Blaine Confidential

Kari  Mar's  lecture  in the current Northern Light is to provide cover for her not publishing letters critical of city government. Mar's ace card is that she says verification of facts by her staff takes time, and since they don't have time, nothing important gets published. Just like her news section.

As Kari mar starts her third month as the new publisher of The Northern Light, TNL coverup of criminal misconduct at Blaine City Hall clocks the beginning of its third year. Monday the city council gave developers in the Central Business District free rein to displace all parking downtown for condominium tenants in the forthcoming six-story redevelopment of downtown. Mar must be licking her chops at the thought of all those real estate ads in her paper.

When the Growth Management Act was passed by the Washington legislature thirty-five years ago, the staunchest opposition came from the Washington Association of Realtors (WAR) and the Building Industry Association of Washington. WAR associates were investigated by the Washington Secretary of State for election fraud, and hoodlums recruited by a paid agent from the Whatcom Building Industry Association were arrested by the FBI for making bombs. Today, the real estate industry in Washington is at the forefront of environmental destruction we see playing out before us along the Salish Sea coastline. This blitzkrieg to build luxury developments to accommodate wealthy retirees from around the country is driving up rents and utility costs for existing residents, and foreclosing any hope at all for so-called affordable housing. The building industry is not trashing our salmon streams and beaches for that.

As reported by Blaine City Councilwoman Sonia Hurt in the Salishan newsletter, the Central Business District now has no rules. Developers can do whatever they want. For the history of how this criminal misconduct by Blaine officials came to pass, see INTERIM ZONING CONTROL ORDINANCE . " BIG CHANGES for Blaine’s Business District   After meeting with developers and other interested parties, City Manager Mike Harmon and Community Develop Director Alex Wenger presented a proposed ordinance to the city council that would temporarily remove height, parking limits and design guidelines for the Blaine business district. By passing this ordinance they believe it will encourage development downtown as well as increase available housing. Developers have wanted to increase heights to 6 stories and eliminate parking requirements for some time. The ordinance was voted on and passed 5 to 2.  Three key changes:  • Height limits removed. Buildings in downtown Blaine are no longer limited...

The nearly $6 million sewer expansion to serve East Blaine residential development was a waste, given the Blaine voters decision to remove 573 acres of the East Blaine Urban Growth Area from the city last November. These 573 acres, located over the Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA) for Blaine and Birch Bay's drinking water, would require approximately $14 million for pipeline and pumping infrastructure , making it economically unviable. Allowing private wells and septic systems over the CARA, however, could lead to contamination of our drinking water. Pollution removal from an aquifer can cost well over $100 million , leading to astronomical utility bills for Blaine and Birch Bay customers. An alternative to this comedy of errors is for Whatcom County to establish a CARA Protection District , placing this property in public hands, for public benefit. Seattle allows no development in its drinking watershed, saving utility customers and protecting public health. For some reason,...

Six weeks into her reign as publisher of The Northern Light, Kari Mar has yet to say one word about the self-dealing Blaine officials Mike Hill and Gurdeep Bains committed in the unlawful 2024 Central Business District land use rezones to decrease parking requirements and increase building heights. The public hearing on an Interim Zoning Control Ordinance for the Central Business District  regarding parking requirements and building heights is on the Blaine City Council agenda for tomorrow night. As usual, The Northern Light provides no useful information.  Read more about self-dealing by Mike Hill and Gurdeep Bains here .