Buying land in Sequim (Bellingham, Port Angeles: 2014, receptions, how much)

[paracitystoo]

Hi,
I've been thinking about moving to the Sequim area and buying or building a house. As a buyer of land are there any things specific to the area a purchaser of land should be aware of? For example, are there well first areas? Are there water usage districts? I like to garden and I've always wanted to live in an area conducive to the growth of Rhododendrons and other ericacaecious plants. Are there areas with geographic exposure or soil conditions that I would want to avoid?
Thanks,
Mark

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by paracitystoo

Hi,
I've been thinking about moving to the Sequim area and buying or building a house. As a buyer of land are there any things specific to the area a purchaser of land should be aware of? For example, are there well first areas? Are there water usage districts? I like to garden and I've always wanted to live in an area conducive to the growth of Rhododendrons and other ericacaecious plants. Are there areas with geographic exposure or soil conditions that I would want to avoid?
Thanks,
Mark

Hi Mark:

With respect to water issues, it depends upon where the land is (location within the WRIA) and whether or not the Sequim Dungeness water rule will apply to that particular property. The water rule will impact new wells being drilled. Existing wells may be "grandfathered in" under the rule.

The water rule is a little murky IMO but as I understand it, the eligibility of each lot owner to purchase outdoor water rights will be determined on a case-by-case basis. You can look at the water rule map online at the WA Department of Ecology site. This will give you a rough estimate of where outdoor water will and won’t be available. It seems to be more of a case of how much water you can use at a given location rather than an all the water you want vs. a can't have any water situation. New wells in the water rule area will be metered to determine tiers. Stay tuned, there is litigation pending over this rule so who knows how it will all shake out...

Since we have zero snow pack this year in the mountains to fall back on and feed our rivers/aquifers, the "fight" over water locally could get interesting-

This is a great area for gardening, the soil is good in the majority of locations. Generally it's sandy loam. Some areas are a little rocky with the occasional clay. Be aware that we get almost no rain here during the prime growing months (summer) so once again the ability to water or irrigate becomes important.

As a gardener, look for property that will give you a nice (preferably unobstructed or unshaded) south facing exposure. Many of the developed lots around Sequim are north facing as that provides at least a degree of water view towards the Strait.

If you're in town this summer, check out the WSU Master Gardener demonstration garden on Woodcock Rd. The WSU (WA State University) extension office in Port Angeles is a good resource as well.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by paracitystoo

Hi,
I've been thinking about moving to the Sequim area and buying or building a house. As a buyer of land are there any things specific to the area a purchaser of land should be aware of? For example, are there well first areas? Are there water usage districts? I like to garden and I've always wanted to live in an area conducive to the growth of Rhododendrons and other ericacaecious plants. Are there areas with geographic exposure or soil conditions that I would want to avoid?
Thanks,
Mark

I would also suggest a C-D advanced search using "Sequim" as your search word and searching the WA forum. There are tons of posts but you will learn most of what you need to know for a possible relocation to that area. If you have any questions after reading those posts there are a few posters here willing to chime in with helpful answers...like Dendrite.

I know a couple who bought a home in the Sequim area last year...about halfway between the northernmost tip of the Sequim area on the Strait and Hwy 101...and it is so consistently windy/chilly (while at the same time warm and hardly even breezy in Sequim itself) that they installed a heater on their patio for summer entertaining. These folks are not weather wimps.

We experienced the same phenomenon our first trip to Sequim...so windy and chilly near the northernmost tip of the Sequim area near the Strait that we had to wear jackets during the day while it was actually hot in Sequim. Lots of microclimates in the area.

I know another person who just bought a home in Sequim and her soil conditions are so bad that she must bring soil in and plant in raised beds. I think that is unusual for the area but it obviously can occur. And, like Dendrite posted, the Dungeness Water Rule can impact your gardening options. We chose to buy land just outside of the DWR area.

Said the July 2014 out-of-state fussy and satisfied buyer of land in Sequim.

[Jumpindogs]

Forgot to mention that some properties have rights to nearby or bordering irrigation ditches. You need equipment to pump the water from the ditch to your usage area. And in years of no mountain snowpack...like this year...there likely won't be any snowmelt water in those ditches so they are not a guarantee of water. Water is a big deal in Sequim...there is a price to pay for that attractive Rain Shadow effect.

