Enforcing GMA

3/19/25 letter to Whatcom County Executive:

Dear Whatcom County Executive Sidhu,

In our extensive two-year correspondence with the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington Attorney General, and the Washington Governor, we were told repeatedly that if we want the Growth Management Act (GMA), the Shoreline Management Act (SMA), or the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) enforced in Blaine, Whatcom County, and Washington State, we have to sue in court. These state agencies stated repeatedly to us that they do not enforce the law. 

This exclusive policy at the top management levels of state agencies is alarming, but you have the authority to bring a halt to the corruption in Blaine city government and bring Blaine into compliance with the law. There is nothing inclusive about telling concerned citizens that local governments can break the law with impunity and that their only recourse is to come up with $100,000 minimum to defend their civil rights. Your administration is allowing this to continue, meaning we will likely need to add Whatcom County as a defendant in federal court.

You can avoid this by taking action now. You have the authority to conduct a county review of unlawful SEPA determinations by the City of Blaine 2022-2024 and act accordingly. In order to halt the ongoing environmental harm this lawlessness in Blaine is causing right now, I recommend Whatcom County declare a moratorium on PUD developments in Blaine approved without legally-required Environmental Impact Statements. We have provided ample documentation to Whatcom County and Washington State, as well as the U.S. EPA and FBI.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letter to County Prosecutor

To Mr. Eric J. Richey, Whatcom Prosecuting Attorney, 311 Grand, Ste. 201, Bellingham WA 98225 I write to you as Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney in hope you will protect the rights of the people of Blaine from a city government that--due to embedded corruption--is unable to effectively govern and is putting our health and prosperity at risk by their unlawful acts. Your reply requested.  I am told you have the authority to empanel a grand jury to investigate official misconduct and encourage you to do so. I copy my most recent letter to the City of Blaine below. This is the tip of the iceberg, and we have abundant evidence of widespread intentional wrongdoing.   To Blaine City Council, Planning Commission, and Community Development Services As you proceed with the downtown rezone/development regulation items of parking and building heights this month, I remind you that this process was corrupted at the outset when on 3/24/2023 Blaine City Council ordered the Blaine City...
Read more

BLAINE TOXIC COVERUP

2/25/25 letter to City of Blaine : BLAINE TOXIC COVERUP A Town that Never Learns By  Jay Taber Blaine Water Coalition Blaine City Council member  Mike Hill --recently under investigation by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Department for accosting Blaine Water Coalition activist Otto Pointer at the November 12, 2024, city council meeting (Case #24A39027)--has a problem with his plan to develop condos across Peace Portal Drive from his  Chevron  station downtown. In a November 28, 2023,  Hazardous Materials Analysis Report  presented by GeoEngineers to the City of Blaine, Hill's Chevron is listed as a 'high-risk' Department of Ecology site (Cleanup Site ID # 9280) due to confirmed releases of petroleum products--including  Benzene --on and off the property,  contaminating the groundwater  that migrates from the Chevron station under Starbuck's toward  Cain Creek  and  Drayton Harbor . The  Drayton Harbor estuary  is home t...
Read more

Letter to Community Development Services

As an observer of Growth Management in Washington state since it was passed into law thirty-three years ago, I cannot recall a more egregious example of the intentional subversion of both the letter and spirit of the law by a city than what has transpired in Blaine. Not only did Community Development Services (CDS) fail to convene public participation--as required by law--in deciding how to go about creating a new economic development plan for downtown, but they also predetermined the desired outcome in cahoots with developers. My Comprehensive Plan Timeline might help you in comprehending the mess you find yourselves in. As I noted in my post Culture of Exclusion , "The significant changes to zoning and development regulations by Blaine City Council—absent from public participation—a​re not just ten-year updates to our comprehensive plan, cumulatively they are a once-in-a-century major makeover of our community. Expediting planning amendments by resolution to build momentum abse...
Read more