Neighborhood attempts to preserve large lots of land unique to Birchwood

Birchwood Neighborhood Association Board member Dan Welch said using the large lots of land in Birchwood for something productive that gives back to the community, will justify having them and help to preserve this unique feature of the neighborhood.

The neighborhood association meeting on Tuesday May 25 focused on urban gardening and getting the community involved with gardening projects. Board member Barbara Campbell said the land available in the neighborhood makes Birchwood able to accommodate many gardens.

According to Welch, the Growth Management Act requires that cities plan to accommodate for increased population. Because homes in Birchwood sit on lots larger than those in most of Bellingham’s neighborhoods, he feels that it is a target for development, he said.

“I organized (the meeting) because it’s something Birchwood can latch onto and sort of justify having these large lots,” he said.

The board’s president, Adrienne Battis said the city asks neighborhoods to develop plans that will account for how they will meet population growth. The board wants to preserve the size of land lots in the neighborhood, she said.

She said she is concerned that if zoning changes in the future some of the large lots of land will be divided into multiple lots when sold, something that is restricted now by minimum size requirements for land lots.

Battis said the neighborhood wants to use the land for gardening to highlight it as a strength in the neighborhood. Gardening gives residents the opportunity to use their land resources and share them with the rest of the community.

Welch said neighborhood residents have been reactive to development in the past.

According to a random sample mail in survey conducted by the board last summer, over 51 percent of Birchwood residents think the large lots of land in the neighborhood are the most important thing to preserve. Other popular options listed on the survey were single-family housing, beach and trail access, and trees and vegetation.

The survey allowed residents to choose up to three features, all of which were included in the survey based on feedback from residents of the neighborhood at a neighborhood association meeting.

Campbell said 600 surveys were sent out and over three-hundred were returned. This is a high level of return for mail in surveys, she said.

Speakers at the meeting promoted urban gardening in the community

The guest speakers at Tuesday’s meeting provided ways for community members to gain access to the tools and education needed to garden at home. They came representing five projects and groups.

Two of the groups at the meeting, the Small Potatoes Gleaning Project, and BUGS, help people farm their land at home and give them the tools and labor needed to do it, at no cost. Small Potatoes takes the produce and distributes it to local food banks.

The Backyard Beans and Grains Project encourages Bellingham residents to use local seeds in their gardens and participate in seed swaps, events at which people bring their excess seed and trade them for others, Krista Rome, director said at the meeting.

Homestead Habitats operates as a for-profit business, and provides construction and landscaping services, as well as education about maintaining a garden.

The Whatcom County School Garden Collective currently has two school garden projects in Birchwood, one at Birchwood Elementary and one a Shuksan Middle School.

Welch said to outsiders, it may not look like the land in Birchwood is used to its fullest potential, but residents using their land in this way and participating in these community projects will use it productively and feed a lot of people in Bellingham in the process.

Welding Rodeo at Bellingham Technical College

The Welding Rodeo at Bellingham Technical College on Friday May 21, featured 10 student teams from community colleges and high schools. They each created a project fitting the theme, “The Human Form,” from the scrap metal they were given two weeks before, which were then assessed by a panel of judges.

The top three places were given to Olympic College, Bellingham Technical College and Green River Community College respectively.

On Saturday May 22, the professional welders competed, and all pieces were sold in a live auction, the highest seller earning $4 thousand.

All the works of art were sold by way of silent and live auction, raising money for the Bellingham technical college foundation, which provides scholarships for students.

According to Bellingham Technical College welding instructor Mary Kuebelbeck, the profit from the art work also covers the cost of the event, which typically costs $16-$17 thousand.

The Faith Lutheran garden is still in the planning stage- the garden layout and cost are unknown

The Faith Lutheran garden is seeking funding from the Whatcom County branch of Washington State University’s Community First! Gardens. This organization guides community members though the process of creating a garden from scratch and provides funding.
According to Becky Curtis of the organization, they gave a grant of $5 thousand to the Cordata Community Garden, which covered 25 percent of their total startup budget.
The cost of gardens vary, she said. She said it depends on what gardeners do with the gardens and how expensive their landscaping needs are. Fences, paths and trellises cost more money than simple flower beds.
A garden in Everson that is currently seeking grant money from Community First! Gardens, has hardly used any money at all because they have used all natural materials, she said. For example, the group used logs from the surrounding forest in lieu of lumber, to form the raised flower beds.
Since the Faith Lutheran group has not yet established an exact layout or plan for the garden, it is difficult to estimate what the cost will be.

