SEQUIM — A land-use appeal challenging a regional shopping center, possibly including a Fred Meyer store, was withdrawn Monday, just hours before the City Council was to hear arguments for and against the project.
Preliminary permitting for the complex, tentatively called Bell Farm Center, was appealed in March by the owner and property manager of a Sequim retail complex and by citizens group Sequim First.
The 16-acre Bell Farm site makes up one of two phases geared toward a village-themed community center and retail shopping center near East Hammond Road and the U.S. Highway 101 interchange.
Sequim First has also challenged two large retail projects at the city’s west side, taking both to the state Court of Appeals.
But Rob Rothe of Sequim Investments LLC, which owns much of the real estate making up Safeway Plaza and manages the Washington Street complex, decided jointly with Sequim First principals to abandon legal pursuit for an independent environmental-impact statement on the Fred Meyer project.
“We feel that to adequately address the project’s impacts, an (environmental-impact statement) needs to be done,” Sequim First Vice President Andrew Shogren said Monday.
Nonetheless, Bell Farm developers appear to have addressed groundwater issues, he said.
Rothe could not be reached Monday for comment.
