|
Town Center Executive Summary
Unlike many communities that have seen only negative results stemming from rerouting of traffic due to construction of an alternate route for major traffic flows, businesses in downtown Sequim have continued to do well; and the community is fortunate to have this opportunity to build on its historic past and its successes to further enhance the Town Center as a destination for businesses and civic activities. By giving direction to the future of its Town Center, the community can define and support its identity - a place in which the past is celebrated and the present and future are respected.
The City's Comprehensive Plan portrays a vibrant vision for Sequim: "Sequim will be a center of financial, commercial, retail, cultural, educational, recreational, and medical services and activities on the northern Olympic Peninsula, while maintaining its friendly, small town, rural atmosphere". Developed in 1996, the Comprehensive Plan's "Preferred Alternative" was created to address growth opportunities and challenges for the next twenty years. The City's adopted Comprehensive Plan also sets the stage for this Town Center Subarea Plan, establishing a vision and direction for the Town Center as the "vital central core of the Sequim region". According to the Comprehensive Plan, the Town Center is to serve as the region's commercial, civic and cultural center with a mix of uses, including housing, with shared parking, enhanced pedestrian features, and streetscape improvements.
The construction of the Sequim Bypass (101 Alternative) set the stage for the City's application for a State Rural Economic Vitality (REV) grant to improve selected streets and provide pedestrian amenities within the Town Center and to develop a Subarea plan for the Town Center. This plan focuses on the opportunities provided by the bypass to rediscover and reinvigorate the core area of Sequim, without the impact of having a state highway through the middle of the community. It is an opportunity to create a place with a "main street" atmosphere. To that end, guidance in the form of design guidelines is also provided by the City's adopted Streetscape Manual for Commercial Districts.
The Subarea Plan, the REV grant improvements, the proposed North Sequim Avenue improvements, and the already completed South Sequim Avenue improvements all go a long way to assist in the revitalization process - helping to create the kind of Town Center envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan. The Subarea Plan is the means by which all of these improvements are tied together. It identifies future opportunities to continue the revitalization of the Town Center, addressing and supporting the economic and community values expressed by the citizens of Sequim and their elected and appointed officials in the Comprehensive Plan and through the Subarea planning process. An integral part of the Sequim Comprehensive Plan, the Sequim Town Center Subarea Plan focuses in on the core area of the City. The Subarea Plan:
- Defines the Town Center's boundaries;
- Recommends urban design and development concepts which help strengthen the City's vision for the Town Center;
- Recommends changes to the City's codes to carry out the plan and proposes two new zones - a Town Center-Mixed Use (TC-MX) zone and CII-Office Professional (CII-OP) zone;
- Presents design and other guidelines to provide direction to future investments;
- Identifies future private development and public capital improvement opportunities/investments, such as future streetscape, signage and pedestrian improvements; and,
- Addresses functional traffic circulation and parking needs that support the notion of an accessible and walkable downtown.
Finally, the Subarea Plan provides direction for carrying out the Plan in the future, by proposing a phasing plan for public improvements that will set the stage for private investments in the Town Center.
|
