SEQUIM — It will be at least two weeks before the City Council makes a decision on rezoning 21 acres of property that could eventually lead to a regional shopping center.
The council decided to delay its ruling after listening to 1 hour, 45 minutes of testimony during a public hearing Monday night.
Only three of 29 people spoke out in favor of the rezone.
Most of those talking in opposition voiced concern about building regional shopping malls in downtown Sequim.
Nearly 100 people crowded into the community center, only about half of them able to find a seat.
Mark Burrowes, co-manager of Bell Homestead LLC, which wants 21 acres rezoned from CII to a higher-density CIII, said there are no plans for a mall. If the rezone is approved, Bell Homestead will own 72 acres of property with the high-density zoning between Sequim Avenue and Brown Road near U.S. 101.
Burrowes said developers have been “looking up and down the Olympic Peninsula” for a place to locate retail shopping.
“It’s going to happen somewhere close by, if not in Sequim,” Burrowes said.
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