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Development of ‘the pit’ may include parking

Vacant lot in Fairhaven relieves parking pressure

Cars are parked in "the pit
Cars are parked in "the pit (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
By Ralph Schwartz Local Government Reporter

An unofficial Fairhaven parking lot known as “the pit” may be developed with new shops and residences, but Bellingham officials are in talks with the developer to also offer public parking on the site.

Developer David Ebenal has not submitted a formal application to the city for development of the 73,000-square-foot property on the northwest corner of Mill Avenue and 11th Street, Bellingham Planning Director Blake Lyon said. But the city, the developer and architect David Christensen have discussed providing roughly as many public parking spaces as are currently found in the pit, Lyon said. Two design concepts under consideration show covered garage parking and an open parking lot.

“We know that parking in Fairhaven is a prominent concern for the community,” Lyon said. “We want to be cognizant of that fact, looking at this project to say, ‘What can we do so that there’s a community benefit associated with [it]?’”

Ebenal did not respond to a request for comment. Brad Imus, who owns the lots that include the pit, confirmed Monday during an interview that Ebenal has the option to purchase the property for development. Imus has made the tiered gravel lot north of Mill Avenue available for free public parking for the past several years.

A 2014 survey listed the pit as the No. 1 parking option for people who worked in Fairhaven. A Fairhaven merchant around that time called the roughly 75 spaces in the pit “a savior for our district” because it relieves parking pressures in the popular shopping area.

A parking structure for Fairhaven could be years away, if one is built at all. Meanwhile, the Bellingham City Council approved fee changes for existing garages downtown.

The cost to park in the Commercial Street Garage at 1300 Commercial St. — formerly known as the Parkade — will drop from $70 to $30 per month on Feb. 1. The City Council unanimously approved the change on Monday night, in addition to fees at three other permit-only parking areas downtown.

Monthly permits for on-street parking on the 1500 block of Railroad Avenue also will be discounted in February, from $45 to $25. That block of Railroad and the Commercial Street Garage are both underutilized currently, Public Works Superintendent Carol Rofkar told the council at a committee meeting Monday afternoon.

On the other hand, the Central Avenue lot south of the post office on Prospect Street and the Railroad Avenue Garage at 1215 Railroad Ave. have long waitlists, according to a staff memo to City Council. The cost of permits in those two parking areas will go up $10 a month in February.


Metered parking downtown and in Fairhaven increases from $1 to $1.50 an hour beginning Jan. 1. Council approved this increase in January 2022, when it instituted paid parking in Fairhaven. Also, metered parking becomes progressively more expensive after two hours, starting Jan. 1.

This story was updated at 12:47 p.m. on Dec. 13 to report the Bellingham City Council’s vote Monday night to change certain parking permit fees.

A previous version of this story incorrectly named David Ebenal. The story was updated to reflect this change on Dec. 13, 2022 at 3:10 p.m. The Cascadia Daily News regrets the error. 

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