The City of Bellingham is imposing design rules for it’s downtown area. On Monday night, city council and several local architects discussed the idea. While one architect, Fred Wagner, worried that design rules would stifle creativity and make the approval process longer, fellow architect Dave Christensen endorsed them. Christensen feels that design rules will help to give Bellingham a more unified look and ensure good design.
Here are some of the design rules:
• Street-level commercial space along most blocks, with ceilings at least 12 feet high.
• Residences along other blocks to be raised above street level and have individual entrances.
• Windows along sidewalks, with some alternative options, and decoration or other visual elements for blank ground-floor walls near streets, parks and trails.
• Awnings covering at least four feet of sidewalk along most streets in the downtown core.
• Buildings along Whatcom Creek to be oriented to the creek.
• Decks, balconies and bay windows to project no more than four feet over sidewalks.
Rules courtesy of the Bellingham Herald.
For more information on Bellingham Real Estate or to search for homes in the Bellingham and Whatcom County area visit www.JohnsonTeamRealEstate.com, your one stop Bellingham real estate and community information resource!
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Don’t let your city take control of your ability to make design decisions for YOUR property. If you give the city an inch they will take a mile… this is purely a way for the city to make more $$$ off of property owners who have to pay fees to get design review approval. Not only is a design review board costly to property owners, but it makes any construction project take twice as long to get permit approval. I live in a community (Orinda, CA) which has a design review board. Originally we as citizens of Orinda were promised that the design review board would merely be in place to ensure continuity in the community and to keep a similar feel in the downtown area. When it was voted-in to have a design review board, no one knew what it would really mean. This means that every project proposed in this small city must undergo and tedious review committee approval process. It is a total and complete nightmare for those trying to make any changes to their home or business! It takes months to get approval and the design review board monitors everything from paint color to types of plants used for landscaping. They even dictate what color awnings a business can use for store fronts. They actually made an ice cream store take down their pink awning because it was too pink. If Bellingham agrees to a design review process it will be a disaster…no good can come from it except that Bellingham can collect more $$$ for the fees charged for the review process. CITIZENS BEWARE!