SEQUIM — The Sequim School District’s arduous search for a place to build a new bus barn is now more complicated because access to one of the preferred sites is likely to be restricted.
The district owns about three acres behind the Boys & Girls Club and next to Helen Haller Elementary that was one of the top, though not perfect, sites under consideration for a new place to park and maintain school buses and other district vehicles.
The parcel is landlocked, but has road easements to Fifth Avenue across neighboring property that would provide access.
However, the neighboring piece of land is also slated for development and those property owners have asked for most of the easements to be removed, which could hamper the district’s ability to use the land or sell it to acquire property elsewhere.
“We knew that there was going to be a request to adjust the easements on that front piece of property,” said Dave Blake, School Board chairman.
“We didn’t know what that was going to entail.”
Not enough easement?
The request is to reduce the easements to one 30-foot right of way, which may not be enough for buses to navigate safely.
Vacating the easement is scheduled to come before the City Council on July 11. School leaders will attend to explain their position, but they have expressed little confidence in altering the plan.
Several other easement vacations approved this year have been routine matters handled with little debate.
School officials also plan to start searching for other suitable pieces of land. If the parcel can’t be used for a bus facility, the district could sell it, but the limited easement could reduce the value of the land as well.