Planned Condo in Fairhaven Goes Through Drastic Changes

In 2005, there was a plan in Fairhaven to build new condos by the waterfront along Padden Creek. The plan was proposed but there were problems from the beginning. Five years later, a revised plan of the condo was presented. The old plan was for an eight story building that would include 88 condos. The new plan is for a 100 unit hotel with 11 condos. Also included would be a restaurant and a small retail shop.

            According to Larry Kimmet, the president of the Fairhaven Neighborhood Association, the old plan never went through mostly because of the economy. Other issues included that the building was too tall and it would obstruct the view of the buildings around it. Many neighbors voiced their concerns at neighborhood association meetings that they would not like a building that tall to be built in Fairhaven. Between 2005 and 2010, the ownership of the permit changed as did the plan of making the building into a hotel rather than a condo.

            AVT Consulting, a consulting firm that specializes in development consulting, permit processing, and project and management company has been part of the new project. Ali Taysi, the principal and founder of AVT consulting has been involved every step of the way. According to Taysi, the only problems right now are concerns with the old permit which was for building a condo not a hotel, and the permit will expire soon. The permit has not expired until now because it was extended due to the economy, Taysi said.

“We can’t get the permit extended if the use of it is changed,” Taysi said. “So we need to get a whole new permit.”

The problem of the old planned condo building being too tall has still not been resolved. If the hotel is built the way it has been proposed, it will be the tallest building in Fairhaven, hovering at 85ft tall. During a presentation that was held by AVT Consulting on October 8^th, 2010, showing the new plan, the main concerned raised by residents of the Fairhaven neighborhood was the height of the hotel. The hotel will take 20 ft. of viewing quarters from residents around the area. AVT Consulting did take that into consideration and have reduced the height of the buildings that would be part of the hotel.

Two problems that have risen from the new plan that were not problems with the original condo plan are traffic concerns and they type of hotel that might be built. If the hotel is built, especially one that has been planned for so long, many people will want to see it for themselves Kimmet said. Since it is going to be built in Fairhaven, a town already busy during the summer and holiday seasons, it will be even busier. In the end that would mean a lot of traffic for the Fairhaven neighborhood, according to Kimmet.

“Fairhaven has minor to no traffic problems right now, but with the new hotel, there will be a lot more traffic that residents will probably not enjoy,” Kimmet said.

Fairhaven is unique in the way that there are no types of major chains in the neighborhood. All hotels, restaurants, shops, and everything else are not major chains and are mostly owned by someone in the neighborhood. According to Kimmet and other board members of the Fairhaven Neighborhood Association, the hotel could possibly be a chain.

“There are no other chains in Fairhaven, it will be interesting to see the outcome if a chain is indeed put in,” Kimmet said.

Indeed, it will be interesting to see how the Fairhaven neighborhood will change. Whether the hotel is a chain or not, there will be changes in the neighborhood.

Fairhaven Middle School Gets Healthy

             Fairhaven Middle School recently participated in Superintendent Greg Baker’s Fitness Fridays, as a way of promoting healthy habits.           

Superintendent Baker is new to the Bellingham school district and wanted a fun, healthy, way to get to know the community. Baker came up with the idea of having Fitness Fridays, which meant every Friday he would go to one of the schools in the Bellingham school district and do an early morning jog or physical activity with the school. Baker encouraged not only students, but teachers, parents, and anyone in the community to come out and take part of the activity. Afterward, Baker would go and spend the whole day with the school and try and get one on one time with each classroom.

            Fitness Fridays started on Sept. 24 and went through Oct. 29 because of weather conditions. Baker’s original plan was to just spend all day at each school on Mondays or Fridays, and then Baker came up with his Fitness Fridays plan. There were only four schools lucky enough to be part of Fitness Fridays and Baker has had so much positive feedback that he might start it up again in the spring time when the weather gets better he said. There were anywhere between 10 and 40 people at each school, Baker said.

 “I wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle for the staff and anyone else in the community and school,” Baker said. “This was a very good, informal way to meet with the community.”

