SEQUIM — A public comment period on the application to the city of Sequim by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe for its medication-assisted treatment clinic project begins today.

A notice of application is in the Peninsula Daily News’ classified advertising section today. The legal ad is for says the application for the 16,720-square-foot medicine assisted treatment (MAT) clinic planned on 3.3 acres of the 18.19-acre parcel the tribe purchased last year will be processed as an A-2 permit.

It announces that written public comment will be taken until 4 p.m. Feb. 24. Comment can be hand-delivered or mailed to the City of Sequim, Department of Community Development (DCD), c/o Tim Woolett, 152 W. Cedar St. Sequim, WA. Comments also can be emailed or faxed.

Barry Berezowsky, Sequim’s director of community development, said last week that notices about the MAT application would go into area newspapers, on the City of Sequim’s website, at the property off South Ninth Avenue, and in the mail to property owners within 300 feet beginning today.

The application and supporting materials are available for review at the City of Sequim Civic Center, 152 West Cedar Street, Sequim, WA 98362, or online at https://www.sequimwa.gov/471/Current-Projects.

Tribe officials said that when operational the clinic will dispense daily doses of methadone, Suboxone and Vivitrol for opioid-use disorder and provide wrap-around services for residents of Clallam and Jefferson counties who request treatment. The tribe expects to serve up to 250 clients within the next couple of years.

Since the 20-day public comment period would end on a Saturday, it has been extended to the following Monday.

Community members have until 4 p.m. Feb. 14 to file an appeal of the A-2 classification process with Berezowsky; appeals include paperwork and a $600 fee for a hearing examiner.

Berezowsky said appeals should follow Sequim Municipal Code 20.01.240, which includes:

• what decision one is appealing;

• name, address and interest in the matter;

• specific reasons why the decision is wrong (with proof/evidence);

• desired outcome or changes to the decision;

• legal fee.

Appeals are to be mailed or hand-delivered to the Department of Community Development at the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.

Berezowsky said that staff cannot provide legal advice but that he can answer questions about the process at 360-681-3435.

The public also can appeal the SEPA threshold determination as well as the final decision on the application, but each aspect of the project application has its own deadline.

After the initial appeal, the public has another 15 days to comment on the SEPA threshold determination.

From there, city staff will review the design and prepare its findings for potential changes. They have 120 days, or until May 26, to finish the application process from when it was deemed complete last Monday.

Berezowsky said his determination will come after review by the city’s engineer, public works director, police chief and representatives of Clallam County Fire District 3.

Berezowsky’s notice of decision will be published on the city’s website and sent to the tribe, along with parties making appeals.

Appeals can be made up to 21 days after a decision is made on a project.

“The only way that it can be appealed is to wait until the process concludes, and then the appeals go in front of a hearing examiner,” Berezowsky said.

Updates on the application are posted online at www.sequimwa.gov/471/Current-Projects.

Council or staff decision

The MAT application was on hold from its filing on Jan. 10 through Jan. 23 after direction from Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush. Council members conducted a special work session on Jan. 23 to discuss the proposed clinic.

Berezowsky said he received approval to continue the application process during an executive session with council members.

A notice of classification went out on Jan. 24 that the application would follow the A-2 process where city staff — not council members — would consider approving the project.

Advocates for a C-2 process desire a more public process and a quasi-judicial review from the city council for an overall decision.

Deputy Mayor Ted Miller spoke before public comments on Monday, saying the city council would have to follow the same law as city staff if they were to decide and declare it an A-2 process due to federal guidelines.

“If we allow a medical facility in any zone, we have to allow a MAT … From that point of view, if we find an MAT is a medical facility, then it meets all the codes,” he said.

Miller added: “Regardless if it’s a C-2 process or an A-2 process, we are bound by the same rules. If it meets zoning requirements, building codes and so forth, we have to approve it.”

He said it’d be unlikely to be deemed a C-2 process and if city council were to consider it they’d be under the same restrictions as Berezowsky.

“We would be bound to approve it or end up in costly litigation that could impoverish City of Sequim residents,” Miller said. “From a legal point of view, I conclude the city doesn’t really have a choice.”

He encouraged residents to contact the tribe about their feelings, pro or con.

“I feel the applicant is severely underestimating the amount of opposition to the MAT,” Miller said. “If in favor, you should let the applicant know. City council is unable to affect anything with the MAT. (I’m) not saying I’m happy with the state of affairs, but that’s the realistic event.”

Robert “Bob” Bilow, a Sequim resident living outside city limits, continued to express his interest in appealing the notice of classification as an A-2 process.

“I entirely disagree with everything you’ve said,” Bilow told Miller on Monday, adding that he will file a legal brief about his comments.

Bilow said he disagreed that the MAT must be approved as a medical clinic and said that the Americans with Disabilities Act was used inaccurately and that case laws cited in Berezowsky’s notice of classification aren’t applicable to this project.

For more information on the MAT application, contact the City of Sequim at 360-683-4908.

For more information on the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s project, visit jamestownhealingcampus.org.

Brent Simcosky, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s health services director, said people can contact him at bsimcosky@jamestowntribe.org to open dialogue on how to make the clinic safe and successful.

For more information on arguments against the clinic, visit www.saveoursequim.org.

For more information on arguments for the clinic, visit www.facebook.com/groups/SequimStabilization/.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Peninsula Daily News Executive Editor Leah Leach contributed to this story.