Sequim planners present housing workshop as city prepares to plan for 1,850 new units under state allocation

Consultants and city staff told the Sequim Planning Commission March 18 that the city must plan to accommodate 1,850 new housing units inside city limits over the 20-year planning period under the state-directed growth allocation and that those units must be distributed by income band under recently enacted Washington State requirements.

Carla Boughton, a planning consultant working with the city’s comprehensive-plan team, told commissioners the Department of Commerce and Clallam County had used state-prescribed methodology (method C for more-rural counties) to allocate growth; the allocation assigns 1,850 units to the city and 298 to the Sequim urban growth area. Boughton said the state requires jurisdictions to distribute future housing capacity by income bands and to evaluate development regulations so lower-cost housing types can be built where services and transit are available.

Boughton and city staff explained the technical steps already underway: a near-complete housing needs assessment, a land-capacity analysis that inventories vacant and underutilized parcels, and follow-up updates to goals, policies and development regulations. She said the city’s role under the Growth Management Act and the state guidance is to “remove regulatory barriers” and ensure densities and housing types can be built; she emphasized the city does not itself build the housing, which remains market-driven.

The commission spent the workshop reviewing three scenario approaches presented by the lead consultant (status quo, downtown emphasis, and a distributed ‘Washington Corridor/node’ scenario). Commissioners and residents in the room favored a dispersed corridor/node approach that balances downtown character and additional density along Washington Street and nearby nodes. Staff said the land-capacity analysis shows the city has theoretical capacity for the 1,850-unit allocation at current zoning but that the LCA will be refined as the commission decides what densities and housing types to allow.

The workshop also reviewed “middle housing” types — duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and other attached forms — and whether the city should allow more of them in R-48 residential areas. Commissioners generally supported allowing a range of attached housing types into areas identified with capacity, subject to design standards. Participants discussed whether the city should create a dedicated multifamily zoning district to manage scale and transitions; several commissioners said a multifamily district could avoid “spot zoning” and protect lower-scale neighborhood character elsewhere.

Commissioners and the consultant talked at length about building heights and what will “pencil out” for developers. Boughton and staff relayed feedback from developers and consultants in other Washington communities: interest rates and parking requirements strongly influence whether midrise projects are feasible. Participants discussed options including a tiered approach near city landmarks to preserve visual character (for example the downtown granary/silo area), incentives for landscaping and open space, and multifamily tax-exemption or other incentives used in larger jurisdictions.

Commissioners asked for more detailed economic analysis and for staff to provide final housing-needs data and land-capacity results when available; staff said the housing needs assessment should be released soon and Leland Consulting (subconsultant) is completing capacity work. Consultants and staff said development-regulation updates and critical-area ordinances will proceed in phases, with mandatory state-driven updates prioritized first and other zoning tools (multifamily district, design standards, incentives) to follow.

Commissioners said they will continue workshops and directed staff to return with refined options, maps and economic/policy analysis for a public-review process that will include Council hearings later in the year.