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Cyclopath
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PostWed Sep 20, 2023 2:55 pm 
Governors Point, a 125-acre peninsula, has been at risk of experiencing significant development for decades. At one time, more than 100 homes were proposed for construction on the site. “This has been a really long-term project for the Whatcom County Community in terms of thinking about, ‘What is the future of Governors Point?’” Whatcom Land Trust Conservation Director Alex Jeffers said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald. ... About 2.6 miles of trails will be built on the land to provide public access to the mature coastal forest. There will also be non-motorized paddle access to beaches on the east and west sides of Governors Point. A parking lot will also be built for people to access the trails. https://amp.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article279377749.html It sounds like 16 new homes will be built and 98 acres of forest will be preserved in perpetuity.

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IanB
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PostWed Sep 20, 2023 11:07 pm 

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treeswarper
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PostFri Sep 22, 2023 6:14 am 
I'm sure the parking lot will not be big enough.

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Anne Elk
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PostMon Sep 25, 2023 2:25 am 
I guess a little development is better than a lot, but I have to be a killjoy and ask why didn't the previous owner just sell it to the Conservancy? Could it have been that difficult to do some fundraising and maybe get the state involved also, to acquire the land? It would have easily meshed with Larrabee State Park as a "Preserve" area and just left alone or with some hiking trails added. Without knowing other details it's hard to speculate if the Whatcom Land Trust lacks imagination or what. I'm thinking of something similar to what was done up on Orcas Island years ago involving Turtleback Mountain.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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Randito
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PostMon Sep 25, 2023 12:23 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
Quote Options Mon Sep 25, 2023 2:25 am Anne Elk wrote: I guess a little development is better than a lot, but I have to be a killjoy and ask why didn't the previous owner just sell it to the Conservancy?
It would be interesting to know the details. My cynic says the land still being slated for development is the area that is most easily developed for a profit and the preserved land is the least suitable for development. But preserving is still good. E.g. I get a ton of enjoyment out of Cougar Mtn park -- knowing full well that the only reason it's a park and not more subdivisions is the presence of old coal mining shafts ment that the county would not have issued building permits due to the risk of collapse.

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Cyclopath
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PostMon Sep 25, 2023 6:11 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
guess a little development is better than a lot, but I have to be a killjoy and ask why didn't the previous owner just sell it to the Conservancy?
I'm not very familiar with the area, my hunch was the 98 acres are being preserved in exchange for the ability or approval to build those 16 houses. I don't follow the news from the coast closely, so this is really an uneducated guess.

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ejain
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PostWed Sep 27, 2023 6:18 pm 
Here's a map from their website:
Looking at satellite images, it appears that some of the roads and at least one house exist already.

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Randito
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PostWed Sep 27, 2023 10:38 pm 
ejain wrote:
Here's a map from their website:
Looking at satellite images, it appears that some of the roads and at least one house exist already.
Well -- f### -- that layout really sucks. All the homesites are western facing water front site. That makes sense from a real estate perspective. But as a sea kayaker that enjoys paddling along that shore from Larabee up to Chuckanut bay -- this is going to be a huge negative impact. The is a hideous monstrosity of a house on the point just north of Larabee -- but currently once you are north of that it is delightful -- with some of the most interesting sculpted sandstone shoreline.
Having a bunch of vanity megahouses along that shore, possibly with docks is going to be a real loss.

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altasnob
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 7:26 am 
Randito wrote:
Having a bunch of vanity megahouses along that shore, possibly with docks is going to be a real loss.
If Washington wasn't the only state on the West Coast who allows people to own the coastline, we wouldn't have this problem. But people need that waterfront home to go with their home on the mountain top.

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Schroder
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 9:51 am 
The home concept looks pretty incredible. I think they're doing a great job. Current shoreline development regulations require a 100 ft buffer zone where nothing can be disturbed behind the Ordinary High Water Mark and these guys have gone to extraordinary lengths to design something inconspicuous from the water.
Randito wrote:
Having a bunch of vanity megahouses along that shore, possibly with docks is going to be a real loss.
I would hardly call a 2900 sq ft house a megahouse and new docks haven't been allowed on Puget Sound for the past 40 years.

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altasnob
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 10:42 am 
Schroder wrote:
Current shoreline development regulations require a 100 ft buffer zone where nothing can be disturbed behind the Ordinary High Water Mark
What's stopping the new home owners from mowing down every tree on their property, removing the native vegetation, and planting grass just so they have that sunset view from their living room?
Schroder wrote:
I would hardly call a 2900 sq ft house a megahouse
It is for all the empty nest boomers who will be purchasing these homes. My friend who lives in Bellingham (engineer with Seattle salary married to a doctor) is as wealthy as anyone with kids in Whatcom County and he couldn't afford to live there. It will be 100% retirees.

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Cyclopath
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Cyclopath
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 11:10 am 
It's like buzzword bingo of angry deranged people!

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Anne Elk
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Anne Elk
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 12:58 pm 
altasnob wrote:
It is for all the empty nest boomers who will be purchasing these homes.
C'mon. Not unless they're tech entrepreneur retirees selling their Mercer Island waterfront properties (and etc). Or some of the foreign investors who see Whatcom County as more of a bargain than Vancouver which, I think, slapped an extra tax on home purchasers who are either foreign or don't live there at least 6 months/year. I'm sure Whatcom County needs more housing, but not in that price range. I still think it's unfortunate that the county/state/land trust didn't buy it for a preserve or extension of Larrabee St. Park. We don't have lots of undeveloped waterfront left.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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Cyclopath
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 1:07 pm 
It could have been 100 homes and no trail. Now, it's 16 homes and a hiking trail that the public had access to. That's a good outcome in the world we live in!

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Cyclopath
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PostThu Sep 28, 2023 1:12 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
I still think it's unfortunate that the county/state/land trust didn't buy it for a preserve or extension of Larrabee St. Park.
The land sold for $5,700,000. What's the land trust's budget for acquiring property? My hunch is that's why it happened the way it did.

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