Nationwide existing-home sales for December 2011 increased 5% from November. This is the third consecutive month of increases and the second highest reading of 2011. The December level was also 3.6% above December 2010, and as a whole, existing-home sales were up 1.7% from 2010. Total housing inventory dropped 9.2% for December, representing a 6.2-month supply, down from a 7.2-month supply in November.
JARED PABEN; THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Whatcom County leaders will consider rezoning hundreds of acres south of Drayton Harbor to allow more rural housing development, a move that could settle a legal challenge against the county.
The County Council on Tuesday, Sept. 27, will consider changing 470 acres from zoning that allows one house per 10 acres to zoning that allows one house per five acres. The land is north of Lincoln Road, south of Drayton Harbor, west of Harborview Road and east of the Semiahmoo community.
The rezone, proposed by council member Sam Crawford, would partially undo a rezone of the property in November 2009. That’s when the previous council, as part of an update to urban growth areas countywide, eliminated urban zoning for the land and designated it one house per 10 acres, a rural zoning.
Owners of land in the area appealed to a state growth board.
The new council has undone or partially undone portions of the November 2009 countywide rezone. It restored urban zoning near Ferndale, Blaine and Birch Bay.
The current council also made changes to 770 acres near Birch Bay. On that land the council stopped short of restoring urban zoning, but did rezone it to allow more rural growth.
The council will consider a similar move Tuesday.
Rezoning the 470 acres as proposed would let landowners create 38 more parcels than is allowed under current zoning, planners estimate. Planners are recommending that the council approve the change.
In January, the city of Blaine wrote to the county that it supports the change.
The county Planning Commission on July 28 voted to recommend approval. At the meeting, attorney Scot Swanson, who represents landowners in the area, said they would drop their legal challenge at the state growth board if the county approves the rezone, according to meeting minutes.
The lesson rates listed are special rates for members.
TENNIS INSTRUCTION
Tennis Classes
Tennis classes are $15 per session and are on a drop-in basis.
Beginner Classes for Juniors and Adults
Tuesdays and Thursdays
3:30-4:30 pm
(Sunday afternoons may be added based upon request)
Intermediate/Advanced Classes for Juniors and Adults
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays
4:30-6 pm
Private Tennis Lessons
Member price – $45 per hour
Semi-private Tennis Lessons
Member price – $50 per hour
Please contact Eric Cramer if you havc any questions pertaining to tennis lessons – 360-650-9139
GOLF INSTRUCTION
As we head into the golf season, it may be time to start thinking about your golf game.
Allow one of our golf professionals to help you make improvements to your game.
Lessons are available from Brett, Chris, Justin, or Luke
Private Golf Lessons
1 hour lesson – $60
Series of 5 lessons – $240
Junior Golf Lessons (age 17 and under)
1 hour lesson – $40
Series of 5 lessons – $160
Semi-private and group lessons are available as well. Please contact one of our golf professionals for more information or to schedule a lesson.
Brett, Justin, and Luke can be reached in the Semiahmoo Pro Shop. Chris can be reached in the Loomis Trail Pro Shop.
Golf lessons are also available from Jeff Coston. Please contact Jeff for more information regarding his lessons.
Published on Wed, Feb 16, 2011 by By Jeremy Schwartz
THE NORTHERN LIGHT
The real estate market crash of 2007 has claimed another victim: the 145-acre planned community Horizon at Semiahmoo will go up for auction in April.
Union Bank, which holds the $43 million in unpaid loans, will put the property up for auction on April 29. The original vision for the community, where only one model home now stands, was to create a low-impact development with an emphasis on environmentally friendly architecture and storm-water management, lead developer Fred Bovenkamp said in an e-mail.
The development started in 2005, when Bovenkamp and his partners purchased the land on the west side of the Semiahmoo area from the Trillium Corporation. However, once the lots, roads and utility hookups were built in 2007, the real estate market took a dive.
After interest in the million-dollar homes slated for the lots waned, Bovenkamp proposed smaller, less expensive homes but there was no money to build models of these seaside cottages, the lack of which practically swept Horizon off the radar of most buyers.
“Virtually overnight, there were no more secondary home buyers in the market, particularly in resort and recreational communities,” Bovenkamp said.
Even after reducing the prices of the $400,000 lots by 70 percent, Bovenkamp said buyers showed little interest in the community. The only structure ever built was a model home Bovenkamp owns, appraised in 2008 at $1.3 million, a mere shadow of what the completed development could have been, he said.
“We didn’t expect the economic meltdown that transpired,” Bovenkamp said. “And we did not react quick enough to what the market instantly told us.”
Now a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Bain in Bellevue, Bovenkamp said he has lost all his active development projects in Whatcom County to foreclosure within the last 18 months.
Though the Horizon development has proved a major setback, Bovenkamp said he still hopes a buyer will come along to complete the vision he had in 2007.
“My hope is that I can find a financial partner who appreciates the Horizon vision and the amazing uniqueness of the property so we can together finish what we started,” he said.
Semiahmoo Yacht Club members celebrate the season with a lighted boat parade on Saturday, December 5. Vessels will leave the Blaine and Semiahmoo Marinas at 4:15 p.m. to meet at the red buoy in Semiahmoo Bay. Lights will go on at 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. A no-host viewing and dinner for landlubbers and boaters, members and guests at Packers within the Semiahmoo Resort will be held from 4:00 to 7:30. Everyone is welcome. RSVP by December 3 to ibdcatt@aol.com or call 360-392-0644.
