Draft Comprehensive Plan Details
What is a Comprehensive Plan?
Comprehensive plans are the centerpiece of local planning efforts. A Comprehensive Plan articulates a series of goals and policies intended to guide the decisions of elected officials and local government staff. The Comprehensive Plan provides long-range policy direction for land use, transportation, economic development, housing, capital facilities, utilities, parks and recreation, and natural environment. It lays out a community vision and priorities and describes where, how, and in some cases when development should occur.
What is the Growth Management Act?
The Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) is a State law that requires state and local governments to manage Washington's growth by identifying and protecting critical areas and natural resource lands, designating urban growth areas, preparing Comprehensive Plans and implementing them through capital investments and development regulations. This approach to growth management is unique among states. GMA was adopted by the Legislature in 1990 (Chapter 36.70A RCW). The GMA was adopted because the Washington State Legislature found that uncoordinated and unplanned growth posed a threat to the environment, sustainable economic development and the quality of life in Washington. The central premise of the GMA is that spontaneous and unstructured growth and development is wasteful of our natural resource base and costly to the provision of public services and facilities. By managing growth and development, the negative effects can be minimized, and the benefits can be maximized.
Why do We Need a Comprehensive Plan?
Cities need a Comprehensive Plan to ensure that decisions made today will result in efficient and sustainable growth in the future. Policies contained in comprehensive plans are meant to ensure orderly growth and protect the public’s best interests. As cities grow, having a Comprehensive Plan in place enables local governments to identify and respond to changing community needs and desires in a thoughtful rather than reactive way.
Why are We Doing an Update?
The Growth Management Act requires that cities and counties update their Comprehensive Plans on a periodic schedule. This is an opportunity to revise population and employment growth forecasts with the most up-to-date data, review existing policies to ensure they make sense for the communities they serve, write new policies that reflect the priorities of the community, and confirm that all federal, state, and local requirements are met. The 2025 Update will plan for the next 20 years of population and employment growth through the year 2045.
Does the Comprehensive Plan Address Transportation, Water and Sewer Infrastructure?
Yes. The process of identifying current capital facility needs, future needs to serve the growth anticipated in the comprehensive plan, and how to fund them, is an important aspect of planning under the Growth Management Act. The capital facilities plan (CFP) includes a six-year capital improvement plan (CIP) which should align with the jurisdiction’s budget, and a longer-range (20-year) CFP of capital projects, with estimated costs and proposed methods of financing. The CFP provides for the full implementation of the land use plan by showing how public facilities and services will be provided for in the community, at the population and intensities of development envisioned in the plan, and at adopted levels of service.
Why Should I be Aware of the Comprehensive Plan Update?
The Comprehensive Plan is the fundamental document in which the City relies on to guide land use decisions. The Comprehensive Plan includes designations describing the type of development expected in certain areas. These designations are the basis of all Zoning Districts and form the set of regulations with which all land use applications must comply. Simply put, the Comprehensive Plan is the blueprint for how the community of Sequim will grow.
Can a Comprehensive Plan be Changed Once it is Adopted?
Yes. Per State law, proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan can be considered once per year. All proposals are considered at the same time so the cumulative effect of the various proposals can be determined.
What is the Difference Between the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Ordinance?
The Comprehensive Plan is a policy document that guides general land use patterns. The Zoning Ordinance is part of the Sequim Municipal Code and regulates the type, scale and intensity of development which may occur in the specific zoning districts.
Sequim's Comprehensive Plan is the City's fundamental policy document — the blueprint for how our community will grow and evolve. It provides long-range direction for land use, transportation, economic development, housing, capital facilities, utilities, parks, and the natural environment.
Under Washington's Growth Management Act (GMA), Clallam County and its cities are required to periodically review and update their Comprehensive Plans to ensure compliance with state law. The GMA establishes state goals and deadlines while preserving local government control, recognizing Washington's tradition of regional diversity and community-driven planning.
The 2025 update plans for growth through the year 2045 and will serve as the foundation for all zoning, permitting, and capital investment decisions the City makes over the next two decades.
Read the full draft Plan and its Appendices:
Proposed Title 18 Updates
Updates to Title 18 largely focus on improving clarity of required standards, including updating definitions, using consistent terminology, and providing guidance on measurement methodologies. The following is a highlight summary. See a detailed matrix of Title 18 updates here.
Read the Proposed Title 18 Updates.
Summary
- Standardized land use definitions, use classifications, and tables to provide clearer and more predictable development standards.
- Conversion of discretionary or narrative standards into objective, measurable development regulations.
