Education: United Way partners with Ferndale schools 5A
March 20, 2013
SINCE 1885
Garbage tax hike proposed Ferndale plans to fund library gap through half percent solid waste tax hike By Mark Reimers news@ferndalerecord.com
FERNDALE — On April 23, voters in Ferndale will decide whether to add the final cost of a new Main Street library to their property tax bill. But the City Council went into its Monday meeting still unsure of how it would cover its earlier commitments to the library through matching campaigns. About half of the $1.05 million commitment, according to Finance Director Mark Peterson, can come from good returns on the city’s real estate excise tax. However, that still leaves about $50,000 each year in financing that the city will need to come up with. At Monday’s meeting, the Ferndale City Council voted to adopt a half-percent increase in its tax on solid waste. That would apply to all waste brought to the city’s two transfer stations. The measure would bring the tax up from 12 percent to 12.5 percent, overall. Peterson noted in his prepared figures that the extra half-percent will bring in about $53,000 annually. The other options mapped out as possibilities by Peterson include tapping into $65,000 in annual banked property tax capacity and a 1 percent increase in the city utility tax, bringing in an estimated $50,000 each year. The city’s preference for using a solid waste tax increase as the means of covering the commitment shortfall was tempered by several council members’ statements that they don’t want the tax to be a constant, go-to pot for anything that needs funding. See Waste Tax on 2A
Business
Absorption Corp gets new owner Local managers of a Ferndale manufacturing company are optimistic about what a new German-based ownership group means for U.S. market share, as well as possible expansion. 3A
FERNDALE, Washington • $1
Red tape to green light
Ferndale is thinking outside the box to promote a healthy climate for growth. Below is an overview of some of the many lean initiatives and rule changes undertaken by the city to encourage business and development.
Deferring impact fees until final inspection In 2011, the Ferndale City Council suggested that the city provide an option to developers that would allow them to pay up to 50 percent of the impact and connection fees on projects at the time of final inspection, rather than at the permit stage. While not decreasing the total fees, this does allow developers to delay payment of some fees until projects 50% are closer to being sold/rented. It also fees implicitly recognizes that the majority of impacts do not occur until the structure is occupied. According to Community Development Director Jori Burnett, the deferment plan hasn’t opened up the city to more risk from defaulting builders since the point is to help viable projects become even more viable and certain. “We aren’t trying Although the same amount is paid to the city, a smaller initial bank loan can be secured, saving the builder significant interest during the building to take unviable projects and make process.
them work. The goal is to take projects that are viable and make them more viable.”
Repeat plan review
—Jori Burnett
According to Burnett, custom “spec” homes have become the exception and not the rule. Today, most land use developers build based on building templates that they are familiar with, often cycling between four to eight home designs within a single subdivision. Reviewing building designs becomes redundant, especially in a 100-lot development, where one building design may be used 10-20 times. Ferndale has instead created a program that allows contractors to submit a home design once and re-use it on an unlimited basis for significantly reduced building review costs. Those costs can drop by up to 50 percent. Now, not only do developers save on permit costs, but the program also allows city staff to process building permits much more rapidly — in many cases issuing a building permit within 24 hours of its submittal, Burnett said. Similar discounts can be enjoyed if contractors submit several identical building permits at once.
Water and sewer: Equivalent Residential Use For years, the City of Ferndale charged uniform rates for water or sewer connections, regardless of whether the connection was for a single-family residence or a large shopping mall. In 2011 the Ferndale amended its policies to reflect anticipated water and sewer use, otherwise known as an “Equivalent Residential Use” or ERU. The program has three primary goals: first, to accurately reflect the actual impact on the city’s infrastructure; second, to end the disproportionate burden that had been placed on residential development; and third, to incentivize conservation measures — projects that use high efficiency plumbing or other demonstrated conservation measures may decrease their expenditures significantly. Lower usage can also be demonstrated as past practice through a previous billing statement. For example, the builder of an actual recent project was able to reduce the anticipated water and sewer connection fees from nearly $100,000 to about $5,000 by providing previous billing information and proposed conservation measures.
50% fees
Downtown improvement guides many efforts By Mark Reimers news@ferndalerecord.com
FERNDALE — It’s not that downtown has been the only thing on the city’s collective mind. But improving it has certainly been a driver for a lot of actions over the last two years, as Community Development Director Jori Burnett is happy to admit. Downtown Ferndale is one of the few places that hasn’t seen substantial growth in the last decade. That is partly because of inherent obstacles such as the floodplain, newer retail expectations and perhaps some impressions of current less attractive land uses in downtown. Efforts by the city to promote downtown Ferndale equal a rare effort to create a market, Burnett said. However, he isn’t under any illusions about replicating past forms of success, like what was in place between the 1950s and ‘80s. Downtown efforts emphasize mixed-use, dense residential units within walking distance of downtown businesses. The theory is that once someone gets into a car, other parts of the Ferndale or Whatcom County are just as accessible. Bringing development costs down has gone hand-in-hand with city investments such as the River Walk, Pioneer Pavilion, a new library and Main Street paving — it all adds up to over $20 million over a decade. Those efforts are at least seeing some fruit since downtown Ferndale is currently at its lowest vacancy rate in over decade. “There aren’t a whole lot of vacant stores now,” Burnett said. See Downtown on 2A
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