The Blaine Planning Commission unanimously decided to push its recommendation on increasing the building height on the west side of Peace Portal Drive to its next meeting due to three commissioners being absent from the August 8 meeting.
Commissioners Jerry Marczynski, James Bring, Kevin Owens and Jennifer Plombon approved delaying the vote August 8, as commissioners Calvin Armerding, Colin Hawkins and Donald Kruse were excused.
The commissioners’ vote followed a public hearing where six people spoke on the issue, sharing perspectives from both concerned residents and prospective developers.
The proposal would allow building heights to increase 12 feet, from 36 to 48 feet, with building appurtenances and recreational amenities, such as elevator towers, allowed to exceed that limit. The increase would be in the waterview subdistrict, on the west side of Peace Portal Drive running south of F Street to north of Clark Street.
Blaine’s Community Development Services (CDS) staff reviewed building heights in waterfront communities throughout the state. In Fairhaven, the building height is 56 feet and increases to 66 feet for buildings nearer to the water, city planner Mike Beck said. In Port Townsend, the height limit is 50 feet in the downtown core and then tapers to 35 feet.
Building heights in the downtown core are measured from the sidewalk, Beck said. The city’s code has design requirements for the outside of buildings in downtown Blaine but does not specify buildings to have historical appearances.
“Please remember Blaine is not a game of monopoly, it is our home,” Blaine resident Ray Leone said during the hearing.
Mark Douglas, whose company Harbor Lands LP built the Seascape Condominiums at 1300 Peace Portal Drive, argued recent Washington state legislation was trending toward increasing density in urban areas.
“I think it would be wise for the city to adopt that policy,” Douglas said.
Douglas added he would like the city to extend its proposed height increase to an area he would like to develop just south of the waterview subdistrict on the west side of Peace Portal Drive.
CDS director Alex Wenger said the building height proposal would only consider the waterview subdistrict, and Harbor Lands LP could pursue a private zoning text amendment or try to have it included in the city’s comprehensive plan update.
The commission discussed how to keep water views while increasing building heights, with Marczynski questioning whether the city could require view areas between buildings. Wenger responded the view areas would be a small sliver because of setback requirements, which is why the city hadn’t pursued them. He said commissioners could require buildings be see-through, but quickly added that would be a significant ask from developers.
The city will continue accepting official public comment on the hearing until the planning commission’s next meeting on Thursday, September 12. Once planning commission reaches a recommendation, it will pass it on for Blaine City Council to make the final vote.
For more information on the proposal, visit the city’s website at bit.ly/4dx4l74.
This article was updated August 16 to correct that Harbor Lands LP built the Seascape Condominiums.
