentious issue on the agenda. The fact that residents attended the WFNA to hear about neighborhood planning is very significant.

            “You have the opportunity to get people interested in your neighborhood association just because they are interested in the neighborhood,” Stewart said. “Your [discussions about] traffic safety or other things people are interested in, that’s where you’re going to get people to show up.”

Traffic issues in Whatcom Falls neighborhood

Residents of the Whatcom Falls neighborhood are seeking improvements for Lakeway Drive and Electric Avenue, which they say are needed to make the streets safer.

Some residents say Electric Avenue needs a crosswalk to provide better access to the neighborhood’s commercial district, Whatcom Falls Park and a bus stop. Helen Rondestvedt, a resident of the neighborhood, described in an e-mail how pedestrians have to hastily cross the road, because it is a high-traffic street. Some of her elderly friends have a hard time hurrying to the other side to catch a bus downtown.

Bill Coberly is a letter carrier who explained some of the problems he sees on Electric Avenue. He agreed the street needs a crosswalk to improve safety, but also said the road should have curbs and sidewalks. During the summer months, many people travel to Whatcom Falls Park and Bloedel Donovan Park and the parking lots fill up, he said. When that happens, most drivers pull off to the side of the road.

            “Sometimes the cars block driveways and mailboxes,” Coberly said. He added that because there is no curb, it is difficult to control where drivers park vehicles.

            Iain Davidson, the president of the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood Association, said that without sidewalks, people instead walk on the edge of the pavement near the white line. Many pedestrians move between Whatcom Falls Park and Bloedel Donovan Park via Electric Avenue. Sometimes they walk in the traffic lanes, especially in the summer when parked cars block the shoulder. Installing proper curbs and sidewalks would deter drivers from parking on Electric Avenue and provide pedestrians a safer alternative to walking in the street, he said.

Bellingham Transportation Planner Chris Comeau said that he has looked at installing some crosswalks along Electric Avenue, but the project depends on funding and other factors. He said constructing a sidewalk between the Whatcom Falls Park and Bloedel Donovan Park would require a lot of funding.

“Regarding the sidewalk along Electric...it’s essentially a one-mile long stretch of roadway and putting curb, gutter and sidewalk along there would be very expensive,” Comeau said. He added that the project would take a lot of planning, but the city might work on it in the future.

Davidson said enhancing shared use (pedestrian and cyclist as well as driver use) of roads would increase safety for both drivers and cyclists. One of his top traffic concerns is the absence of a bike lane on Lakeway Drive, which many commuters use to access the neighborhood.

            In 1978, a report titled “Bicycle Facilities Planning” was compiled for the Bellingham Office of Planning and Community Development. The report detailed a five-year plan and a 25-year plan regarding developments for cyclists. The Whatcom Falls neighborhood plan cited the report in a section that discusses putting a bike lane on Lakeway Drive. Although the city has not yet added the bike lane, signs indicating cyclists may be on the roadway have been installed.

            The City of Bellingham adopted the 2011 Transportation Improvement Program, which details all traffic improvement projects and funding for the next six years. Unfortunately for the residents of Whatcom Falls, no projects are included on the 2011 TIP for the neighborhood. Although funding and space on the TIP program is limited, projects can be added when the plan is updated each year on July 1, according to the TIP webpage on the City of Bellingham website.

            Davidson said the wait for traffic improvements will likely be a long one. In the meantime, the WFNA is working with the city to update the neighborhood plan, which could help prioritize specific TIP projects.

Mailbox security

Some mailboxes in Whatcom Falls neighborhood in Bellingham, Wash. have suffered damage in recent weeks. Board members and neighborhood residents who attend the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood Association discussed the ongoing issue at their meeting on Feb. 8.

President of the WFNA, Iain Davidson reported that a few mailboxes, which  had been taken from their mounts were still lying in the road.

            “I saw three mailboxes just sitting in the median way for weeks,” Davidson said. “I don’t know where they came from.”

            Rick Sawyer, a board member of the WFNA, expressed similar concern for mailboxes around his home.

            “We continue to have mailbox problems in our neighborhood,” Sawyer said. “Somebody’s breaking them off and, I presume, moving them around since I keep seeing them in different places now.”

