SEQUIM — The City Council has approved annexing 14.66 acres of land bordering the city on the west.
The council voted 6-1 last Monday to annex county land in the northwest portion of the city between West Hendrickson Road and West Fir Street and north of Ninth Avenue.
Councilman Erick Erichsen voted against the annexation.
“I don’t support this at all,” he said. “If anything, I would like to have it deferred so that we could do a little bit more study on this thing.”
The annexation encompasses three parcels of land: the right of way for Cameron Farm Lane of approximately 0.87 acre, a parcel of 12.42 acres identified in the ordinance as the Cameron Property and a parcel of 1.5 acres identified as the Owens Robertson Property.
Erichsen was concerned that county property owners living on larger rural plots west of the annexation will end up “with a ghetto right next door to them,” he said.
The annexed land will be zoned as residential (R-III), which accommodates smaller-scale multifamily structures — with five to 12 dwellings per structure — at a minimum density of 10 units and a maximum of up to 16 units per 40,000 square feet of land area.
The proposed annexation does not approve development plans for the property.
It brings the parcels into the city and proposes the initial zoning to align with the Sequim Comprehensive Plan R-III Multi-Family Residential zoning designation for that area.
Erichsen also was concerned that a road built to the west of the annexed land would require an additional 30 feet of private land to the west of the annexation to build.
The city of Sequim’s six-year transportation improvement program plans for an extension of Ninth Avenue to Hendrickson Road in 2016.
The plans allow a 30-feet wide easement on the west side of the annexed land. A road requires a minimum of 60 feet to be built.
“It looks like . . . there is going to be some encroachment upon those peoples’ property in order to get the proper 60-feet wide for a road,” he said.
“And that is the only reason why we are looking at annexing this thing in the first place.”
Before the vote, Councilman Ken Hays voiced his support for the annexation.
“I am in favor of it,” he said.
“I appreciate the neighbors who live in a lower density [zone] . . . but the unfortunate thing is we have a boundary around the city and we have an obligation to ensure the higher density occurs inside of the city rather than outside the city.”
The annexed land “is where the line for that makes sense, and I am in favor of annexing all our urban growth areas so that we can in fact control its future instead of letting the county do it willy-nilly,” he said.
“We can ensure there is proper buffering from the unincorporated parts of the county to the west.”
The properties are located within the city of Sequim Urban Growth Area.
The urban growth area includes both the incorporated city of Sequim and several county areas adjacent to the city, which have been determined to be characterized by urban growth, served by urban utility services, or likely to develop at urban levels, according to city documents.
The urban growth area was established in 1993 by Clallam County in the County-Wide Planning Policies agreement with the city of Sequim.
Shirley Ion Cameron had circulated a petition to have her property annexed.
The circulated petition, which required signatures of property owners representing 60 percent or more of the assessed property value of the amended annexation area, was received by the city of Sequim and transmitted to the Clallam County Assessor’s Office for determination of sufficiency.
It was deemed sufficient on Jan. 23.
“Annexations, with very few exceptions, cannot be initiated by a city,” said Craig Ritchie, interim city manager. “They are initiated by the landowner.”
The city then “takes a look at whether it fits any policies they may have in their comprehensive plan regarding annexation, whether it is contiguous, and — most importantly — whether it is in the urban growth area because if it isn’t they cannot annex at all.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
