SEQUIM — Improving the city’s downtown core is all about attracting more people there.
That’s what interim city Planning Director Joe Irvin said Tuesday, addressing more than 70 attending the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon at SunLand Golf and Country Club.
“I think it’s the people,” Irvin said. “When you have people there . . . that’s the real important thing.”
Proposals so far
Irvin touched on what residents and consultants have proposed so far for downtown, ranging from denser small housing and townhouses to traffic-calming and pedestrian and bicycling improvements.
Consultants have recommended about 400 new housing units to downtown over the next 10 years, he said, with 48 units being single-family homes, 116 townhouses, 109 garden apartments and 116 mid-rise apartment units.
City leaders and consultants will reveal land-use and traffic recommendations and development opportunities at a Thursday open house.
The open house, in which the public can view downtown plan recommendations, runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at City Council chambers inside the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
Questions to be filed
City Council-hired Seattle consultants LMN will 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.
Irvin recalled what he and other city leaders learned during an intense two-day workshop downtown where more than 150 attended.
Residents suggested improving the Bell Creek corridor and Pioneer Park. They also asked to “activate” the city’s alleyways, making them more attractive and pedestrian-friendly.
“Woonerfs,” such as that at Seal Street downtown, can be further developed, he said. A woonerf is a street where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists.
Ultimately, Irvin said, it is hoped that an improved downtown will slow about $37 million of annual retail “leakage” that leaves the Sequim-area market for others.
Focal point
Other issues brought to the city’s attention, he said, include finding a focal point in downtown Sequim that serves as a gathering place.
“We need to find a way to locate City Hall downtown,” Irvin said.
Finding a commercial truck route around downtown is another city challenge, he said.
Downtown boundaries are from Fir Street, north, to U.S. Highway 101, south. The boundary from the west is Fifth Avenue, and Brown Road is east.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
