Planning Board sets August traffic hearing for 900-unit New England Country Club proposal

BELLINGHAM -- June 26, 2025, Bellingham Planning Board unanimously schedules August 28 traffic hearing on New England Country Club's 900-unit senior rental proposal. Planning Director Rob Lucier confirmed four separate peer reviews, traffic, stormwater, water, and sewer, will be funded by the applicant, with Beta Group retained for water and Kleinfelder for sewer; the traffic peer review had not yet been funded at the time of the meeting but the applicant's representative committed to funding it the following day. The proposal has been cut from 1,600 units to 900 across seven buildings on the western parcel only, after the full eastern parcel was removed in response to resident and public-safety feedback. Dozens of residents raised concerns about Pain Street traffic, stormwater flooding in the Elbow Street AE flood zone, and the affordability of units the applicant described as likely renting for roughly $3,000 per month. The applicant committed publicly for the first time that the 55-plus age restriction will be written as a binding condition of any final special permit, a position the board chairman called "a position change."