PART 1: When a Corrupt Whatcom County Planner Started Helping Himself
- Brian Gass
- Jan 16
- 8 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
The Story Begins with an Elderly Property Owner
An 80-year-old man and his wife owned a lot in Whatcom County for 10+ years. He'd paid $150,000 for it in 2007, paid taxes on it faithfully, and dreamed of eventually building a home there.
In July 2017, in getting prepared for the building permit, the owners filed a Critical Area Review (CAR) for the property. Part of the process is to have the area reviewed by a wetlands and critical areas planner. Matt Mahaffie, a Wetlands and Critical Area Planner for Whatcom County, was assigned.
When the report came back on July 28, 2017, it was flagged for "More information required for review" by Matt Mahaffie. The exact wording was "Sizable wetland area encompasses much of the open space north of the subject property. No wetland appears to impact the property directly, but the wetland edge is very close to the northern property line with a regulated buffer that would effectively encompass the property as a whole. It does not appear under the review that the standard buffer reductions available within the Whatcom County Code would be adequate to allow for the construction of a single-family home."
(Italics for emphasis)
We are going to want you to remember HOW LONG THIS LIST WAS when we get to what happened to the property in the end.
Fast forward to August of 2019, the builder was working with JWR Design, Inc in Lynden, and they sent an email to Forensic Agronomic Research, Inc, a licensed wetlands and mitigation company, saying that they “just need a mitigation plan to take to Matt”, referring to the Whatcom County Natural Resources Planner, Matt Mahaffie.
Forensic Agronomic Research developed a mitigation plan, and on October 3, 2019, it was delivered to the builder.
The builder returned to Mahaffie with the mitigation plan and continued the permitting process. According to the property owners, the builder had a conversation with Mahaffie, and the development just stalled.
In 2019, nearly two years into their permitting nightmare, the property owner received a letter from the County informing them that their permit was expiring and that an extension was granted.
In 2020, frustrated that their builder couldn’t get any headway with the county and Matt Mahaffie, the builder and the property owner parted ways.
CLICK HERE TO SEE WHY THAT BUILDER CUT THEIR TIES (coming soon)
After a while, the property owner contacted Mahaffie, and was trying to figure out what they could do to get the property ready to sell, and that is when Mahaffie made the overture to buy the property.
That's an ironic way to say, "I control what happens and the outcome."
Seeing no other option, the elderly man, whose wife was deceased by now, sold to Mahaffie’s company, Dead Goat Properties, for $80,000, a $70,000 loss (plus carry costs) from his purchase price, and far below the $140,000 a comparable lot in the same development had sold for just two years earlier.
Fast forward eighteen months, and Dead Goat Properties sold that same property for $229,000. With zero improvements or any mention of any wetland issues.
Let's say this again...ZERO IMPROVEMENTS OR ANY MENTION OF ANY WETLANDS IN THE NWMLS LISTING. We are going to talk about this OMISSION of wetlands in the listing later in this post.
Adding insult to injury for the elderly man, the home built on the property after Mahaffie said it was “unbuildable” was bigger than the one that he wanted to build.
Welcome to the wetlands racket in Whatcom and Skagit Counties, and probably everywhere in Washington, where the same public employees who tell you what you can't do with your property use subjective methods to determine what is "wetlands" or "critical areas". Once you have "given up hope", they will take it off your hands for a steal.
Stealing is what they do, maybe not in the sense of a bank robber, but when cutting the ability to build is in their hands and there is no real accountability for their decisions, it's stealing nevertheless.
The Player, The Properties, The Pattern
As we noted earlier, Matthew Mahaffie works for the Planning & Development Services Department. His job? Reviewing wetland reports and determining whether properties meet environmental standards for building permits.
He's the gatekeeper between your property dreams and reality.
But public records reveal that Mahaffie isn't just reviewing wetlands as part of his job—he's personally making a fortune from his position as a regulator. Through family, connections to the Planning Department, and his "Dead Goat Properties," Mahaffie has been:
Buying properties at suspiciously below-market prices after wetland concerns emerge
Flipping them for massive profits with no improvements
Owning and operating mitigation properties that he can sell to the very people whose permits he reviews
Rejecting independent wetland studies and steering developers toward "preferred" consultants who—surprise—find more wetlands requiring mitigation.
He couldn't hide his involvement in his own deals without a trusty sidekick to rubber-stamp a "helpful" wetlands mitigation report.
Anyone else get a 4-bedroom septic design approved near a stream?
Of course, it gets worse. We are working on a story involving Matt Mahaffie, in which a landowner was saddled with wetland issues and a corrupt neighbor who thwarted any development on their lot, then bought it from them when they gave up. The neighbor then proceeded to ILLEGALLY FILL IN THE WETLAND, and the county allowed THEIR PERMIT to build!
Guess who testified on BEHALF of the CORRUPT NEIGHBOR who ILLEGALLY FILLED IN A WETLAND? You guessed it, Matt Mahaffie!
Let's look at the evidence from our story again.
The Castlerock Property: Following the Timeline
2017: Property owner files for pre-building wetland and critical area review at 4470 Castlerock Drive. King Mahaffie™ immediately flags it for wetland concerns, stating the buffer "would effectively encompass the property as a whole."
