CAMAS MILL DISTRICT PLAN
Discussion Draft
January 6, 2026
This issue was brought to bear in early 2025 when the City Council created two new fees, increased three others, and substantially increased development fees for new housing. Impact fees can exceed $30k exclusive of water and sewer hookup . This 17 reduces the affordability of housing through higher new home costs, thereby raising the price of the existing housing stock. This is followed by increasing taxes being passed on renters both residential and commercial. There is a growing cry in Camas for real economic development such as could be provided by portions of remediated mill parcels. As an example, a 3.3 acre remediated parcel in Bellingham, WA will soon be home to around 200 housing units including many for very low and low income residents. It is walking distant to downtown. Strong Towns Camas has testified to the City Council the current model of sprawl is a spiral of increasing costs and decreasing revenue opportunities. The development style in the Mill District Plan supports significant new development avoiding residents and Is the Camas Mill “To Big to Clean? The financial crisis of the aughts coined the phrase “to big to fail.” There are many views expressed in the community that the Camas Mill is to big to clean Bellingham has shown the way Camas needs look no further in Washington State 18 for a successful affordable housing example. While Camas proclaims the difficulty of building affordable housing, the absence of future residential use of properly remediated mill property makes matter worse. The Port of Bellingham shows a different reality. The site is a former GP paper mill including pulp operations. Within a 20 year timeframe nearly 200 units of affordable housing are nearing completion. The “Millworks” includes low income and middle housing. Camas can benefit from Bellingham’s lessons learned, and interim actions, Camas fully cooperating with DOE can speed the process on less contaminated sites. Bellingham shows true affordable housing can be built in Camas, perhaps on a portion of the lab site, within the time frame of Our Camas 2045. Millworks would occupy but 19 one-eighth of the CBC (lab site) alone. The maximum Fire Fee is $10,633, Park/Open Space Fee is$13,549, and School Impact fee is $6,650. 17 https://millworksproject.org/ and news article https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/ 18 article298210558.html https://millworksproject.org/ and news article https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/ 19 article298210558.html Page of 12 35 businesses paying more and more. The Mill District Plan can change this.
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