Conservation Commission Closes Prospect Village Hearing as Developer Refuses Continuance

BELLINGHAM -- August 13, 2025, Bellingham Conservation Commission closes hearing on 120-unit Prospect Village townhouse proposal after developer refuses to continue. The commission spent most of its August 13 meeting pressing applicant representative Paul McManus and engineer Rob Truax on four unresolved issues: inconsistencies in wetland buffer and riverfront impact tallies, the absence of a written alternatives analysis for detention basin four and a proposed drainage swale, an outstanding tree-caliper count within the 50-foot buffer zone, and a disputed question of whether a four-foot groundwater separation requirement applies to the condominium project. Developer Lou Petros, joining by video late in the meeting, declined to continue the proceeding: "If the commission's going to deny this application because we didn't locate 10-inch trees or greater, then go for it." A commission member replied that denial was more likely grounded in missing wetland impact documentation and the absent alternatives narrative, and warned that those gaps would undermine any appeal to the state DEP for a superseding order. The commission voted unanimously to close and will deliberate at its August 27 meeting, within the 21-day statutory window.