2019: Owner hires a consultant for a mitigation plan. Builder submits new plan with the mitigation information to Mahaffie. After a conversation with him, the builder abandons the project. Reason unknown, but an update is coming from the original owner.
Late 2019/early 2020: Frustrated owner lets permit expire.
2020: Owner contacts Mahaffie, asking what can be done with the property, and he is told that it will take a mitigation plan, a variance for the impervious surface, and other time and money-wasting processes to get his house built. This is after TWO YEARS of trying to get something approved.
October 2020: Mahaffie (through Dead Goat Properties) purchases the "unbuildable" property for $80,000 OFF MARKET—43% below the $140,000 comparable properties sold for.
April 2022: Dead Goat Properties sells the same property for $229,000. Zero improvements made. No wetland issues mentioned in the listing or sale.
No WETLAND CONCERNS WITH THE NEXT BUILDING PERMIT. We cover this in the next episode. But here is a screenshot of the wetlands part of the permit for the new owner.
This is from the permit for 2023---same property
This is from the permit for 2017---same property
The King's Ransom: $149,000 in 18 months on a property the seller was told was unbuildable.
The Questions That Need Answers
About the 2017 permitting:
What exactly did Mahaffie tell the builder in their conversation?
Why did the builder suddenly abandon the project after submitting a mitigation plan?
Was the submitted mitigation plan actually inadequate, or was there another reason the builder walked away?
About the 2020 sale:
Was Mahaffie working as the County Planner when he walked the property or as a “consultant”?
Did Mark Peronius, the Director of Whatcom County Planning know about it?
Who set the price for the property?
When using his own real estate agent from John L Scott for the off-market sale, it was later found that the real estate agent posted the sale in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) as a “DUAL AGENT,” which meant that he represented BOTH PARTIES.
Was the seller aware of this clear conflict, the real estate agent from John L Scott, in determining if the price was fair?
About the 2022 resale:
What changed in 18 months to add $149,000 in value with zero improvements?
Why didn’t the 2023 buyer face any wetland restrictions---ON THE SAME LOT?
How was the property suddenly buildable after being "effectively encompassed" by wetland buffers in 2017?
Washington State requires a Seller Disclosure for all land sales (RCW 64.06.015), covering unique land-related aspects like water rights, permits, and environmental concerns, distinct from the residential Form 17 but still mandatory for most transactions unless waived or exempt.
One of the questions for the disclosure is whether there are wetland issues or issues that would affect the property's development. There was NO MENTION in the listing of having to deal with wetlands.
My guess is that the new buyer was either NOT AWARE because it WASN'T DISCLOSED, or they worked it out with the Planning Department ahead of time that their permit would be granted.
The critical question:
If the property was truly unbuildable due to wetlands in 2017, how did Dead Goat Properties sell it in 2022 with no improvements, no wetland issues, and no disclosure on the subsequent listing for sale?
The Pattern Emerges
The Castlerock property isn't an isolated incident. It's one property in a pattern of transactions involving the Whatcom County Natural Resources Planner Matt Mahaffie, his family members, his romantic partners, and his business entities—all following a similar playbook:
County employee flags property for wetland concerns
Property owner struggles with permitting
Property becomes available at below-market prices
The corrupt Whatcom County Natural Resources Planner, Matt Mahaffie or associated parties purchase the property
The property is later sold at a significant profit with no improvements
Wetland concerns mysteriously disappear
But the Castlerock property is just the beginning.
The evidence gets worse. Much worse.
If buying one property cheap after flagging it for wetlands seems bad, wait until you see what Whatcom County Natural Resources Planner, Matt Mahaff did with two more properties—purchased by his girlfriend and his company, along with his MOTHER—and how he used his personal email and county office address to handle permitting for property he didn't legally own (or did he?). Plus: the $10,000 property he turned into a $500K+ mitigation bank that he offers to developers whose permits he reviews.
Reserve your FREE copy!
Washington State has some of the strictest land-use policies in the country. What used to buy a starter home at 3-4x median income is now 8-10x!
First-time home buyers have been squeezed out of opportunity, wealth creation, stability, and choice.
Discover exactly how policy created this crisis—and the breakthrough solution that restores affordability without subsidies or disruption.
Have Information About Whatcom County Planning Corruption?
If you or anyone you know has dealt with the Whatcom County Natural Resources Planner Matt Mahaffie or any other planner at the Whatcom County Planning & Development Services Department and felt you were not dealt with honestly or fairly, we want to hear your story.
Protected Contact: protected@realissuespodcast.org
Your information will be held in strict confidence and protected under First Amendment journalistic source protection. We take source confidentiality seriously and will not disclose your identity or situation without your explicit written permission.
Sources & References
Public Records:
Whatcom County property records for 4470 Castlerock Drive
Whatcom County permitting records, Application CA2017-00214
Washington Secretary of State business registration for Dead Goat Properties, LLC
Whatcom County Assessor records showing comparable sales
Legal Disclaimer: This article presents facts from public records alongside analysis and opinion. All individuals named are public officials or appear in public records related to government transactions. Statements characterizing conduct as "corruption" or similar terms constitute protected opinion based on disclosed facts. This is investigative journalism examining potential conflicts of interest in government land use regulation.
Real Issues Podcast is a housing reform media initiative committed to transparency in government and accountability in land use policy.
Comments