Developer looks to bring 103 homes to Brownfield Road

Plans are tentatively coming before City of Sequim officials to consider a 103 single-family residential homes subdivision called Bell Hill Estates, along East Brownfield Road.

Property owner Bill Barnett of Barnett NW Enterprises LLC of Tenino plans to build in three phases on 25.66 acres between Miller Road and U.S. Highway 101. The first phase would include 26 homes adjacent to Brownfield Road while the second phase includes building 38 homes in the middle of the property and Phase III brings in 39 homes.

What size the homes are hasn’t been specifically determined, Barnett said on Tuesday, May 16.

The preliminary plat map shows parcels ranging from 6,000 square feet to just over 12,500 square feet in the three phases.

Barnett has owned the property for 10 years, he said, and the opportunity to build only recently came to fruition.

“The old preliminary plat ran out so we had to follow all the new stuff (i.e. updated the City of Sequim’s Comprehensive Plan guidelines),” Barnett said. “It just added more difficulty and expense.”

Sequim Assistant Public Works Director Matt Klontz said Sequim’s Planning Commission tentatively will review plans at its June 6 and/or June 20 meetings, depending on when plans are submitted.

Once the planning commission has a recommendation, Sequim city councilors will have final approval of the subdivision, Klontz said.

Transitioning between phases depends on what percentage of the homes are finished and how many have sold from the previous phase, Barnett said.

“We hope to have (the plan) done by middle of the summer but you just don’t know on these things,” he said. “The best scenario is that everything clears.”

Barnett met with some of the homeowners nearby living on Bell Hill on May 2 at the Sequim Transit Center to discuss his plans. He said they were concerned about issues of flooding and whether or not the property would be fenced.

Reports from the City of Sequim state no significant archaeological finds or environmental issues were found with the property.

A Wetland &Wildlife Critical Areas report by Loggy Soil and Wetland Consulting of Port Angeles states the subdivision would remove 20.8 acres of grasses and 4.8 acres of open habitat/shelter for local animals such as the Roosevelt elk “but the development by itself is not likely to adversely affect the elk habitat.”

For more on the project visit www.sequimwa.gov and search “Bell Estates.”

Bell Estates, a 103-home subdivision, would be built off of Brownfield Road below Miller Road and Bell Hill within the City of Sequim’s limits. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Bell Estates, a 103-home subdivision, would be built off of Brownfield Road below Miller Road and Bell Hill within the City of Sequim’s limits. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash