Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee

This year, the committee welcomed John Lesow, who replaced Holger Michelsen as an at-large representative.

The main topics focused on this past year were:

The Point Roberts Character Plan Committee (PRCPC): Whatcom County Council amended the parts of the Whatcom County Code that govern the make-up of the PRCPC. The new arrangement assigned the role to PRCAC and, for the first time since the late 1990s, there was a functioning PRCPC.

The committee ruled on a variety of projects, ranging from the barn at Seagate Farms to the design of the proposed UPS Store on Gulf Road and the signs for the Valero station.

The committee established an ad hoc committee to revise the character plan consisting of seven residents (amended to eight) to review the existing plan, make recommendations for change and, ultimately to rewrite the character plan to reflect changes made in the 20-plus years since the original was composed.

The ad hoc committee made a series of recommendations for text amendments, which were accepted by PRCAC and submitted to Planning and Development Services (PDS). After processing they should be part of the minor revisions to the character plan to be made next year.

Code volations: PRCAC requested information from residents about code violations. More than a dozen were submitted. After review, the committee voted to file all but one, under the committee’s name, to PDS for enforcement.

Amending the Revised Code of Washington (RCW): PRCAC dropped efforts to amend the clauses in the RCW to allow more flexibility in the expenditure of Transportation Benefit District funds. Legislative difficulties forced both sponsors of the effort in Olympia to withdraw support. A new effort will be made next year.

Joel Lantz, John Lesow, Louise Mugar, Arthur Reber, Jennifer Urquhart