The City is currently working on its 2025 Comprehensive Plan Update.
Click here for more information.
The City of Ferndale is updating and revising the citywide transportation plan, also known as the “Transportation Element” of the Comprehensive Plan, to guide mobility and safety improvements over the next 20 years.
To understand what challenges users of the transportation system face and identify potential ways to improve conditions, we invite you to participate in this 10-minute transportation focused survey.
You can find the survey here: www.ferndaletransportationsurvey.com or by clicking on the graphic below.
What is a comprehensive plan?
The Washington State Growth Management Act, or GMA, was adopted in the early 1990’s and requires that jurisdictions create plans such as this to ensure cities will continue to provide adequate services such as water, sewer, and roads; plan for system-wide transportation improvements like the Thornton Connector; and identify land uses and the land areas necessary to serve both new and existing development.
The City’s first comprehensive plan under GMA was completed in 1997 and updated in 2005 and 2016, and the 2025 update is taking place now.
Most cities create the document and then leave it on a dusty shelf. But here in Ferndale, we aim higher.
Grandview Economic Opportunity Study
The City of Ferndale, in partnership with the Port of Bellingham, is conducting a study to assess the economic benefits to utility
ratepayers for funding utility improvements in the Grandview Area. The goal of the City of Ferndale and the Port of Bellingham is to
encourage development that will bring the greatest economic benefits to Ferndale and Whatcom County. The study will inform the
City and County’s long-range vision for the area and decisions about when and where to expand utilities. Utility infrastructure is
generally supported by new development in Washington state. In this case, the city as the utility owner, could fund an expansion if
it is in the best interest of utility ratepayers, which would be reimbursed through connection fees and other means. If this study
demonstrates economic benefits, such as business development and job growth, grants and other funding may be available.
State law dictates how cities manage growth. Ferndale is expected to grow by approximately 11,000 people and add nearly 3,500
jobs between 2025 and 2045. The Grandview Study Area is in Ferndale’s urban growth area (UGA). Over the last ten years, the City
has managed growth through infill development. Eventually, future growth will lead the City to annex more of its urban growth
areas, including the parts of the Grandview Study Area that are currently outside of the city limits.
OPEN HOUSE – TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2024
The City of Ferndale and Port of Bellingham will be cohosting an Open House to discuss this study and to answer any questions, on
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at Pioneer Pavilion Community Center (2007 Cherry Street, Ferndale).
For more information, please contact Communications Officer Megan Juenemann at meganjuenemann@cityofferndale.org.
Comprehensive Plan Sections
(all documents are accessible as pdfs)
Chapter VI – Capital Facilities
Chapter VII – Economic Development
A Digital Exploration of Ferndale – 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update
Over the next twenty years, Ferndale is forecast to grow more rapidly than any community in Northwest Washington, adding nearly 7,000 people and up to 4,000 jobs. The Ferndale Market Area, which includes the City limits, the Ferndale School District, the Lummi Nation, and the Cherry Point Industrial Area, will provide new and varied economic growth, creating jobs and retail opportunities we can’t even imagine in 2016.
To help chart our course through this period of rapid change, we have produced this 2016 Comprehensive Plan. This is not the first, nor will it be the last Comprehensive Plan for the City. The first was completed in 1968 and updated periodically through the 1980’s.