Homeowners asking the City of Sequim to convert their private street to become publicly owned must follow new policy guidelines approved by city councilors before their proposals can be considered.
City staff report that three neighborhoods and/or homeowner associations have inquired about the city assuming road maintenance and repair in recent years, with councilors directing them to draft a new chapter of the Sequim Municipal Code (12.11 — Conversion of Private Streets to Public Streets).
The new chapter includes language that, in part, requires a written petition from nearby landowners, that the street must add value to the city grid system and meet city street right-of-way standards, and meet certain minimum standards of pavement condition.
Councilors approved an ordinance for the new chapter on June 26 in a 6-1 vote with councilor Kathy Downer opposed; she said she felt one requirement was too restrictive to homeowners.
The chapter states that landowners can petition the city council to accept rights-of-way and transfer legal and financial duties to the city and convert a street’s status from private to public.
Nicholas Dostie, Sequim’s deputy Public Works Director, said June 26 that this establishes a process with no guarantee the process would be used.
Policy requirements
According to the city’s Municipal Code, requirements for a neighborhood/HOA’s request to be considered, include:
• A written petition signed by 100 percent of the abutting landowners, including all persons with partial ownership interest.
• The private street must add value to the city grid system and help achieve the city’s comprehensive plan policies and goals for transportation.
• The entire proposed street must have a minimum Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of 70 or 100 percent of the average PCI for Sequim streets, whichever is higher.
• The width of the proposed right-of-way must be consistent with city street standards at the time of proposal and be adequate for anticipated buildout purposes.
If any of these are not met, council may not consider the petition and may not dismiss it, according to the code.
Council may also impose conditions on a case-by-base basis, such as requiring a utility service study, and the formation of a Local Improvement District (LID) to install city standard street improvements, such as sidewalks, landscaping, and street lights.
If conditions are met, council will direct staff to conduct further review, and schedule a public hearing.
However, the city council holds the right to not accept the proposal even if it meets the criteria, according to the new code.
There’s also no timeline in which staff or council must act on a proposal.
The city will also require easements if a changeover is to move forward, and stormwater drainage systems must be confirmed as adequate and in compliance with state and federal law.
Costs, concerns
Current city code requires all new streets to be public and staff said they’ll review this requirement as part of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan review.
At the May 8 council meeting, staff said the cost to repair and/or build streets has gone up significantly in recent years, too, with Dostie saying that it’s upwards of ten times depending on the project compared to projects in 2019-2020.
For roads with a 70 PCI or better with minimal potholes and other issues, he said the PCI can be improved easier versus a lower rating requiring significant costs.
City attorney Kristina Nelson-Gross said anytime a local jurisdiction like the city does a project they must pay prevailing wages, so if a neighborhood or HOA were to do it the cost could be about one-third less than what it’d cost the city.
A concern for some residents has been what’s been coined “road islands,” a public street disconnected from another public street with access only through a private street.
Public Works Director Sarah VanAusdle said via email that there are between two and seven potential road islands that exist or could exist from possible development.
At the June 26 council meeting, city resident Steve Graham said a second phase in his neighborhood’s development will create a public road island, and he found the new code guidelines “pretty restrictive” for homeowners seeking the city to assume ownership of their private roads to access the public road.
“There are a huge number of hurdles here,” Graham said. “A road island is not something you really want. You want continuous maintenance.”
He encouraged the council to be more flexible to get rid of road islands, and revise the city code to include a negotiation process as it “has a lot of potential to go sideways.”
Dostie said staff have been wrestling with the road island concept and that there’s no easy way to address them.
Sequim deputy city manager Charisse Deschenes said there are a lot of subdivisions and vacant land throughout the city where it could become more difficult for people to access property and some development proposals have stopped because of this.
For more about the city’s code, visit sequimwa.gov.
Editor’s note: Reporter Matthew Nash lives by a proposed project mentioned in this story. — MD
