Blaine council enacts emergency ban on manufactured home park applications

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Blaine City Council approved an emergency six-month moratorium on processing manufactured home park building permit applications during its May 22 meeting. The ban will allow city staff time to clean up inconsistencies in the city code that have been at the center of debate for over a year.

The city’s attorney, Jon Sitkin, presented the moratorium to council after an executive ses- sion at the end of the meeting. Sitkin said the impetus for the moratorium was a now-withdrawn proposal to change the city’s planned unit development (PUD) code text, which conflicts with the underlying zoning code, to allow manufactured home parks.

JIJ Corporation owners Skip and Katie Jansen, who are developing East Harbor Hills in east Blaine, submitted the zoning text amendment request shortly after purchasing the property in fall of 2021. East Blaine resi- dents voiced strong opposition to the idea of a manufactured home park while planning commission mulled over the amendment request, and the Jansens ultimately decided to withdraw their request a month ago.

The city’s underlying zoning code allows for manufactured home parks in east Blaine and has a section on their regulations. However, the city’s code does not allow manufac- city documents. The purchase would be subject to future terms, such as the project layout and price of land. The city will determine the terms and can void the transfer option agreement if KCLT does not meet those terms after three years, with the possibility for council to approve two year-long extensions.

Paul Schissler has been consulting KCLT through his Bellingham-based company Madrona Community Development to bring affordable housing to downtown

(See Library, page 3)