SEQUIM — From this day forward, developers face standards in Sequim.
But then, a year from now, those standards will expire.
Such was the result of the Sequim City Council’s long argument over design standards for new construction of shopping centers, condominiums and apartments.
The standards are aimed at building a more pedestrian-friendly Sequim, while preserving the city’s rural feeling, Council member Ken Hays said.
The council voted 4-2 Monday night to adopt the standards for a trial period of one year.
The standards are part of an ordinance governing just about every aspect of a new building: from roofs and windows to entrances, parking lots, signs, trash-can location and the color of walls and trim.
The council was divided along newcomer-versus-long-timer lines.
Hays, along with the three other members who took office this year, voted for the new, prescriptive standards, while Council members Paul McHugh and Walt Schubert, two who’ve been in office for many years, voted no.
“For a town like Sequim that has so much hope and aspiration to grow into a vital, sustainable community,” these design standards are crucial, Hays said.
Port Townsend has design standards for commercial, mixed-use and multifamily buildings in its historic district.
Port Angeles has no such requirements, only “suggestions and recommendations” for building styles, said assistant planner Dan Bialzik.
Sequim’s standards also include softer “guidelines,” encouraging developers to consider their neighbors and build condos or shopping strips that are “visually compatible” with what’s nearby.
In addition, they include more stringent rules requiring “high quality materials,” such as brick masonry, large timbers, sandstone, river rock and “recycled and ecologically friendly materials.”
