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.”
