"Community Allies: A Vision for Responsible Growth"
By Brandi Bratrude

Attractive views and adventures draw new residents to Whatcom County every year at a rate nearly twice the national average. Those looking for a new place to call home value the lakes and trails characteristic of the area. But not everyone is willing to share the treasures Whatcom County holds for fear they will be depleted and lost forever.

Pamela Jull, sociologist and co-founder of Applied Research Northwest, conducted a survey in 2004 that found that 56 percent of Bellingham residents polled thought population growth was "much too fast" or "a little too fast."

Whatcom County residents’ concerns about and opposition to growth among residents in Whatcom County sparked a need for those residents to organize an alliance.

"We need to get the soldiers and the thinkers together; that’s the rationale for the umbrella group of 24 players that represents a humongous arsenal of people," said Rick Dubrow, president of A-1 Builders, a sustainable design contractor based in Whatcom County.

Traffic, road construction and subdivision development are changing neighborhoods and stirring residents’ emotions, Dubrow said.

"When an application goes in for a subdivision, the neighbors freak out," Dubrow said.

The annual average rate of growth in Bellingham was roughly 3 percent, or 1,600 households, annually, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s analysis of 2000 Census data.

Ralph Thacker, president of the Association of Bellingham Neighborhoods, supports the umbrella group and has participated in meetings as a representative for the 18 neighborhood associations. Thacker said he hears concern from neighborhood residents about the vulnerability to and loss of neighborhood character due to increased growth.

"There are two purposes or practical outcomes to come from the umbrella group," Thacker said. "The first is speaking with a united voice to the county and city. The second is to help all the groups coordinate what they’re doing or working on."

The group is a framework for what will either become a coalition or a new organization. The group held its first meeting Nov. 22 to begin defining what cultural, social, environmental and economic variables create the quality of life in the county and to decide how to go about protecting that quality of life, Dubrow said.

It did not get its start from a single event but instead from general alarm and fear that coalesced, Dubrow said. He said he expects the group to come to a conclusion about its goals and purposes and ultimately its structure in the coming two to three months.

"In rough numbers, 95 percent of people in this community want to save the quality of life here," said Dubrow, referencing a statistic from the Applied Research Northwest survey. "It cuts across right/left, red/blue, Republican/Democrat lines."

Jull, who co-founded the company in 1999, said she felt a need for reliable information about community perspectives of growth in Whatcom County and made the findings of the survey available to the public.

"Understanding information gives you social power," Jull said. "The survey gives people information to talk about issues knowledgeably."

The survey found that 90 percent of residents questioned reported their quality of life as either "excellent" or "good." Respondents who reported a poorer quality of life cite the negative impacts of growth.

"We can’t continue to have a high quality of life … unless we learn how to get growth under control," said Dave Ewoldt, psychologist and executive director of Attraction Retreat, a nonprofit organization focusing on counseling through outdoor activities.

Ewoldt contributed his study of ecopsychology to the group to explain problems of growth by comparing growth patterns with patterns of natural systems.

"If you look at a healthy ecosystem, it grows to a point and then reaches maturity," Ewoldt said. "Nothing grows constantly except cancer cells."

Through Attraction Retreat, Ewoldt started a project called the Community Assessment and Sustainability Inventory to analyze whether development in Whatcom County has surpassed the environment’s natural limit, or carrying capacity. Clearing wetlands and forests to make room for development will create environmental consequences if population growth exceeds carrying capacity, Ewoldt said.

Determining carrying capacity includes setting environmental and social parameters to understand what aspects of life residents find valuable and what aspects they can live without, said John McLaughlin, population biologist and associate professor at Western’s Huxley College of the Environment.

"Does carrying capacity mean someone can walk out their door and be at open space in 15 minutes?" McLaughlin said. "Or are a few parks scattered throughout the city enough?"

The hope of the umbrella group is that linking the residents whose neighborhoods suffer development, those focused on sustainability and those trying to stop irrevocable environmental damage strengthens the community’s ability to shape the future of the county.

"The next step is trying to find some commonality," Ewoldt said. "Where do we see ourselves going? How do we support ourselves and each other and benefit from each other’s passions while going toward one goal?"

Dubrow said he has identified 71 groups in Whatcom County affected by growth either directly or indirectly and is optimistic that an alliance between these groups and the 24 people already working with the umbrella group will help focus energy and strengthen community input about growth planning and management.

"Let’s use science and reason to determine carrying capacity because every biological system has an end game," Dubrow said.