Bellingham planning committee backs creating landlord–tenant work group; amendment to reserve an income‑constrained seat is tabled

The Bellingham City Council Planning Committee on May 11 discussed agenda bill 24929, a resolution to create a limited‑term advisory work group charged with reviewing the city’s landlord and tenant programs and recommending improvements.

Councilmember Huffman, chair of the Planning Committee, said the group would respond to Mayor Linne’s 2024 Housing Executive Order and help shape updates to rental registration, inspection and tenant outreach. “The work group we’re proposing was called for in Mayor Linne’s 2024 Housing Executive Order,” Huffman said, and staff noted the city currently has 22,578 registered rental units.

Deputy Administrator Janice Keller and Planning and Community Development Director Blake Ryan told the committee the proposed body would include 9 to 13 members serving for about a year, representing tenants, landlords and people with lived or professional experience in rental housing. Julie from the planning team said the group’s final product would be a report identifying prioritized near‑, mid‑ and long‑term recommendations and that a consultant would be retained to help prepare deliverables.

Councilmember Anderson moved to amend the resolution so that among the tenant seats (the packet lists at least four residents, including students in off‑campus housing) there would also be at least one seat designated for an individual who is income‑constrained or currently receiving housing assistance. “I want to make sure that one of the people on the advisory group is someone who’s receiving assistance and is income constrained because I think their lens of what’s happening in the rental is a very important voice to have,” Anderson said.

Members debated whether designating a guaranteed seat could leave it unfilled and whether the term “income‑constrained” should be defined as current receipt of subsidy (for example Section 8 or housing authority vouchers) or broader household income thresholds. Councilmember Williams and others proposed that staff explicitly encourage applications from students in off‑campus housing and from income‑constrained residents in the solicitation language rather than formally reserving a seat, to avoid a vacant position while still prioritizing outreach to those communities.

Staff said the city’s advisory‑group application is posted on the city website and will be used for recruitment; if the council approves the resolution staff will publicize the opening and accept applications. Planning staff also said that if a specific seat remains unfilled after outreach, the seat would remain open until an appropriate applicant is identified.

To allow staff time to draft precise wording that reflects council intent, Anderson moved to table her amendment so staff could prepare language that would either reserve or otherwise secure representation for an income‑constrained tenant. The committee agreed to table that amendment by voice vote and asked staff to bring revised language back at the full council meeting that evening for possible final action.

Members emphasized the work group should focus on improvements the city can implement within current resources while allowing the group to note longer‑term or regional issues that may require additional funding or state action. Staff said the aim is a focused, roughly one‑year effort producing a prioritized report that could lead to quicker, actionable changes to rental programs and inspections.

The committee did not take final action on the resolution in the afternoon session; staff will return with amended language and the full council may vote that evening. The administration and council members said they hope to have the work group seated by the end of September, subject to the application and appointment process.