SEQUIM – It’s early yet in the public process, but some who’ve spoken so far say they want a big downtown.
Given eight maps showing eight versions of downtown Sequim, local business people are leaning toward the largest.
That city core would be 12 blocks long and eight blocks wide, from Brown Road to Fifth Avenue and from Fir to Hammond Street.
A slightly different map, with Knapman Avenue as the northeast border and Prairie Street the boundary to the southwest, is also popular, according to Frank Needham, Sequim’s capital projects manager.
A smaller option, from Third Avenue to Sunnyside and from Bell to Cedar Street, and a narrower version, from Bell to Spruce and Sunnyside to Fifth, received fewer votes.
Needham is collecting input for what’s called the downtown sub-area plan, a blueprint for Sequim’s city center.
He showed the maps to about 50 members of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce last week, while urging all Sequim area residents to express their desires about downtown.
The City Council, Needham promised, will use that input as its members consider zoning changes and incentives for property owners who want to make improvements.
As Sequim’s population grows, land owners may want to “transition into different kinds of businesses,” while some downtown parcels could be redeveloped for “pocket parks and multifamily housing.”
Does that mean apartments?
Well, OK, Needham said, but he doesn’t like that word so much.
People think “ugly” when they hear it, he said.
He hopes for something stylish and modern.
Parking, something else business people need, could be had through small parking lots – not big asphalt fields, said Needham.