Fairhaven Middle School was one of the first schools to be part of Fitness Fridays. Baker came to Fairhaven Middle School before school started and encouraged everyone to join him on a 20 minute jog around the school and the neighborhood. Principle Michelle Kuss-Cybla was one of the participants. Since the jog took place before school, there were not a lot of participants since most of the students ride the bus, which was not a surprise to Kuss-Cybla she said.

“I thought this was such a great way to get to know the school and the community, Baker even turned off his cell phone while at the schools to really put his time and energy at the school,” Kuss-Cybla said. “Kudos to him!”

This is not the only thing Fairhaven Middle School has done in the past to promote a healthy lifestyle for the students, staff, parents, and community members. The school has its own garden where the students learn to grow their own food, and they get taught about organic foods and healthy eating habits Kuss-Cybla said.

“The purpose of the garden is to get the culture of the garden into the school,” Kuss-Cybla said.

They also have a program called Farm to Market where the school got a grant to get organic food from around Fairhaven sent to the school so the students have healthy options when they eat at school. A project that could be in the works is a greenhouse for the middle school. Kuss-Cybla said that as of right now, parents, staff, and the communityare seeing if it would be a good project to take on. If the project gets approved, the greenhouse project will start in January.

Fairhaven Middle School took part of Fitness Fridays as a way to promote healthy habits, this was only one of the many things the middle school has done to promote healthy habits, and there is still more to come. 

Flourishing Businesses in Fairhaven

            The heart of the Fairhaven neighborhood is made up of mostly businesses ranging from food to art. There are a little over 200 small businesses in the Fairhaven neighborhood, all of which are still up and running during this economic recession.

            It is expected for businesses to lose money at a time of an economic recession. The baker of Katie’s Cupcakes, Jade, who has been with Katie since day one, knows the ins and outs of the business. According to Jade, business has not been as terrible as one would think. After the excitement that the new business brought, Jade noticed that they were still busy year round. “Business has slowed down a bit, but it has been pretty steady,” Jade said. Jade also said that the cupcake business is a unique one, something new to the Fairhaven community, so she thinks that is why Katie’s Cupcakes is still doing just fine. Year round there are customers wanting cupcakes for the holiday season, birthdays, weddings, etc. all of which take place at different times of the year. So whatever the month, Katie’s Cupcakes stays busy. Sometimes even having orders are big as 1,000 cupcakes.

            Unlike Katie’s Cupcakes, clothing stores are not unique. Anyone can find clothes anywhere. Danielle Starr, owner of Four Starrs Boutique, thinks otherwise. Starr has been in business for the past five years and has seen her share of decline in sales. Starr had most of her business the first nine months the boutique was open, and as soon as the economy started to get bad, so did her sales.  “People had to choose between food and luxuries, and this is a luxury,” Starr said. The decline in sales was not enough to stop her from staying in business. Starr even moved her store to a bigger location in Fairhaven because the first location was simply not big enough. Even now, Starr would not want to go back to her smaller location. Just like Katie’s Cupcakes, there is always an event going on during the year that keeps Starr in business whether it is the holiday season, any event that requires a present, or even when the boutique receives new clothing.

            Bookstores, just like clothing stores, are found just about anywhere. What keeps the bookstore, Village Books, in Fairhaven running year round? Jonica, a worker for Village Books, gives the credit of steady business to the fact that the bookstore does not sell books or other items that are common at big bookstores. The books are more unique, the kind that people search for but can never find at big bookstores. Village Books has been around for 30 years and Jonica says the past ten years have not been terrible. The only time that there was a big decrease in sales, was the winter of 2008 when the weather was very bad. No one was out around the Fairhaven neighborhood; it was too cold and stormy. Village Books does not specialize in textbooks for students so students are not the main customers. The majority of the customers are tourists, and older people, a lot coming from Skagit County.

            Being unique seems to be the key to these three businesses. The economy has taken a toll on the business, but not enough to close them down. With the products that they sell, whether it is cupcakes, clothing, or books, it is all unique to the Fairhaven neighborhood. “Four Starr is a store that is different than what Fairhaven is used to, and it works,” Starr said.

Fairhaven Neighborhood

Welcome to the Fairhaven Neighborhood. This blog will be filled with information about the Fairhaven community. There will be news stories, events going on, and everything in between.