Options High Vacation petition #VAC2016-0002 info Contact Council!

[Tim Paxton]

Some random info on the pending Options related BHS Bike Path Closure./
Street Alley Vacation. #VAC 2016-0002. (related to #CUP 2016-0008 Options
High)

See path and pictures and details.
http://www.bellinghambikepath.wordpress.com


A combination hearing was held May 18 6pm. No ruling yet from Hearing
Examiner.
The CUP (Conditional Use Permit) for Options High School was held at the
same
time. The Hearing Examiner is from Out Of Town and was not planning on
even
visiting the site. Can guess why Kelli paid for him to come in to replace
our suddenly
ill City Hearing Examiner?

Reportedly the City Council does not have it (Vacate approval) on the
agenda for June 6th, yet. That can be changed at 5pm Monday June 6th if
they want.

By State Law, it appears the School District is not following RCW 35.79.020.
They have not posted a notice ON the Alley or Franklin Street in a
conspicuous place.

(Their only notice is in the middle of the block 60 feet away). Most bikers
and mothers
with stroller and handicapped people are still unaware their bike path is
almost toast / history.


The City is busy helping out by saying (lying) the Bike Path will be merely
relocated. Closed. Bikers will be dumped onto a street. If you ask anyone
if they
prefer riding down a safe bike path along open space or down some nasty
industrial street soon to have an entrance 400 person high school and
parking lots for 67 cars along it with buses coming and going, guess what
they choose. Is this the City's new plan for all juicy public right of
ways? Give
them to developers and put bikers on the streets?

It may not even be legal to ride a bike down their new 6 foot wide
pedestrian side walk on a bike. Ask some of the people in electric wheel
chairs if they will like riding down newly narrowed, busy, no traffic study
Options Entrances: Franklin Street.

City Planning should have rejected the petition due to obvious & deliberate
public notice procedural flaws.

By Bellingham City Council adopted guidelines, it is reccommended that bike
paths adjacent to open space, NOT be vacated.

By City Council Vacation guidelines and petition, the applicant, BSD, should
have posted signs 20 days before the May 18th Hearing Examiner Hearing. ON
the street and Alley. At both ends. They did not.

On top of that, School District employees are busy tearing down and stealing
signs taped up to inform the public. A "not Good Faith" effort to inform
the
public. Nothing in Herald either. Another stealth public process.

Note on Franklin Street 10 foot vacation. This would effectively eliminate
any parking on Franklin 2100 block, 24 cars on the West side, 10 on the East
side so 34 spaces taken away by the Options School. Add the 14 spaces to be
taken away from Kentucky by the Bus turn out lane and they are down 38
spaces before they even get started.

They plan to have only 42 parking spaces on site. That is a net 4 spaces.
However, Kulshan Employment is requesting 15 spaces on Iowa street
be reserved only for them. (Since they didn't have to get parking spaces
originally either.) Eventually people will be parking in Sunnyland, lots of
people.

If/when the Hearing Examiner approves the street / alley vacation. City
Council is poised to quickly approve unless there are many comments /
letters / phone calls received before June 6. There is NO comment period
prior to the likely vote to approve the Hearing Examiner's probable approval
of the petition to Vacate Franklin Street (10') and the bike path along open
space at Bellingham High. (Between Ellis/Franklin).

There is the option to file a MTR (motion to reconsider) followed by the
traditional Appeal to Superior Court.

If you value the only safe bike path along open space in Bellingham.

Contact city Council now. ccm...@cob.org


In my opinion, Council shouldn't even be votiing on a petition which has not
yet met minimum public notification requirements of State law (RCW
35.79.020). They have an incomplete application and it should be sent back
to the applicant to actually follow the law. Any vote they take could be
declared void eithe way upon appeal to Superior Court.






Text of :
RCW 35.79.020

Notice of hearing—Objections prior to hearing.

Upon the passage of the resolution the city or town clerk shall give twenty
days' notice of the pendency of the petition by a written notice posted in
three of the most public places in the city or town and a like notice in a
conspicuous place on the street or alley sought to be vacated.

The said notice shall contain a statement that a petition has been filed to
vacate the street or alley described in the notice, together with a
statement of the time and place fixed for the hearing of the petition.

In all cases where the proceeding is initiated by resolution of the city or
town council or similar legislative authority without a petition having been
signed by the owners of more than two-thirds of the property abutting upon
the part of the street or alley sought to be vacated, in addition to the
notice hereinabove required, there shall be given by mail at least fifteen
days before the date fixed for the hearing, a similar notice to the owners
or reputed owners of all lots, tracts or parcels of land or other property
abutting upon any street or alley or any part thereof sought to be vacated,
as shown on the rolls of the county treasurer, directed to the address
thereon shown: PROVIDED, That if fifty percent of the abutting property
owners file written objection to the proposed vacation with the clerk, prior
to the time of hearing, the city shall be prohibited from proceeding with
the resolution.