SEQUIM — Tim Verdick has gone from having the run of the country to asking for 200 square feet of play space.
Call it another repercussion of the worst-gas-price scenario: Verdick is seeing a run on remote-control model cars that use either batteries or just a few ounces of fuel.
It’s a kind of down-sizing from big toys to little toys.
But Verdick, owner of the two-month-old Remote Control Hobbies shop next to Popeye’s Chicken at 1254 W. Washington St., also sees a problem on the horizon.
Just like the dogs that had no room to run free, just like the skateboarders banished from city sidewalks, remote-control cars have no place to race.
So Verdick and another local remote-control driver packed up their toys and brought them to the Sequim City Council meeting Monday night.
With a Stampede, a T-Maxx, a Dodge Raminator and a few other “monster” — but actually diminutive — trucks sitting quietly on the carpet, Verdick made his pitch.
“We’re requesting to be allowed to develop a facility for these types of vehicles,” he began.
“There are hundreds and hundreds of these vehicles in town,” but the nearest remote-control-ready track is in Tacoma.
“I don’t want to drive to Tacoma to drive my cars,” said Ryan Woodin, the next remote-control enthusiast to come to the podium.
