SEQUIM — As the city moves toward granting permits for a regional shopping center planned near its downtown, the owner of a nearby shopping center is crying foul.
City Planning Director Dennis Lefevre has issued a preliminary mitigated determination of non-significance for Bell Farm Center, planned for a 16-acre site near Hammond Street and U.S. Highway 101.
The center is tentatively set to include a Fred Meyer department store in its first phase of construction, eventually growing into a village-themed complex within three to five years, said its developer, Fred McConkey.
The Planning Commission has approved the plans, and the City Council will hold a public hearing April 26.
But Washington Plaza owner Rob Rothe said granting a commercial-overlay rezone and allowing the large retail center to nestle up to U.S. 101 near the town center goes directly against the objectives set forth in the city’s comprehensive plan and should not be permitted.
Washington Plaza, at Seventh Avenue and West Washington Street, houses a Safeway store, a Rite-Aid drugstore and several smaller shops.
