Whatcom County Growing Pains

The brakes are on for new subdivisions because development has outrun infrastructure. In this case it's fire protection. Everybody just expects police, medics and firefighters to be there when they call 911. But the population of Whatcom County has increased by over 50% in the past twenty years and new home building is out pacing government budgets. The old funding mechanisms worked fine when growth meant a new house here and there but not now that developers are building hundreds of houses at a time.

- PUBLIC SAFETY -
Fire wards raising red flag on growth
Emergency service letters withheld on housing projects

JOHN STARK
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Faced with rapid population growth and a shortage of money, North Whatcom Fire and Rescue District commissioners have decided to take a step that could bring new subdivision approval to a halt across a broad swath of the northern county.

The district has stopped issuing letters agreeing to provide emergency services to new real estate developments. Developers apparently need those letters as one of several legal requirements for subdivision approval.

North Whatcom Fire Chief Tom Fields said the issue is money: The district doesn't get enough from its property tax levy to keep up with residential growth. If hundreds of new homes are added to North Whatcom's service area, Fields said, its response time for fires and medical emergencies could drop to potentially dangerous levels. ... ( full article)

The hucksters ramble on about imaginary "you can't tell me what to do" property-rights , but the reality is that what people do with their land has an impact on everyone else in a community.