Whatcom County  
Council Committee of the Whole  
COUNTY COURTHOUSE  
311 Grand Avenue, Ste #105  
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038  
(360) 778-5010  
Committee Minutes - Draft Minutes  
Tuesday, June 9, 2026  
2:30 PM  
Hybrid Meeting - Council Chambers  
HYBRID MEETING - MAY BEGIN EARLY/LATE - ADJOURNS BY 4:30 P.M.  
(PARTICIPATE IN-PERSON, SEE REMOTE JOIN INSTRUCTIONS AT  
www.whatcomcounty.us/joinvirtualcouncil, OR CALL 360.778.5010)  
COUNCILMEMBERS  
Elizabeth Boyle  
Barry Buchanan  
Ben Elenbaas  
Kaylee Galloway  
Jessica Rienstra  
Jon Scanlon  
Mark Stremler  
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL  
Cathy Halka, AICP, CMC  
Call To Order  
Roll Call  
Council Chair Kaylee Galloway called the meeting to order at 2:31 p.m. in a  
hybrid meeting.  
7 -  
Present:  
Elizabeth Boyle, Barry Buchanan, Ben Elenbaas, Kaylee Galloway, Jessica  
Rienstra, Jon Scanlon, and Mark Stremler  
Announcements  
Committee Discussion (Comprehensive Plan)  
AB2026-453  
1.  
Discussion and preliminary Council direction on a draft ordinance adopting  
amendments relating to the 2025 Comprehensive Plan update and Urban Growth  
Area review, including discussion of proposed findings of fact  
Matt Aamot, Planning and Development Services Department, introduced  
the discussion and highlighted some of the changes to the draft findings  
which were sent to Council on June 5th, compared to the Planning  
Commission findings from January. He stated this is by no means an  
exhaustive list of changes.  
Councilmembers and Aamot discussed the following two properties in  
regard to zoning/rezoning:  
·
·
The Caitac property  
The Strider property  
Aamot spoke about the City of Bellingham’s proposal and answered if this  
ordinance would change the Caitac property. He stated it would not change  
the zoning but would add it to the UGA, then a companion ordinance would  
change the zoning to higher density. This ordinance reflects the Bellingham  
proposal, which is to expand the UGA to encompass what is in the UGA  
reserve right now.  
Darcy Jones spoke about the Caitac property and that they wrote a couple  
emails related to and including suggested draft language for Chapter 8  
Resource Lands. They want to make sure that the property is not  
recategorized as resource agriculture land in the future, wherein they would  
be subject to the Conservation Futures Fund or density transfer program. It  
is a preventative measure on their part to ensure that this land is kept open  
and ready for development. He stated what they are asking for is also  
consistent with the response he got from County Planning staff, and he  
answered what he ran by them regarding policy 8A-15.  
Aamot clarified that the areas designated right now as rural are not  
designated ag lands of long-term commercial significance, so the  
mitigation policy that applies to Nooksack and Sumas would not apply to  
these properties at this time.  
Councilmembers and Aamot discussed the Strider property and the  
concerns outlined in a letter sent to Council (on file), and the following  
additional people spoke:  
·
·
Chris Behee, City of Bellingham  
Mark Personius, Planning and Development Services Department  
Director  
Councilmembers and the speakers discussed what notification looks like  
for people who own property in the light impact industrial (LII) area where  
Bellingham is proposing taking property out of the UGA and how the  
proposal would affect businesses in that area, Bellingham’s rationale for  
their proposal, how much more potential there is for housing development  
if that area changes to Rural (R10A) and the desire to avoid a clash between  
housing and existing industry, if there is a path for Bellingham to take it  
from UGA to UGA reserve but retain LLI zoning and that the County would  
need to consult with legal counsel about that, if they would be walking into a  
taking situation if Strider can demonstrate a loss due to a rezone, how this  
would be consistent with the vision of the county executive to find more  
industry-ready lands and where they are replacing industrial lands if some  
are removed, and a potential motion to add a study to the already-docketed  
UGA reserve study to look at the potential for industrial lands in UGA  
reserves.  
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.  
AB2026-426  
2.  
Discussion and preliminary Council direction on a draft ordinance amending  
development regulations in Whatcom County Code Title 20 to coordinate with the  
comprehensive plan periodic update  
Maddie Schacht, Planning and Development Services Department, read  
from a presentation (on file) about the proposed zoning code amendments.  
She stated the amendments are either to address changes in State law or to  
ensure internal consistency between the pending updated goals and policies  
of the Comprehensive Plan and Whatcom County development regulations.  
She discussed with councilmembers the new State law (House Bill 2269)  
which specifically requires public sewer service for middle housing zoning  
in Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development (LAMIRDs) and the  
impact that might have.  
Mark Personius, Planning and Development Services Department Director,  
answered why the Legislature decided to make a distinction between rural  
and non-rural counties when they made the new requirements, and stated it  
was a one-size-fits-all statutory change and focused on some counties in  
eastern Washington. He stated it definitely hurt us. The Planning Directors  
Association has been and will continue to lobby to get that rule changed (at  
least for Whatcom County).  
Galloway asked if inclusive language has been incorporated in this update as  
per Resolution 2023-019 passed by the Council in 2023, and Schacht stated  
they can look into it.  
