SEQUIM – We need a lawyer. That was the conclusion reached by the Sequim Planning Commission on Tuesday night.
The topics were the state Growth Management Act and something harder to define: The “public interest” and whether it’s served by the subdivisions springing up across the city.
Several members of the public, having heard that the subject could come up, attended the meeting.
At least one, Pat Clark, said this was the first Planning Commission session he’d ever been to.
And Sequim resident Laura Dubois suggested that “the public interest would be served by limiting growth.”
Larry Freedman, a developer, attorney and the Planning Commission chairman, praised the public for showing up.
But he listed several obligations, besides the public interest, that commissioners must meet when weighing the merits of a proposed development, be it a big box or a major subdivision.
“We take an oath to follow the law . . . and we ourselves have to recognize the rights of the property owner,” he said.
Commissioners must “recognize the community’s needs and accommodate those as well,” he added.
“Which prevails?”
Freedman didn’t have an answer, but acknowledged that the Sequim Comprehensive Plan, the guiding document for the city’s development, aims to protect the public interest.
But the plan doesn’t always jibe with the Sequim Municipal Code, he said.
Then there’s “quality of life,” another phrase that appears in city planning documents.
To Dick Foster, Planning Commission vice chairman, it means a serene little town.
“[But] to my neighbor . . . it might mean convenience, being able to get to the store,” perhaps a big store or strip of them.
Mark Ozias started all of this recently when he questioned the role of the Planning Commission, a seven-member panel of volunteer appointees who advises the Sequim City Council on land use applications.
Are commissioners simply to check street widths in proposed subdivisions, or should they examine whether a project is good for the community at large?
Growth is a given for Sequim, said Michael East, a new member of the Planning Commission, “but is it possible to slow it down?”
Numerous housing developments make him wonder whether the city is verging on overbuilt.
“I don’t see a lot of people rushing into town to buy up real estate,” he added.
“The difficulty we have is that a development or subdivision is the right of the property owner,” said city Planning Director Dennis Lefevre.
“If the proposal meets the Comprehensive Plan and the code, it would be a lawsuit if we tried to deny it . . . we can’t stop a property owner if they want to come in and do a land division.”
Planning Commissioner Susan Lorenzen couldn’t swallow that.
“I think [building] moratoriums are not out of the question,” she said.
“It shouldn’t be up to the developer, who might be irresponsible.”