The City of Sequim’s next sizable housing development could be its first to go through the new hearing examiner process.
The Rolling Hills major subdivision, a 215-single-family home development, is planned on 44.1 acres at the intersection of McCurdy Road and the east side of South Seventh Avenue.
A hearing examiner is scheduled to host a public hearing on the project at 1 p.m., July 28, in the Sequim Civic Center.
Comments about the project will be accepted on the project prior to the meeting for the examiner’s consideration. Comments for the city’s staff report are due by 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 8, to: City of Sequim, Department of Community Development, c/o Travis Simmons, 152 West Cedar Street, Sequim, WA, or by email to tsimmons@sequimwa.gov.
This will be the first major project considered by an appointed hearing examiner rather than city councilors. They finalized in March the move to an examiner for most developments and appeals due to some concerns about possible conflicts of interest for developments and the ability to discuss issues with the public.
The call for change came from recently elected councilors following the hearing examiner process for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic, now the Jamestown Healing Clinic.
This project is proposed near the clinic across the Seventh Avenue bypass.
Rolling Hills is owned by Sequim Washington Investments LLC of Silverdale, with the lots listed under Lindsay Littlejohn by the Clallam County Assessor’s office. The project lead is Core Design Inc. of Bothell.
Owners/designers could not be reached for this story.
Rolling Hills details
According to city staff, the Rolling Hills project is slated for three phases — of 62, 65 and 88 lots — with home sizes not yet determined, but lots ranging from 4,217 to 7,942 square feet.
Age and/or income restrictions are not listed in application materials, but in the The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) document for the city, it states the homes are for “middle income” residents.
Designers in the SEPA application say, if approved, clearing and grading the property would begin in spring 2023, with construction in spring 2024.
The application says frontage improvements are proposed along the property while creating new roads within the property and extending West Norman Street by Dominion Terrace to the west and connecting to South Seventh Avenue.
In a “Traffic Impact Analysis” by Heath & Associates, Inc of Puyallup, the site proposes five entrances/exits, including — the new Norman Street extension on Seventh; a driveway extending south from McCurdy Road; another new driveway onto Seventh; a westerly extension of Big Leaf Loop by Avamere Olympic Rehabilitation of Sequim, and a new access connecting to South Fifth Avenue by the Sea Breeze Apartments.
Heath & Associates staff estimated that the development, when fully developed, would generate about 2,122 average weekday daily vehicle trips to the area.
Ecological Land Services of Longview reported for the owner that its critical areas survey showed no critical areas of concern or an impact to local species, such as the Roosevelt Elk or the Northern Spotted Owl during site visits in June 18, 2021, and Feb. 2, 2022.
The proposed development follows other recently approved projects slated to be built off/near South Seventh Avenue, such as Home Phase B (33 homes), and Legacy Ridge (97 homes). Eighty-two homes were approved within Mariners Outlook Phase III off West Sequim Bay Road too.
Rolling Hills’ size is close to Lavender Meadows, a 55-plus manufactured home development community with 217 planned sites, but those homeowners lease their land.
For more about development applications in the City of Sequim, visit sequimwa.gov/471/Current-Projects.
Editor’s note: Reporter Matthew Nash lives near some of the listed projects.
