Here in Whatcom County there's a debate brewing over the best ways to solve Bellingham affordable housing issues in order for more and more people to become homeowners. I’m very happy to see the city and county taking on this difficult issue. Home ownership should be more affordable for most and I hope the two entities come up with a workable plan for all.
The city of Bellingham and Whatcom County should study the discussions going on just south of us in Snohomish and King County before they make any final recommendations or decisions. There seems to be a big debate over the quality of life with these smaller lot subdivisions and safety issues as well with getting emergency vehicles onto tight roads.
An article at the HeraldNet, a service of Everett, Washington's Herald newspaper, referred to the tiny lot subdivisions as "Air Condo Lots''. They refer to them down their "air condos", because there is very little room to move on these lots after the house is built. The article by the Herald is called "Tiny lots, big frustration." The biggest problem that came up was the access of fire and emergency vehicles into neighborhoods with tight streets and compounded with cars parked along the street. Then when the emergency personnel get to the homes, it’s almost impossible to gain access through a side window between two homes.
The fixes might be as simple as putting upper windows in the front and back of new homes where fire ladders can reach them. Narrow fire lane roads might have "No Parking" signs posted. How are the cities going to address concerns about guest parking, aesthetic issues and other things that surely will come up in the on going debates?
Critics maintain that the private roads are too narrow for firefighting equipment, the subdivisions lack sidewalks and parking, there's not enough space between homes, and the developments are built without aesthetic considerations such as trees.
New Snohomish County rules are being drafted to fix what some people are calling dangerous, dense and unattractive neighborhoods. In January, Snohomish County officials plan to unveil design standards for so-called "air condos." They are mostly single-family homes in developments where a homeowners association maintains roads and other public areas instead of the government.
What would be my suggestions to the Bellingham and Whatcom County: Please don't allow these huge homes built on postage stamp lots where the potential for overcrowding in one area will be a burden on the neighborhood, surrounding neighborhoods and emergency services that will require access to these homes. Over crowding, eventually leads to over parking, which also brings down property values.
The city of Bellingham and Whatcom County need to be very careful that today’s affordable housing doesn’t become the futures slums undesirable neighborhood. Why on earth would I say that? Because if you build a development where all you have is house and no yard, it’s not something that’s attractive. When your neighbors windows are literally feet within your home on several sides, how can that be desirable.
In my humble opinion, looking at projects from the past, people begin to abuse the CCR’s with over parking of cars and recreation vehicles. The upkeep of homes and yards start to degrade when people are unhappy with where they live. That’s why the planning of these communities is crucial to avoid a downward spiral in the quality of life in tiny lot subdivisions.
There is a lot for the city and county to think about, I'm hoping that they consider every aspect of this very difficult proposition before making any final decisions. In the end, we need affordable housing, but we need to be smart about this. We need to be able to have vision and foresight to consider not just each subdivision proposed, but how these decisions will affect entire neighborhoods in general for all of Bellingham, Washington.