Opinion - Letters to the Editor

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008

Says port is wrong on waterfront planning

I believe the Port of Bellingham has wasted five years and $2 million developing a plan inferior to the Blethen/Christensen plan presented at the end of the Waterfront Futures Group meetings in 2004.

Nearly everything the port has proposed for the waterfront has been contrary to what the public wants and deserves. This includes: 20 story buildings, minimal green spaces, three-and-a-half times the build-out the city needs or wants, no waterfront setbacks, too many bridges, millions of yards of fill, a system based on automobiles, and the demolition of historic buildings. In the meantime, they have spent millions more trying to force their plan on the public.

The city of Bellingham, on the other hand, under the leadership of Mayor Dan Pike, has listened to citizens and experts and, not surprisingly, come to a different conclusion. This is not a case where two sides should meet in the middle. A better question is why let the port, an organization, which I believe has shown five years of arrogance and ignorance, continue to lead the redevelopment?

After being involved with this project since its inception, I can promise you that if the port continues to lead the redevelopment of Bellingham's waterfront it will never reach its full potential.

Rick Black

Bellingham