PRCAC code review sent back to square one

Whatcom County senior planner Cliff Strong, r., met with the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee July 18 to consider the committee’s proposed changes to the Point’s zoning regulations. Photo by Pat Grubb

Whatcom County senior planner Cliff Strong is sending members of the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) back to the drawing board before the county moves ahead with proposed changes to the Point Roberts special zoning district.

At the July 18 PRCAC meeting, Strong went through proposed changes to the section of county code specific to Point Roberts, chapter 20.72, that the committee has been working on for almost a year.

“There were more questions than anything,” Strong said, about what could and could not be done to adjust the code to current community priorities.

Most minor changes to things like where to locate parking and setback were easy to make, Strong said. “If that’s what the community wants, we can do it,” he said.

Property specific changes needed to be looked at with a wider lens, he added. “Sit down with a map and decide what you want the community to look like,” Strong said. “We can craft code around that.”

PRCAC will meet again on Saturday, July 27 at 3 p.m. at the community center and decide how to proceed with their code review.

The county has received a request from a group calling itself the Independent Business Council requesting that 20.72 be repealed altogether and that land use on the Point not have special rules but be subject to the same rules as most of the other unincorporated areas in the county.

Strong said the proponents had been directed to take their request to PRCAC. “The PRCAC is Whatcom County Council’s official advisory committee and it needs to go through them.”