City of Bellingham - Bans stores over 90,000 Sqft.
The Bellingham City Council on Monday voted for a permanent ban on new big box stores and imposed strict regulations on the design of smaller ones.
The move effectively ends nearly five months of debate over how the city should handle large retailers, which, some people say, hurt the local economy with poorly paying jobs and the environment by encouraging traffic and sprawl.
The council approved by a 4-2 vote, with councilors John Watts and Bob Ryan opposed, a ban on all new 90,000-square-foot-or-larger stores and regulations that direct the way 60,000-square-foot-or-larger stores are designed. Design restrictions include ensuring only up to half the parking can be between the street and store front and making sure the building doesn’t include long, unbroken exterior walls, among other requirements.
The rules don’t get rid of existing stores larger than 90,000 square feet, but they forbid construction of new stores or existing ones at the limit from expanding.
“We’re at a point in time where we can’t continue to move forward with business as usual in how we do planning and how we do growth,” Councilor Terry Bornemann said. “We only need to look south to see one possibility of the future and is that what we want?”
“I think the people moving here — they love Bellingham and not Anyplace, USA,” he added.
The council on Sept. 11 passed a temporary ban on new big box retailers after it discovered Wal-Mart intended to expand its Meridian Street store into a superstore, with a full grocery selection. Wal-Mart has since said it won’t seek to expand that store and will instead try to build a superstore outside of Bellingham.
The city’s Planning Commission, facing several proposals for handling big box retailers, in mid-December voted to allow the temporary ban to lapse on March 11 while it studied the issue before making a recommendation to the council.
The council had to vote on Monday for any changes to take effect before the ban lapses. It will have to take a final vote again next Monday before the ordinance can become law.
The city currently receives about 12 percent of its tax income, or $3.5 million, from stores larger than 90,000 square feet, according to a staff report. Examples include Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Target, K-Mart, Fred Meyer and Costco, to name a few.
The city gets about 14 percent of its receipts, or $14.2 million, from stores larger than 60,000 square feet. Examples include JCPenny, Haggen, Cost Cutter, Kohl’s and Sears.
Bob Ryan, the council’s new president, voted against it because he didn’t feel it was the government’s role to interfere with how private enterprise conducts business. John Watts voted against it as well because the city hasn’t had the time to fully explore how to handle big box retailers.
I can understand why the city council wants to try and preserve Bellingham unique small town character, but I'm not sure this is the right direction to go with securing it. Via Bellingham Herald