‘It’s all put at risk’: Bellingham group fights plan for development atop Mud Bay Cliffs

A proposal to develop a large, forested property in Bellingham’s Edgemoor neighborhood into a 38-lot residential subdivision continues to push forward as a group of concerned neighbors fight to preserve the land.

The Woods at Viewcrest, as it’s called, would be built on about 38 acres of land along Viewcrest Road that looks out over the top of Mud Bay Cliffs, which rise above the Chuckanut Bay estuary.

Detailed planning for the site began in 2019 and the group, Protect Mud Bay Cliffs, was formed in response to the development proposal.

“What our goal has always been is to minimize significant adverse impacts that this project is almost certain to impose on the natural environment, the built environment and the people who live nearby,” Protect Mud Bay Cliffs co-founder Larry Horowitz said.

Horowitz said the group believes that possible impacts to the site have not been fairly identified. Some of the group’s main concerns include the geologic stability of the site, stormwater mitigation proposals, traffic impacts and wetland and wildlife implications.

“All of this public asset — the wildlife corridor, the estuarine wetlands ... everything people are trying to do for ecological renewal here — it’s all put at risk by (this) proposal,” said Wendy Larson, another member of Protect Mud Bay Cliffs who frequently leads walking tours along the shoreline at the base of the cliffs.

Horowitz says Protect Mud Bay Cliffs’ biggest request is that the city issue a SEPA Determination of Significance and require an Environmental Impact Statement. These could be issued if it’s found that the proposal will have “probable significant adverse environmental impacts“ that cannot be mitigated.

The group also believes the project application is incomplete and has deficiencies to which the city should require the applicant to respond. The group recently sent a letter to Bellingham Planning and Community Development Director Blake Lyon outlining their concerns.

You can read the full letter here:

Protect Mud Bay Cliffs Letter - Woods at Viewcrest Third Request for Information by Rachel Showalter on Scribd

The development proposal has already gone through a number of changes to address city concerns. Some of those include reducing the proposed lot count from 44 to 38, relocating some of the lots on the site to avoid critical areas and steep slopes where possible, and changing the stormwater design to route runoff through an existing public system, according to Ali Taysi of Bellingham-based AVT Consulting, the permit consultant company for the project.

Regarding the stability and steepness of the site, the developer has been working with a qualified geotechnical consultant who has determined that, as designed, the project won’t generate slope instability, according to Taysi. The current plan also holds back the development more than 400 feet from the shoreline, effectively limiting any building along the steep cliffs above Mud Bay, Taysi said.

But Horowitz believes the existing geotechnical analysis isn’t detailed enough and wants more evaluation of the site to be done.

“After walking the shoreline and seeing all the boulders that have fallen from that property, you get a sense that they’re unstable slopes,” Horowitz said.

Horowitz told The Herald that Protect Mud Bay Cliffs solicited an independent analysis of the tree stems on the cliffs that indicate active movement and instability.

Taysi told The Bellingham Herald he believes a good balance has been found in the proposal and they expect it to move forward.

“This is not a maxed-out development,” Taysi said. “The whole thing is clustered in the north and west portion of the site so a significant portion of the site is going to be preserved in open-space tracts.”

Some development impact is unavoidable but between 70-80% of the total site is expected to remain in its natural state, according to Taysi.

“If you step back and look at the whole site, it’s been really thoughtfully designed to cluster the development and preserve the most sensitive areas,” Taysi said.

Barring any major changes, permitting for The Woods at Viewcrest will likely continue through the rest of this year. Construction is expected to begin by 2025.

Taysi said the developers have many of the same environmental concerns as the Protect Mud Bay Cliffs group and the project is specifically designed to address them.

“The project is designed to protect Mud Bay Cliffs. We’re not touching the Mud Bay Cliffs,” Taysi said. “We all want to protect the Mud Bay Cliffs.”