Bellingham Conservation Commission Reverses Buffer Zone Waiver Denial for Blackstone Street Project

BELLINGHAM — June 24, 2026 — Bellingham Conservation Commission reverses earlier wetland buffer denial for Blackstone Street stormwater project. The commission voted 5 to 1 at its June 24 meeting to approve Waiver Request Number 2 for Wall Street Development Corporation's Blackstone Street infrastructure project, allowing limited construction within the 25-foot no-disturb buffer zone adjacent to a wetland after the applicant returned with revised plans reducing proposed encroachment by an estimated 30 to 35 percent by adjusting a detention basin's side slope from four-to-one to three-to-one. Member Pam, attending remotely, cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing the reduction was not significant enough to reverse the prior denial and that the applicant's ownership of adjacent Lot 2 constituted a self-imposed hardship. The commission also unanimously adopted a new Bellingham Beaver and Muskrat Management Policy, clarifying that the Board of Health — not the Conservation Commission — is the primary authority for emergency beaver removal permits, and voted unanimously to close without prejudice a long-stalled Lakeview Avenue Notice of Intent after applicant Seth Joyce of Joy and Associates failed to appear or respond to repeated outreach from Conservation Administrator Hannah. The Red Mill on the Charles subdivision — spanning more than 20 lots — was continued to July 8 at the applicant's request.