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 (including 784 pending units). The analysis removed about a 38% share of acreage from developable totals to account for streams, wetlands and buffers, shoreline area, geohazards, recent FEMA flood hazard updates, and typical development improvements. Staff emphasized the LCA remains subject to minor revision.

- Proposed future land use map edits: staff described a set of site‑specific redesignation requests from property owners and a list of city‑recommended, map‑level changes. Notable proposals include converting select Regional Commercial (RC) parcels to Community Mixed Use (CMU); consolidating two downtown mixed‑use designations (DMU1 and DMU2) into a single DMU; converting some Highway Commercial parcels near the River Road interchange back to low‑density residential where parcels are already mostly single‑family; and renaming opportunity areas (EOA) to give them distinct identities (Bell Creek Opportunity Area and River Road Opportunity Area).

- Changes to residential density accounting and incentives: staff proposed moving from net density to gross density calculations in low‑density residential areas and converting R‑4.8 zoning to R‑4.9 to modestly increase allowed units. Staff also described an incentives package under development that would create alternative development standards and other tools for providers that commit to keeping units affordable long term (for example, nonprofits or housing authorities). Staff said short‑term rental impacts were specifically addressed in the market study.

- Opportunity areas and use‑mix thresholds: staff recommended removing a 55% minimum commercial requirement for the Bell Creek opportunity area and removing an existing cap that limited any single use to 25% of a building’s floor area in parts of the River Road area. Staff told commissioners that those use‑mix requirements have proved impractical given current market demand and have constrained feasible development types.

- Development standards and zoning code rewrite: staff outlined a phased, multi‑package rewrite of the Sequim Municipal Code. The first packages will convert Title 17 (subdivision) into a modern Land Division title and add state‑required tools such as unit lot subdivisions and lot splitting; the next package will address housing incentives and state mandates (accessory dwelling units, co‑living standards, etc.). Title 18 (zoning) will be substantially rewritten to simplify use tables and apply zone‑level standards (height, setbacks) consistently rather than by narrowly defined use types. Later packages will address critical areas, signs, landscape standards and other chapters. Staff said the full program will run through 2026 and into 2027 for remaining items.

Commissioner and staff exchanges

Commissioners asked about details and tradeoffs. One commissioner asked whether density bonuses would be usable by private for‑profit developers; staff replied the incentives they are developing are likely to be targeted at projects that guarantee long‑term affordability (for example, nonprofit or housing authority ownership), though other incentives (impact fee waivers, multifamily tax exemptions) could be considered for workforce‑housing projects. Another commissioner asked whether the city will address short‑term rentals; staff said the market study contains a dedicated short‑term rental section and that short‑term rentals represent a “very small portion” of single‑family housing in Sequim.

Staff clarified other technical definitions used in the analysis: parcels with combined improvement and land value of $10,000 or less were classified as vacant; parcels with improvement value greater than $682,469 (the 90th percentile of local improvement values) were excluded on the assumption very high‑value homes on large lots are less likely to redevelop; R‑4.8 parcels large enough for subdivision were treated as partially used where they are at least 2.5 times the minimum lot size (the minimum lot size cited is 5,400 square feet).

No formal vote; next steps

The commission did not take formal action on the map or code changes at the Oct. 7 meeting. Staff asked commissioners to hold Nov. 17 as a tentative date for a special joint meeting with City Council to receive Leland Consulting’s market study presentation and said staff will coordinate with the city clerk to circulate an Outlook calendar invitation. Staff said a full land‑use chapter and the development regulation amendments that run concurrently with the comp plan should be ready for the commission packet in the coming weeks, with code amendment packages proceeding in phases through 2026.

Context and constraints

Carla, the community development director, reminded the commission that some changes are constrained by state law or by market realities. She noted staff followed Washington State Department of Commerce guidance on LCA methodology and that use of federal opportunity zone tax incentives is limited (the city’s opportunity zone provisions require projects to be approved by 12/31/2026 to capture the program incentives). Staff also flagged that critical area constraints, FEMA flood zones and environmental buffers materially reduce developable acreage.

What the commission heard

Commissioners generally expressed support for keeping housing at the forefront of the update and asked staff to maintain clarity and administrative “escape valves” in use tables so staff can resolve borderline cases without repeated code amendments. Commissioners thanked staff for the presentation; no motions or votes were recorded. The Planning Commission will consider map and code amendment drafts in future public packets and public hearings as required by state law and the municipal code.

Ending note

Staff emphasized the update is intended to make the code easier to use for residents and developers, to give the market more flexibility to deliver different housing types, and to protect the character and function of downtown and regional commercial areas. The market study and proposed amendments will return to the commission and to the City Council for further review and formal action in the months ahead.