SEQUIM — Rolling Hills, at the intersection of McCurdy Road and the east side of South Seventh Avenue, could become Sequim’s first housing development to go through the new hearing examiner process.
The 215 single-family-home development is planned on 44.1 acres.
Public comments for the city’s staff report are due by 4 p.m. Wednesday to City of Sequim, Department of Community Development, c/o Travis Simmons, 152 W. Cedar St., Sequim, WA or to tsimmons@sequimwa.gov.
A hearing examiner public hearing on the project is tentatively set for 1 p.m. July 28 in the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St., with comments accepted on the project prior to the meeting for the examiner’s consideration.
This will be the first major project considered by an appointed hearing examiner rather than city council members.
In March, the council finalized 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 council members after the hearing examiner process for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic, now the Jamestown Healing Clinic, which has been constructed at 526 S. Ninth Ave.
The Rolling Hills development 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.
What’s it entail?
According to city staff, the project is slated for three phases of 62, 65 and 88 lots with home sizes not determined yet 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 tentatively 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 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 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 or 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 Sequim, visit www.sequimwa.gov/471/Current-Projects.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
