In February 1996, the City of Blaine annexed 1,182 acres of mostly undeveloped land east of the former city limits.  The East Blaine Subarea encompassed one large Category 1 wetland and several other wetlands, and fell within a wellhead protection area.  During the infrastructure planning process for East Blaine, preliminary design was underway for two planned unit developments, including one that surrounded the large wetland.  For infrastructure planning, the Subarea build-out was anticipated to be just over 3,000 units. CHS Engineers worked with Blaine’s planner and public works department to get a clear picture of the expectations for the Subarea.  CHS Engineers then relied on previous planning documents and studies in order to develop the plan.  From the process of creating the infrastructure plan, policy issues emerged that were discussed at length to ensure that all parties were in agreement with the approaches that were used in the final East Blaine planning effort. 

Because the city’s existing infrastructure would be impacted by development in East Blaine, the interfaces were evaluated.  During this planning phase, East Blaine was grouped into discrete areas in order to evaluate various development-phasing scenarios.  Upgrades to existing systems became a part of the infrastructure plan, including a timeline for implementation.  Sensitivities to the neighboring jurisdictions (Canada and Whatcom County) were a part of the planning effort and included anticipating an interlocal agreement with the county.

 The product was a plan that addressed streets, water, sewer, and stormwater.  A “backbone” system of infrastructure was mapped to serve East Blaine and “shared asset” costs were developed to assign a per-unit cost.  Options for realizing the needed revenue stream were also provided.