Sequim yearns for open space – and hopes for money to buy it

Published 2:06 am Monday, January 29, 2007

SEQUIM – Dennis Lefevre calls it “pressure.”

It’s what’s happening on the east side of Sequim, as developers bring subdivision applications.

You can see it on the west side, too, where Office Depot and Popeye’s Chicken will be chockablock with Petco, The Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Costco.

Builders have been bearing down on this town for some time now.

But even as Sequim adds some 3,000 new housing units, residents share the same 56 acres of public parkland.

Clallam County, however, is rich in open space.

From Cline Spit to Salt Creek to Robin Hill Farm, county parkland covers about 700 acres.

So Lefevre, Sequim’s planning director, sat down recently with county Planning Commissioners Tom Montgomery and Nancy Esteb for a frank talk.