BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Bellingham is moving forward with a plan to temporarily remove parking minimums in an effort to create more housing.

Bellingham City Council voted 6-1 on Monday night in favor of the interim ordinance that came in response to Mayor Kim Lund’s recent executive order to expand housing options in Bellingham.

City code currently requires developers to include a certain amount of parking spaces based on how many people live at a residence or by square footage for non-residential buildings. The proposed ordinance would instead allow those developers to choose how much parking they deem necessary.

According to the city’s Planning and Community Development Department, studies have shown that adding more parking drives up the cost of housing and reduces the available land to create more of it.

Council member Michael Lilliquist voted in favor of the ordinance, but still noted his concerns that it will not directly address the cost of housing.

“More housing is not a guarantee of affordability,” Lilliquist said at the meeting. “This ordinance is not actually designed to deliver affordability… it will deliver on supply. And that will probably have an effect on affordability, but not a direct effect, not a reliable effect, not a targeted effect.”

The vast majority of public comment submitted to the council urged it to approve the ordinance, including letters from the WTA, Whatcom Housing Alliance and local development groups

A mandatory public hearing on the interim ordinance will be held on Jan. 13, 2025, ahead of the council’s final vote.

If approved, it would go into effect for one year.