SEQUIM — Recommendations for land use, traffic changes and development opportunities in Sequim’s downtown core will be presented at an open house Thursday.
City leaders and consultants will discuss downtown plan recommendations from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at City Council chambers at the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
Seattle consultant LMN will present and explain the recommendations at 7 p.m. at the same location, followed by a question-and-answer session from 7:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
“It’s essentially going to be the unveiling of the preliminary plan,” said interim city planner Joe Irvin. “There’s going to be more schematics of districts and boundaries.
“The biggest bit of information is going to be the development opportunity sites and the implementation of strategies.”
When complete, the Sequim Downtown Plan will help guide Sequim City Council, staff and community members toward a more vital, exciting and successful downtown, city officials said.
Public comment
The open house gives the public an opportunity to review and comment on the concepts and development opportunities to be included in the downtown plan.
The plan will include land-use recommendations, projects and opportunities, and localized and citywide policy recommendations, including zoning code amendments, transportation-related improvements and refinements to design and streetscape standards.
Parking management strategies and an economic/market analysis with feasibility studies with short-, medium- and long-term implementation measures are also a part of the plan.
Roundabouts?
“Bracketing the downtown core” and consideration of adding roundabouts or other “traffic-calming” improvements and downtown streetscape will be discussed, Irvin said.
While a roundabout could be considered at Third Avenue and Washington Street, it will not be the final traffic option considered, he said.
Some kind of “artistic streetscape improvement” could be considered to steady traffic flow.
Some of the short-term issues to be noted, Irvin said, are more streetscape plans such as bicycle racks, pedestrian benches and re-striping for more parking, even encouraging the addition of a small movie theater as a focal point downtown.
Cottage-style housing
“There’s going to be some code revisions added into this to provide guidelines for standards of development, such as cottage-style housing,” Irvin said, adding that accessory dwelling units, also known as “grandmother cottages,” also might be options to high-density apartments downtown
Consideration of higher-rise apartments flanking the downtown core was also an option, he said.
City Council members last summer hired Seattle urban design consultant LMN Architects, agreeing to a contract not to exceed $85,000.
LMN’s Mark Hinshaw had led the downtown improvement planning study that has involved commercial stakeholders and interested residents who have shared their thoughts on everything to attract developers, from parking improvements to downtown redesign.
Hinshaw said Sequim’s downtown study is “basically building on things that you already have.”
Downtown boundaries
The study will determine the boundaries of downtown to be studied, city officials said.
Unofficially, it would be Cedar Avenue and Maple Street, north and south, and Third Avenue to Sunnyside west and east.
A downtown advisory committee also has been formed. Members are Mark Ozias, Jacques Dulin, Colleen McAleer, Tom Montgomery, Jeri Sanford, Elizabeth Harper, Mike Lippert, Mike Younquist, Vickie Maples and Rene Brock-Richmond.
A December open house allowed residents to put their ideas on sticky notes for all to see and gave consultants a chance to help the public list downtown Sequim’s strengths and weaknesses.
While residents saw strengths in existing downtown streetscape and improvements, weaknesses included a downtown with not enough to do after dark and a lack of a strong sense of community identification.
The study is in part intended to determine how residential development can be integrated into the commercial core.
The plan also would look at public art and how it can best serve downtown.
The plan would outline “a vision for a healthy and strong downtown, identifies the actions needed to accomplish the vision and defines the roles and responsibilities of the organizations and people who will make it happen.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