Cathy Halka, Clerk of the Council, stated Council staff can do a preliminary  
look at that code section, compare it to the resolution edits, and make sure  
they have caught everything.  
Galloway moved to direct council staff to incorporate the edits identified  
in Resolution 2023-019 to address inclusion in Title 20, in consultation  
with PDS staff.  
The motion was seconded by Boyle.  
The motion carried by the following vote:  
Aye: 7 - Boyle, Buchanan, Elenbaas, Galloway, Rienstra, Scanlon, and  
Stremler  
Nay: 0  
Councilmembers and the speakers discussed parking amendments, that staff  
will be bringing more to Council in the fall but today’s amendments are just  
parking requirements they are required to adopt concurrent with the  
Comprehensive Plan, parking mandates related to childcare centers and  
major transit stops, the updated definition of essential public facilities  
because there were updates to the State law, that the County’s definition did  
not encompass something that looks like a civil detention facility in its  
definition, and that pipeline definitions were just moved to the correct  
location in the code.  
This agenda item was DISCUSSED AND MOTION(S) APPROVED.  
Motion approved to direct council staff to incorporate the edits identified in Resolution 2023-019 to address inclusion  
in Title 20, in consultation with PDS staff.  
AB2026-249  
Discussion regarding schedule for Council review of the comprehensive plan update  
3.  
Galloway read from the proposed schedule (on file) and stated they are on  
track for introduction on the 23rd of June and a public hearing and final  
action on July 14th.  
Kiana Oos, Council Office Staff, stated it might make sense to schedule all  
the chapters for the June 16 Special Committee of the Whole, and they will  
also be adding new Appendix L. She will upload a new schedule for the file.  
She answered how many amendments she has for the 16th and stated there  
are about 20 total and Councilmember Elenbaas has some he may want to  
bring up as well.  
Elenbaas spoke about his amendments.  
Council staff and councilmembers discussed how proposed amendments  
will be prepared before the 16th, what kind of legal review they will get  
between the 16th and the 23rd when the ordinance would be introduced, that  
legal would just need to do a pro forma review, and creating space to have  
some discussion around tribal engagement work.  
The following Planning and Development Services Department staff spoke:  
·
·
Matt Aamot  
Mark Personius  
They discussed that staff will have a couple relatively minor changes to  
some of the other appendices not listed for the 16th, and an email from  
Elenbaas to Planning about the Nooksack.  
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.  
Committee Discussion (Other)  
AB2026-432  
1.  
Discussion of an ordinance amending Whatcom County Code Chapter 5.20,  
Fireworks, to strengthen fireworks regulations by limiting the days fireworks are  
allowed and prohibiting fireworks during burn bans  
Galloway gave background on the ordinance. She stated essentially when  
reviewing this section of our code, they came to find that it was out of  
alignment with State RCW, so they updated language to be in alignment with  
State law and she described specific proposed changes to the code. She  
stated other jurisdictions (including Bellingham) have completely banned  
the sale and discharge of fireworks.  
Councilmembers discussed fireworks not being legal in the event of a burn  
ban and that one has historically been in place on the 4th most years in the  
recent past (functionally disallowing fireworks), if they included the Tribes  
when drafting this language, that this ordinance would not affect municipal  
or tribal lands, that it would take a year to go into effect, and that the  
language would affect the bottom line of those who sell fireworks.  
James Triplett, Sheriff's Office, spoke about the Sheriff’s Office ability to  
enforce the ordinance and the potential impact on calls for service. He  
stated the realistic ability for them to respond to fireworks enforcement  
would be limited.  
Councilmembers discussed stages of burn bans, if it is equitable to only  
give people one day to celebrate the holiday, what types of activities that are  
occurring now would not be allowed if this ordinance passes, and how it  
might change things for permitted firework displays.  
Kiana Oos, Council Office Staff, stated it is her understanding that anyone  
can apply for a permit for a public display at any time. They just have to  
apply and receive the permit and it does not have to just be on the Fourth of  
July.  
Councilmembers and staff discussed if public displays would be canceled if  
a burn ban was in effect, that they allow for pretty broad discretion for the  
fire marshal, if Galloway might be open to looking at other stages of burn  
bans in the ordinance, and an idea of a setback to encourage people not to  
light fireworks in close proximity to their neighbor's property.  
Kimberly Thulin, Prosecuting Attorney's Office, spoke about adding any  
setback amendment after the section titled “Period of use.”  
Councilmembers discussed changing the word from "may" to "shall" as far  
as the burn ban goes, if research shows how other counties have been able  
to implement this and what else they have done to reduce the risk of  
wildfires, if the burn ban reference could be changed to a stage 2, adding  
back July 3rd and 5th as allowed days, an amendment on a possible setback,  
looking at what is and is not working in places with fireworks bans, and that  
it would need to be adopted by the 23rd of June in order for it to take effect  
next year.  
This agenda item was DISCUSSED.  
Items Added by Revision  
There were no agenda items added by revision.  
Other Business  
Adjournment  
There was no other business.  
The meeting adjourned at 4:26 p.m.  
ATTEST:  
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL  
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA  
______________________________  
Cathy Halka, Council Clerk  
___________________________  
Kaylee Galloway, Council Chair  
Meeting Minutes prepared by Kristi Felbinger