- Revised residential zoning standards, including an increase in the R4-8 district to R4-9, updated density calculations, lot standards, setbacks, and lot coverage requirements.
- Expanded housing opportunities through implementation of state-required housing legislation, including updated standards for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), supportive and transitional housing, affordable housing, co-living, and transitory accommodations.
- New Affordable Housing Exceptions chapter establishing development incentives for qualifying low-income affordable housing projects.
- Creation of a new Site Plan Review chapter to provide a consistent review process for most development projects.
- Updated commercial, mixed-use, downtown, business, and employment district standards with simplified bulk, dimensional, and height requirements.
- Planned Residential Development (PRD) standards to improve predictability and creativity in project design.
- New cluster housing standards to support diverse housing types and more efficient residential development.
- Updated landscaping, buffering, and open space standards emphasizing drought-tolerant and native vegetation while simplifying maintenance requirements.
- Modernized off-street parking standards, including reduced parking requirements for housing where required by state law and consolidation of electric vehicle infrastructure standards.
- Improved procedures for Master Plans, Conditional Use Permits, Temporary Use Permits, Design Review, and Essential Public Facilities to provide greater certainty and clearer decision-making authority.
- Consolidation of related regulations and elimination of redundant provisions to improve usability and reduce administrative complexity.
- Numerous formatting, organizational, and procedural improvements that make the development regulations easier to interpret, administer, and enforce.
Proposed Future Land Use and Zoning Maps
The proposed Future Land Use and Zoning Maps includes several updates from the 2015 Future Land Use Map. The following section summarizes the primary changes and their purpose.
View the Proposed Future Land Use Map.
View the Draft City of Sequim Zoning Map.
Summary
- Low Density Residential/R4-9 - increase in one unit per acre to align with minor subdivision standards.
- Lifestyle District – no changes proposed.
- Neighborhood Business – additional travel service uses.
- Community Mixed Use – no changes proposed.
- Regional Commercial – no changes proposed.
- Highway Commercial – additional uses consistent with other commercial districts.
- Heavy Commercial/Warehouse – no changes proposed.
- High Tech Light Industrial – additional uses for food and beverage production, tasting rooms, and similar uses.
- Opportunity Areas – eliminate ‘economic’ from designation name, include locational name (i.e. Bell Creek or River Road), and allow for increased range of uses, including mixed use and residential.
- Downtown Districts – consolidation to two districts (from three) Downtown Core and Downtown Mixed Use (DMU).
- Planned Resort Community – adds district specific standards.
- Agricultural Conservancy – no changes proposed.
- Public - Consolidation of Park, Neighborhood Park and Schools designations with other public uses, into a Public land use and zoning district.
- Open Space – separate from parks, acknowledges state-owned land
Read the Determination of Significance published in the Peninsula Daily News on Saturday, July 11, 2026.
The Draft SEIS is intended to satisfy requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) to analyze proposals and identify potential environmental impacts resulting from decisions made by an agency.
Under SEPA, an SEIS provides the City, members of the public, and other agencies with information about how a project proposal may affect the natural and built environment. This disclosure allows for meaningful comment, consideration of potential alternatives, and well-informed decision-making.
This SEIS analyzes environmental impacts as appropriate to the general nature of a comprehensive plan update. The adoption of comprehensive plans or other long-range planning approvals is a non-project (i.e., programmatic) action under SEPA. A non-project action is defined in WAC 197-11-774 and WAC 197-11-704 as an action which is different or broader than a single site-specific project, such as decisions on policies, plans, and programs, including comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances.
For more information, read the full Draft SEIS.
2015-2035 Comprehensive Plan - Individual Chapters
- Introduction and Chapter 1 (PDF)
- Chapter 2 - Urban Growth (PDF)
- Chapter 3 - Land Use (PDF)
- Chapter 4 - Transportation (PDF)
- Chapter 5 - Capital Facilities and Utilities (PDF)
- Chapter 6 - Housing (PDF)
- Chapter 7 - Parks and Recreation (PDF)
- Chapter 8 - Economic Development (PDF)
- Chapter 9 - Energy and Environment (PDF)
- Chapter 10 - Historic and Cultural Resources (PDF)
- Chapter 11 - Plan Implementation (PDF)
- Resolution No. R2015-16 (PDF) adopting 2015-2035 Comprehensive Plan
- Resolution No. R2018-06 (PDF), amending 2015-2035 Comprehensive Plan
- Resolution No. R2018-24 (PDF), amending 2015-2035 Comprehensive Plan
- Resolution No. R2022-005 (PDF). amending 2015-2035 Comprehensive Plan