            Residents at the meeting shared their interest in starting a neighborhood watch program for Silverbeach Road. The street allows access to one of the parking lots and the fish hatchery at Whatcom Falls Park. At least two neighborhood watches already exist in the Whatcom Falls neighborhood for Blackberry Lane and Alvarado Drive. Residents discussed that installing neighborhood watch signs would help deter thieves and vandals.

            Sawyer elaborated on the issues with vandalized mailboxes in an e-mail regarding both past incidences and those incidents that occurred recently.

            “In each case many boxes were damaged either by being ‘crushed’ (hit with a bat, perhaps) or snapped off their posts or posts knocked out of the ground,” Sawyer wrote.

            At the WFNA meeting, residents discussed possible action that could be performed in response to the mailbox damage. Davidson mentioned that Sawyer had taken the initiative and came up with one possible solution to mailbox vandalism.

            “Rick did a good job of getting our cul-de-sac people together and buying a lockable mailbox,” Davidson said.

            The large, multi-unit mailbox is shared by the homes in the cul-de-sac and the cost of the box was split evenly among the users, who each paid about $100. Sawyer researched mailbox designs, ordered the correct size for his street and, with the help of neighbors, poured a concrete slab and mounted the heavy-duty box in place.

Sawyer explained that post office was accommodating while he and his neighbors removed their old mailboxes and installed the new one.

“You have to buy an approved box,” Sawyer said. “You have to mount it in accordance with [the post office’s] location specifications, but all that stuff is very easy to get. The post office was quite cooperative with us including agreeing to hold mail [during the project].”  The new mailbox has not been damaged or vandalized.

            Sawyer mentioned in his e-mail that he also assisted another neighbor with a different mailbox issue.

            “I also have installed an individual locking box for another neighbor who was not able to be a part of the ‘group’ installation because of location, but whose box had been opened by an individual going through boxes on Clearbrook [Drive],” he wrote. “Police were called on this incident but the suspicious individual had left the area before the police arrived.”

            Officer Katrin Dearborn of the Bellingham Police noted that mailbox vandalism is a common crime Bellingham. Residents should invest in mailboxes that lock because of the possibility of identity theft. Some people may not want to pay for a lockable mailbox, but it is a worthwhile investment that will keep the mail and identities of residents safer, Dearborn said.

Crime rate consistent in Whatcom Falls Park

The crime rate in Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham, Wash. has remained steady based on police reports from the last four years. Katrin Dearborn is a Bellingham Police officer who reported that of the 309 calls officers responded to in the Whatcom Falls neighborhood last year, only 22 were inside the Whatcom Falls Park boundaries.

Leah Dutton lives near Lake Padden and has come to the park five times this year. She said she likes the off-leash area for her dog and her children enjoy the renovated play structures. Dutton voiced concern about the presence of transients in Whatcom Falls Park.

“I’ve seen homeless people bathing in the creek,” Dutton said. “That would make me probably not want to go on the trails by myself, unless there was a lot of other people around the park.”

            According to Dearborn, a litter compliance officer often contacts transients in Whatcom Falls Park and in other parks throughout the city.

            “One of the [litter compliance officer’s] jobs is to clean up the homeless camps on city property,” Dearborn said. If unoccupied camps are discovered, the officer leaves a notice informing the transients that they need to move their belongings. Whatever is not removed by the specified time is hauled away by the officer, Dearborn said.

            Usually after the litter compliance officer contacts transients they move to another area. For this reason, Dearborn said, the job is ongoing.

            Some visitors to the park noted other issues besides the presence of transients. Ene Lewis lives across the street from Whatcom Falls Park and visited it nearly every day when bald eagles were nesting in the trees. Even though there are currently no active nests, Lewis still comes to the park frequently. She enjoys walking the trails and has a studio downtown. Sometimes she takes a trail through the park and strolls all the way to her studio. Lewis said she is not been aware of any major crimes or issues in the park.

            “The worst I’ve ever seen was a defaced restroom and that was years ago,” Lewis said.

            Dearborn mentioned that most of the crimes committed in Whatcom Falls Park are liquor law violations, graffiti and car prowling. Those particular crimes are fairly common in most parks in Bellingham, she said.

            “A good portion [of crimes] are the liquor law violations,” Dearborn said. “[They are] either transient or underage people going into the park to drink after hours.” She added that the Bellingham Police enforce the 10 p.m. closure of all city parks.

