By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — Plans are expected to come before Sequim officials for a 103 single-family residential homes subdivision called Bell Hill Estates, along East Brownfield Road.
Property owner Bill Barnett of Barnett NW Enterprises LLC of Tenino plans to build in three phases on 25.66 acres between Miller Road and U.S. Highway 101.
The first phase would include 26 homes adjacent to Brownfield Road, while the second phase would build 38 homes in the middle of the property and Phase III bring in 39 homes.
The proposed size of the homes hasn’t been specifically determined, Barnett said.
The preliminary plat map shows parcels ranging from 6,000 square feet to just over 12,500 square feet in the three phases.
Barnett has owned the property for 10 years, he said; the opportunity to build only recently came to fruition.
“The old preliminary plat ran out, so we had to follow all the new stuff ” in the city of Sequim’s comprehensive plan guidelines, Barnett said. “It just added more difficulty and expense.”
Sequim Assistant Public Works Director Matt Klontz said the Sequim Planning Commission tentatively will review plans at its June 6 and/or June 20 meetings, depending on when plans are submitted.
Once the planning commission has a recommendation, the Sequim City Council will have final approval of the subdivision, Klontz said.
Transitioning between phases depends on what percentage of the homes are finished and how many have sold from the previous phase, Barnett said.
“We hope to have [the plan] done by middle of the summer, but you just don’t know on these things,” he said. “The best scenario is that everything clears.”
Barnett met with some of the homeowners nearby living on Bell Hill on May 2 at the Sequim Transit Center to discuss his plans. He said they were concerned about issues of flooding and whether the property would be fenced.
Reports from the city of Sequim say no significant archaeological finds or environmental issues were found with the property.
A Wetland &Wildlife Critical Areas report by Loggy Soil and Wetland Consulting of Port Angeles says the subdivision would remove 20.8 acres of grasses and 4.8 acres of open habitat/shelter for local animals such as the Roosevelt elk, “but the development by itself is not likely to adversely affect the elk habitat.”
For more on the project, visit www.sequimwa.gov and search for “Bell Estates.”
________
Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
Developer Bill Barnett of Tenino anticipates submitting designs for a 103-unit housing subdivision to the city of Sequim this summer. The project would come in three phases. (City of Sequim)
