SEQUIM — As the city prepares for “big box” regional shopping centers, the mayor and others think more attention should be paid to smaller commercial development they say is bound to follow.

Mayor Walt Schubert said he believes the city should adopt a set of design standards for smaller projects, which would likely take the form of a scaled-down version of standards adopted by the City Council late last year.

The current set of standards applies to retail developments of 20,000 square feet or more — such as the Wal-Mart “supercenter” under construction and planned Home Depot home improvement warehouse.

But construction of large retailers often leads to a spate of smaller ones, Schubert said, and not having a set of regulations guiding their design could defeat the purpose of having any design standards at all.

“Right now we have nothing in place for these types of developments, and I just think it’s time we look into that issue,” he said.

Design standards designate several aspects of developments, including color, lighting, signs, parking requirements and landscaping.