‘Old,’ ‘new’ Sequim City Council members agree: Central city needs rejuvenation

SEQUIM — They’re looking for vitamins for downtown.

Or perhaps a fountain of youth.

The Sequim City Council waded deep into the Town Center Sub-Area Plan on Monday, devoting the study session to the blueprint for — as architect and Councilman Ken Hays put it — “a more beautiful, evolved city.”

The sub-area plan is only a draft at this point, and the city will probably hire an urban-planning consultant to refine it and add visual aids.

But the council members heard Monday about what could take shape downtown:

  • A central plaza where concerts and other community celebrations would happen.

  • Bike and pedestrian paths forming a nonmotorized network.

  • A hop-on and hop-off shuttle bus.

  • Wider sidewalks.

    Then there are the more controversial elements:

  • Buildings up to five stories tall.

  • Proposed high-density residential “nodes.”

  • And affordable housing.

    Sequim’s vision statement, given in the 2006 Comprehensive Plan update, complicates the downtown-planning process, said Capital Projects Manager Frank Needham.

    He called the comma-laden statement a “contradiction.”

    Others might call it an oxymoron.

  • More in News

    A Clallam County Public Utilities District worker trims sycamore trees on East Washington Street near the Bell Creek Plaza shopping complex in Sequim on Wednesday as part of an effort to clear branches that may interfere with nearby power lines. The clearing helps pave the way for eventual maintenance on the PUD lines. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
    Clearing the line

    A Clallam County Public Utilities District worker trims sycamore trees on East… Continue reading

    Funding cuts to hit WSU extensions

    Local food purchase program most impacted

    Kaylee Oldemeyer, a second-year nursing student, is among those selling tickets for the Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby this Sunday. (Leah Leach/for Peninsula Daily News)
    Peninsula College nursing program students selling ducks for annual derby

    Olympic Medical Center Foundation to give proceeds for scholarships

    Jefferson County library to host preparedness discussion

    Talk to cover water systems, food resiliency

    Author Caroline Fraser, whose book, “Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder,” won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for biography, is speaking at today’s Studium Generale at Peninsula College. She will talk about Wilder as well as her latest book, “Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers.” (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
    Pulitzer Prize-winning author to speak in Port Angeles

    Caroline Fraser featured as Writer-in-Residence at Peninsula College

    Ty Coone. (Clallam County Sheriff's Office)
    Search suspended for kayaker missing in Strait

    The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Wednesday morning for… Continue reading

    Clallam County and Astound are partnering with assistance from Clallam County PUD on a $22 million project that will extend Astound’s existing fiber network near Laird’s Corner to almost 100 miles of new above ground and underground infrastructure that will reach more than 1,500 homes in the Highway 112 corridor.
    High-speed internet coming to Highway 112 corridor

    Clallam County, PUD and Astound involved in $22M project

    State leaders discuss budget

    Importance of gas tax explained

    Conservation measures requested on water system west of Sekiu

    Clallam County Public Utility District No. 1 has issued a… Continue reading

    Supreme Court justice addresses law day event

    Clallam-Jefferson Pro Bono Lawyers hosted an observance of Law… Continue reading

    Charter Review Commission to consider seven issues

    The Clallam County Charter Review Commission has launched a… Continue reading