(1) GMA Goals. Ensure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy and use without decreasing current service levels below locally established minimum standards.

Encourage development in urban areas where adequate public facilities and services exist or can be provided in an efficient manner.

Encourage the retention of open space and development of recreational opportunities, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and water, and develop parks.

(2) Overview. It is more cost-efficient to provide some public facilities and services when the population is concentrated, such as in an urban area. Through the designation of urban growth areas, Clallam County and other service providers can plan more cost effective and efficient services.

Growth increases the demand for new and/or improved public facilities and services. New residential growth may impact school facilities by having more school age children without a corresponding increase in school facilities. Development can increase traffic levels on County roads and transit systems. Connections to water or sewer systems diminish the available capacity for future growth.

The overall purpose of this growth management plan is to identify urban areas where public facilities and services can be provided efficiently; ensure that public facilities and services keep pace with growth so that service levels are not diminished; and plan for where facilities and services will be located.

(3) Definition. The Growth Management Act defines “public facilities” as streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, trails, street and road lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreation facilities, and schools. “Public services” include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

(4) Schools. The Sequim School District has facilities within the City of Sequim and Carlsborg. School facilities in this area have not kept pace with the increase in school children. School construction funding comes primarily from local levies (bonds) authorized by voters within the school district. The Sequim School District has been unsuccessful in obtaining voter approval for new school construction. Existing school facilities are overcrowded, requiring the installation of portable classroom buildings. There is, and will continue to be, a need for increased school capacity during the 20-year life of this plan. The School District has tentatively identified a location for school expansion within the City of Sequim near the existing school complex.

(5) Water. Public Utility District Number 1 of Clallam County operates the Evergreen, Carlsborg, and Deer Park/O’Brien Road/Agnew water systems. The Public Utility District finances construction of these systems through local utility districts (LUDs). Sunland has a water district that provides water service to that community. There are numerous private water purveyors within the area (see Figure 1).

(6) Sewer. Sanitary sewer exists within the City of Sequim (plus some lands within the urban growth area) and at Sunland. The Public Utility District is authorized to provide sewage disposal service throughout the PUD service area. A community drainfield in Sunshine Acres is now operated by the PUD.

(7) Parks and Recreation. Clallam County has several parks and recreation facilities within the Sequim-Dungeness planning area, including the Dungeness Recreation Area, Cline Spit, Port Williams, Panorama Vista, and Dungeness Landing. The Sequim-Dungeness Park and Recreation District is a local district with similar service boundaries to this planning area. The District operates the Sequim Aquatic Center, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe manages Railroad Bridge Park, and the Port of Port Angeles owns and operates John Wayne Marina. State parks in the area include Sequim Bay State Park and the planned Miller Peninsula State Park. The planning area also includes the Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, which have numerous recreation sites. Private recreation opportunities in the area include Dungeness, Skyridge, and Sunland golf courses, although Sunland is now private. There is a demand for new golf courses with public access and trails linking the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) with these facilities.

(8) Fire Protection. Fire protection in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley is provided by Clallam County Fire Protection District Number 3. The main station for the Fire District is within the City of Sequim, with other stations located at Carlsborg, Blyn, Diamond Point, Dungeness, Lost Mountain and R Corner. Fire protection districts, like hospital and library districts, are junior taxing districts. Funding for these junior taxing districts comes from property taxes and timber revenues from County trust lands.

(9) Public Health. Public health facilities serving this planning area are located within Port Angeles. Public health services are available through Clallam County’s Home Health Program. Numerous private health care facilities exist within the planning area. These facilities are needed to serve the aging population.

(10) Other Governmental Services. Clallam County provides no other direct governmental facilities within the planning area. Consideration has been made in the past to satellite offices for some of the County’s services, such as law enforcement, health, and community development. At this time, the most efficient use of facilities is to continue basing the services within Port Angeles. As the population grows in this area, the need for satellite facilities and increased services needs to be closely monitored.

(11) Financing. New development often pays for the cost of extending new public facilities and services. For example, if a development is proposed on a County road that is not adequate to handle additional traffic, the County is able to require the developer to pay the costs of improving the County road (called “mitigation”). Water and sewer systems are similarly financed; if a developer proposes to extend water and sewer to a property, it is the responsibility of the developer to pay the costs for extending those services.

Another way that development pays for the cost of extending new public facilities is through development fees. For example, the City of Sequim requires anyone who hooks up to the sewer or water system to pay a connection fee. This fee is put into a special account for the eventual planning and upgrade of the system, such as the sewer treatment facility. This connection fee is in addition to requiring the developer extend the actual collection or distribution lines.

This method of paying for public facility and service extension is based on three principles: (1) setting level of service standards for public facilities and services; (2) ensuring that public facilities and services necessary to support development are adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy (called “concurrency”); and (3) requiring development to pay fees for the new facilities rather than rely solely on property taxes or grants to fund development of these public facilities.