            If an area is targeted repeatedly, officers do go undercover to increase security. Dearborn explained this occurred in one instance at Lake Padden.

            “We had a rash of cars getting broken into,” Dearborn said, “We put people out there undercover just to make sure. The patrol officers went there more often to deter [crime].”

            The Bellingham Police have never needed to station undercover officers at Whatcom Falls Park. Officers who are on night patrol will drive through the park after hours and contact individuals as they see them, Dearborn said.

            Whatcom Falls Park continues to attract new visitors, despite occasional criminal activity. Roger Bare came up from Marysville, Wash. to hike the trails and observe the creek and scenery.

            “The trails are nicely groomed,” Bare said. “The stone bridge over the falls is beautiful.” He added that being able to ride mountain bikes in the park was a real privilege, because most parks do not allow that activity where he lives.

            Dearborn said Whatcom Falls Park and the entire Whatcom Falls neighborhood are wonderful. The people who live in the neighborhood are fortunate in many respects, she said.

            “They really don’t have that much crime compared to some other neighborhoods,” Dearborn said. 

Go nuts for doughnuts

A small local doughnut shop called Lafeen’s received recognition in a book that compiles a variety of recipes from local businesses in Bellingham, Wash. Lafeen’s has been serving customers for more than 25 years from its location across the street from Whatcom Falls Park in the Whatcom Falls neighborhood.

Steven Siler is a local author and firefighter who published the book “Signature Tastes of Bellingham” in October of last year. According to an article in Publishers Weekly, the book was one of the three holiday bestsellers at Village Books, another local Bellingham business.

Despite the economic recession, Lafeen’s continues to thrive with a steady stream of regular customers as well as newcomers who arrive to satisfy their sugar or caffeine cravings. Justin Born has been working at Lafeen’s for 18 months and he said business is better than ever now that the shop has free refills for coffee and free Wi-Fi.

Although Lafeen’s gained exposure in “Signature Tastes of Bellingham,” Born maintained that most people learn about the shop by word of mouth.

“We’re the oldest doughnut shop in Bellingham,” Born said. “We don’t even really advertise…I’d definitely say we’re a landmark because we’re the only Lafeen’s.”

Born said the shop sees fewer customers in the winter, but business improves during the warmer months, especially because of the shop’s proximity to parks. Although Lafeen’s is closer to Whatcom Falls Park, Bloedel Donovan Park is a popular place to go in the summer and people often stop for doughnuts on their way to or from that park, Born said.

“We also get a whole lot of mountain bikers coming in because we’re actually at the bottom of Galbraith [Mountain],” Born said.

Many customers stop in as they are driving by. Karen Jensen, a regular customer at Lafeen’s, moved to the Bellingham area from Marysville, Wash. She often visits the shop on her way to town.

“Lafeen’s has the best doughnuts in town,” Jensen said.

Another customer who frequents the shop is John Moore. He said he has fond memories of bringing his granddaughters to Lafeen’s. Moore used to come in once a week by bus, but he said he drives now because of his age.

According to Born, the shop sells mostly dessert items in addition to doughnuts and ice cream. Brownies, muffins and turnovers are also available at Lafeen’s. The baked goods are made fresh from scratch daily and the leftovers are donated.

“We never sell a day-old doughnut,” Born said. “We donate the day-olds to the senior center every day.”

A large thank-you note from the senior center is tacked on a wall of the shop, along with “Lafeen’s Love Boxes.” These are small boxes for doughnuts that are flattened and decorated with markers by children, Born said.

According to Born, the Lafeen family founded Lafeen’s 27 years ago. Mr. Lafeen was a cabinetmaker and built all of the interior walls, cabinets and counters. Born said that the owner of the shop, Chan Bun Samuth, has been approached by remodeling companies to see if he would like to change the counters to stainless steel from the current Formica. The answer to such suggestions is always no.

“We haven’t modernized our whole shop,” Born said. “This is the local feel we’ve got, the local vibe we want to give.”

Another advantage Born mentioned to the classic look of Lafeen’s is some customers remember coming to the shop as children and now they are grown up and the store is just the same.

“We get more familiar faces coming through here than we get more first-timers,” Born said.