The Whatcom County Boundary Review Board is reviewing the plan to de-annex east Blaine, which city voters overwhelmingly supported by 64 percent in the November election.
The board, which will decide on the plan, will hold a hearing before its review period ends on May 26. Lethal Coe, chief clerk of the Whatcom County Boundary Review Board, said a hearing date will be announced to the public when it is scheduled.
De-annexation was put before voters during the November 5 election as Proposition 2025-07. The proposition moved to return 610 acres back to the county, a majority of which is the Grandis Pond property in east Blaine, once slated to be one of the largest housing developments in the county with over 1,100 units. The area expected to be de-annexed also includes 37 acres of unincorporated urban growth area (UGA) near Dakota Creek.
The ballot measure, which needed a 60 percent supermajority to pass, received 64 percent of voter support, or 1,310 votes, according to certified election results from the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office.
In advisory comments submitted to the review board on January 21, Whatcom County made it clear that it took “no position for or against approval of the de-annexation.” The county added that it did not request changes to the de-annexation plan.
However, the Whatcom County Public Works Department asked the boundary review board to acknowledge that de-annexing east Blaine did not mean the affected roadways and their maintenance were automatically county responsibility.
The county wrote that the boundary review board only approved boundary decisions, and roadway ownership and maintenance would be determined after de-annexation. Whatcom County Code sets guidelines for how the county accepts roadways, including that the roads must meet current county standards. A county engineer who conducted a preliminary review of the roads found some roadways may not meet county standards, the county’s advisory comments stated.
“The county’s filing with the boundary review board initiated a formal request for review by the board, adding further delay and uncertainty to the process,” Blaine City Manager Mike Harmon wrote in an email to The Northern Light.
After the board approves the de-annexation, Blaine City Council will create an ordinance adopting the new city limits.
The city annexed east Blaine in 1996 for Grandis Pond, but the cost and complexity of bringing utility infrastructure to the area stalled development. Blaine residents Kevin Keck and Rebeka Ruiz-Lembo purchased the Grandis Pond property for $10 million in December 2023 from Ken Hertz, a former Bellingham mayor and developer. Last spring, Keck told city council he was in support of de-annexation and didn’t plan to develop the land as densely as originally proposed for Grandis Pond.
Blaine city staff introduced the idea of de-annexing east Blaine to city council in October 2024. At the time, city planners also proposed an UGA “swap” that would have added at least 450 acres of UGA near Semiahmoo for long-term housing growth. The city put that plan on hold late last year after running into several hurdles, including Whatcom County Council signaling its disapproval.
“We are no longer pursuing the UGA swap,” said Alex Wenger, the city’s planning director. “There’s no plan at this time to expand the Blaine UGA.”
Wenger said he doesn’t have plans to bring another UGA proposal for the Semiahmoo area to council anytime soon, adding that his department will be spending the next year updating the sewer and water plans, along with finalizing the city’s comprehensive plan.
Whatcom County Council has endorsed Blaine’s plan to remove the east Blaine UGA and is expected to vote on the removal at a future meeting.
The city is also requesting Whatcom County consider rezoning the Grandis Pond property, a change that would decrease the allowable density by about 40 times – going from allowing up to 2,000 to about 50 homes, Wenger said.
Along with its request to the county, the city is asking the county to rezone a section of the city’s UGA near Odell Road to support manufacturing that’s planned as the city grows.
Wenger said the city’s rezoning requests were expected to be discussed during the Whatcom County Planning Commission meeting on February 26, though a meeting agenda was not released by press time.
