After nearly a month of consideration, Sequim City Councilors opted leave a residential 2-acre parcel as such rather than change it to a neighborhood commercial space at city staff’s recommendation.

The acreage on the southeast corner of Sequim Avenue and Port Williams makes up part of a 38-acre property owned by the Booth family that sits across from Hardy’s Market, Rock Plaza and Peninsula Nursery.

The Booths sought a change from the city’s 2015 Comprehensive Plan to designate it from residential to commercial because developer John Johnson of the JWJ Group in Silverdale was interested in purchasing the entire parcel but only with the possibility to have the 2-acre commercial portion by the roundabout, said Ron Gilles, listing broker for the property through Professional Real Estate.

It was previously zoned commercial before the change in the updated plan.

City Councilors postponed a decision on the property from their Dec. 11 meeting last year and ultimately voted 4-3 on Jan. 8 with Candace Pratt, Pam Leonard-Ray and Jennifer States against denying the proposal to change the site from a residential to commercial area.

Declining the designation

The majority of councilors voted against Barry Berezowsky, Sequim’s community development manager, and the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the change to a neighborhood commercial site.

Berezowsky said an analysis authorized by city councilors last March for Eric Hovee of E.D. Hovee & Company, LLC to identify possible neighborhood commercial spots particularly at major arterials and intersections located eight spots that could be considered including the Booths property.

Other possible neighborhood commercial spots identified include West Hendrickson Road, Washington Harbor Road, Keeler Road, Simdars Road and Solana Parkway, South Sequim Avenue by Miller and Brownfield Roads, Seventh Avenue and South River Road.

“(The Booths’ property is) the only location that has three adjacent corners already commercial and it was zoned commercial before 2015,” Berezowsky said.

“It’s highly unlikely that it will be developed without some commercial component. Land is more attractive to residential developers this way.”

Some city councilors and nearby residents contested the need for more commercial development in the area including former city councilor Erik Erichsen.

“The people who live in that area are residential and don’t want any more commercial,” he said on Jan. 8.

Former director of community development Chris Hugo said in 2016 he opposed changing the site to commercial for several reasons but the biggest was because demand wouldn’t be there for any new commercial businesses even if hundreds of new homes were built.

Mayor Dennis Smith expressed concern about the commercial designation too because Hovee’s report came from people who don’t live in the area while city staff worked years on the Comprehensive Plan.

“I understand the desire to sell that property … but I also know we have an obligation to the people who live here,” he said. “It took many, many years to address the Comprehensive Plan, which wasn’t addressed for 10-15 years.”

Gilles said Johnson had a vision of developing commercial and residential together.

“That’s the key there to being done right,” he said. “It’d be impossible to sell with residential homes on that corner until we run out of space for homes in Sequim, which is going to be awhile.”

City councilors and residents expressed reservations about the status of Rock Plaza’s vacancies, but Berezowsky said the “city doesn’t zone property based on whether or not businesses are doing great or not.”

“We zone property because it makes sense from a land use perspective; from a planning perspective; from a neighborhood perspective,” he said.

Berezowsky added that the same logic would mean a development couldn’t go in next to an existing development with vacant lots because “it doesn’t mean the property is unsuccessful” but rather due to pricing or something else.

Next steps

For now, Berezowsky said city staff will analyze all eight sites as a whole likely sometime in 2019 as potential neighborhood commercial zones.

He said city staff haven’t made a decision about whether proposing doing the analysis in-house or reaching out to another consultant.

By reviewing the eight identified sites councilor Ted Miller said the city “can treat all of the developers equally and not give favoritism to just one … I’d rather take the time and get it right.”

After the vote, Gilles and Thomas Booth, co-owner of the property, expressed their displeasure.

“Councilors missed the point,” Gilles said. “They’re not listening to their own staff. They’re penalizing (the Booths) for no reason.”

Booth said his family plans to keep their farm on the market.

For more information on the city council’s decision, visit www.sequimwa.gov or call 360-683-4139.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.