Sequim staff unveil land‑use map changes and multi‑year zoning rewrite; no final votes taken

Sequim planning staff presented a status update Oct. 7 to the Planning Commission on the 2025 comprehensive plan periodic update, including draft changes to the future land use map, preliminary land capacity results from Leland Consulting, and a multi‑year, phased rewrite of the city’s development regulations. No formal votes or final decisions were recorded at the meeting.

The city’s planner, Travis, told the commission that the land capacity analysis shows Sequim has far more room than required to meet the housing allocation for the comprehensive plan update: “we have a capacity for 6,208 units based on the land” identified in the analysis, and staff said 784 units were already pending in the development queue. The consultant team also estimated Sequim’s job capacity at 1,331 compared with a target of 909 jobs.

The update matters because the technical work says Sequim has the land area but not necessarily the right types of housing in place. Carla, the community development director, summarized staff’s approach: “we are going to remove barriers where barriers have been identified,” and the staff presentation focused on how the zoning and development standards could be changed to encourage more multifamily and “missing middle” housing while protecting downtown and regional commercial areas.

What staff presented

- Land capacity and market study: Leland Consulting completed a land capacity analysis (LCA) and is finishing a 130‑page housing and economic market study. Staff said the study will be released publicly before a planned joint presentation and recommended a special joint Planning Commission–City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 17 to review the consultant’s findings. The study flagged low multifamily vacancy (under 1%) and high single‑family prices as drivers for more diverse housing types.

- Key numerical findings from the LCA and staff analysis: the city must plan for 1,850 housing units under the comp plan allocation; staff and the consultant estimated physical capacity for roughly 6,208 units…