Church is starting community garden in Birchwood

Community members at Faith Lutheran Church in the Birchwood neighborhood are in the planning stage of creating a community vegetable garden on the church’s property.
The purpose of the garden is to provide nutritious food for families in the neighborhood and reduce family food budgets while fostering community in the neighborhood, said Edward Alexander, a member of the church’s parish council. Approximately 15 people at the church are currently involved in the project, he said.
Produce can be expensive to purchase but costs almost nothing to grow, he said. Families who may cut produce out of their budget and opt to purchase less expensive food will now have nutritious food available to them.
According to Alexander, ten thousand residents live within one mile of the church. More 60 percent of these residents live in apartments or duplexes. Because of this, families may not have the land to grow gardens individually, so a community garden may be a good resource for them, he said.
The location of the garden will be the grassy plot of land next to the church, which is approximately four thousand square feet, said Alexander.
The church hopes to see involvement from the broader neighborhood community, he said.
According to Becky Curtis, of Community First! Gardens, most neighborhood gardens allow families to have an individual plot, which they are responsible for tending and harvesting. Some gardens like the one in the Cordata neighborhood set aside a larger plot for communal use, she said. Larger crops like corn, that take more space to grow are planted in these plots and gardeners take turns tending them, she said.
She said the Faith Lutheran garden is unique because the garden plot is on private land and is being offered as a resource to the broader community. She said it is also especially useful to the community since so many people who live near the church are in apartment buildings and don’t have space to garden themselves.
“It will really serve a group of people who don’t have land of their own to use,” she said.
“We’d like to get started as soon as possible,” Alexander said.
He said ideally the gardening will begin in about a month, but it is unknown when the gardening will begin since the church is still in the process of planning the garden and coming up with the funding for the startup costs of the garden.

The church will apply for funding to create garden

The church is currently applying for a grant from the Whatcom County branch of the Washington State University Community First! Gardens.
Curtis said when distributing grant money to help pay for the cost of a garden, the organization wants to make sure the garden has longevity and the neighborhood will be actively involved in the project.
They also want to make sure that the gardeners will be available to share experiences and advice with future garden projects funded by the organization.
Curtis gave a presentation to the members of the Faith Lutheran project at one of the meetings they had about the garden project, in order to give them the information they needed to begin planning the garden and applying for the grant.
She said when working with a garden project, the intention is they will eventually receive a grant from Community First! Gardens.

Garden projects in Birchwood underway

Community garden projects are a way to bring the neighborhood together and allow for interaction among residents, said Birchwood Neighborhood Association Board President Adrienne Battis.
There are garden projects underway at Shuksan Middle School, as well as Birchwood Elementary School, she said.
The church would like students to be involved in their garden, Alexander said.
Dan Welch of the neighborhood association said the next neighborhood association meeting will focus on the garden projects in the neighborhood.
According to Welch, Birchwood was once known for its gardens, which are accommodated by the particularly large plots of land in the neighborhood.
Battis said the large land plots are unique to Birchwood, and there is concern that this feature will be lost in development.
Welch said the neighborhood wants to show that it can do something productive and sustainable for its residents with the land.

Event to help feed the hungry draws participation from 40 restaurants

Dine Out With Maple Alley Inn, an event coordinated in cooperation with the Opportunity Council in Whatcom County took place May 4, 40 restaurants participated in the event, giving a portion of their proceeds to Maple Alley Inn, which distributes food to people and need.

This program is one of the programs that works with the Opportunity Council, which prevents hunger and homelessness in Whatcom County.

Although outreach may not specifically be targeted toward Birchwood, the outreach that is offered though the Opportunity Center and it’s partner organizations is available for homeless individuals throughout the city and county, Rebecca DenBeste of the Opportunity Council said.

She said people get connected with the Opportunity Council through word of mouth, through food banks and churches. The organizations that work with the opportunity center will sometimes direct people there, to get assistance for transitional housing, energy assistance and other services, she said.

“Obviously the homeless population is a good networking system in itself,” she said.

Outreach activist says chronic homelessness is decreasing in Bellingham due to community aid

Bruce Johnson, of Whatcom Project Homeless Connect, which also works with the Opportunity Council, said this years’ Point In Time homeless count, a census of all the homeless people in Whatcom County, showed a significant decline in chronic homelessness. This is die to the community outreach though social service agencies and other programs, he said.
One of the community concerns is that a large portion of the homeless population is children, he said. Twenty percent of homeless people in Whatcom County are under the age of ten, according to the Point In Time homeless count for 2009.

“Youth and families are a big part of the homeless population,” he said

Johnson said at the project’s annual event, which was held in March, said there was an increased number of youth and elderly people present. The Whatcom Project Homeless Connect event served 680 homeless guests this year, he said.

Johnson said there are a number of social service agencies that serve Whatcom County and are available to these individuals when the project’s event is not going on.

Shuksan will accommodate relocated students in the fall

In the fall, Shuksan Middle School will welcome 200 additional seventh-graders and seven teachers as a result of the Whatcom Middle School fire in 2009. It will be an adjustment for students, staff and parents as the district and the school address issues such as transportation and space limitation in the school.

Principal Andy Mark said space is the biggest challenge the school will face. Additional portables may be needed and the seventh-graders, who traditionally occupy the second floor will be dispersed throughout the school.

Mark said although there have been numerous parent concerns he feels parents and students have become used to the idea of the students being integrated into the school.

“It is an unfortunate situation because you never want kids to have to change schools,” Mark said.

According to Mark, the student ASB elections will include the relocated seventh-graders, and will likely be held in the fall instead of the usual spring, so the new students can participate in the election.

Parent is concerned about discipline and class availability

Michelle McConas has a stepdaughter at Shuksan, and a son and stepson going into the sixth grade at Shuksan in the fall.

McConas said she is worried increasing the student population by 200 students will only increase social conflict between groups of students.

Incidents of bullying and violence already concern her despite the strict discipline policy at the middle school, she said.

She is also concerned her students will have difficulty participating in classes and programs due to limited space.

Principal says class sizes and curriculum will not be affected

Mark said there would be no difference in class sizes because of the seven faculty members being relocated to Shuksan.

The curriculum between the two schools is identical so students are on the same track and the new students will be integrated into the same classes Shuksan students are in, he said.