[jacqueg]

A slightly different take on your question - if you are seriously interested in growing rhodies, you'd do better in a rainier area. The native rhodies, salal, and native huckleberries survive with no summer irrigation - I water mine about once every 3 weeks, and they're gorgeous.

[paracitystoo]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies. The problem with moving to a rainier area is that there will be less sun. I'm in Southeast Michigan now and after nearly 65 years here I'm really tired of the gloominess. I'm looking for someplace that's either sunnier,milder, or greener throughout the year, so It might sound stupid to be thinking about Western Wa. if I want less gloomy weather but I was thinking maybe Sequim might work. I don't think I could stand Florida ; the rest of the South is, well, the South;California is filled with Californians; and I don't know about Arizona-no trees?
Thanks,
Mark

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by paracitystoo

Hi,
Thanks for the replies. The problem with moving to a rainier area is that there will be less sun. I'm in Southeast Michigan now and after nearly 65 years here I'm really tired of the gloominess. I'm looking for someplace that's either sunnier,milder, or greener throughout the year, so It might sound stupid to be thinking about Western Wa. if I want less gloomy weather but I was thinking maybe Sequim might work. I don't think I could stand Florida ; the rest of the South is, well, the South;California is filled with Californians; and I don't know about Arizona-no trees?
Thanks,
Mark

Sequim will for sure be milder and greener throughout the year so it's a winner on two of your three counts.

But if less gloom is your prime objective then the PNW may not be a good choice for you. Even Sequim in the Olympic Rainshadow...although much drier and sunnier on average than the rest of the PNW...has gloomy winters. The sun peeks out in the afternoon on many winter days but there are still substantial stretches of cloudy days. And Sequim winter days are a bit shorter, although not by much, than your SE MI winter days which can give the impression of more gloom since each day has more dark hours than daylight hours. Another poster on C-D who has lived in both northern WI and the OP said that the cloud cover on the OP seems lower in the sky which could also add to the gloom factor and may feel oppressive to some folks. One should definitely consider the fact that some people move to the PNW and move away once they realize they cannot tolerate the gloomy winters.

We live in similar SE WI and chose Sequim for our retirement destination after much research. We love small towns, natural beauty, mountains, water, hiking, kayaking, fishing, gardening, wildlife, friendly folks, dogs and family...not necessarily in that order. Our list of dislikes quickly eliminated most locations: winter cold and/or snow, summer heat and/or humidity, high COL, high density population, lotsa bugs, poisonous reptiles/insects. Also, we did not want to summer in one location and winter in another.

After we bought land in Sequim last summer we really paid attention to the gloom this winter in WI...long stretches of 100% cloudy days in a row this past winter. Factor in the snow and frigid temps and we figure that if we survive WI winters with no major issues then we will adore Sequim winters since everything else about them will be a huge improvement! And PNW summers simply cannot be beat.

Sequim is prolly a tad too gloomy in winter for us and not quite warm enough in summer for my hubby (although it was hot for him the week we were in Sequim July 2014) and healthcare is not as ideally accessible as we'd like but those are the only downsides and they are tolerable. When we considered the accessibility of healthcare, we realized that we travel as far for healthcare now as we would living in Sequim so that was a wash. We plan on taking a week or two during the winter, spaced out, to relieve the gloom if necessary. We will be retired so leaving on a whim and taking advantage of low airfares due to flexible travel dates should make the process fairly easy. No place is perfect.

We intentionally bought property in Sequim with a southwestern exposure for the major living area of the house to capture all available sun and warmth. And with very few trees to allow for as much natural light as possible. And far enough away from the chilly, blustery winds off the Strait. Our floor plan includes skylights and a wall of southwestern facing windows. We are trying to offset the gloom factor as best we can with thoughtful choices. You can too.

[Jumpindogs]

Oh yeah...forgot to mention that we saw lots of Rhododendron hedges in Sequim so they must grow fairly easily. Hard to imagine growing a hedge plant that required intensive irrigation to thrive in such numbers so maybe they need irrigation primarily in the dry months of July and August?

[paracitystoo]

Hi Jumpindogs,
When I read your rationale for choosing Sequim I thought " Great minds must think alike ; their reasoning sounds exactly like mine".
Mark

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by paracitystoo

Hi Jumpindogs,
When I read your rationale for choosing Sequim I thought " Great minds must think alike ; their reasoning sounds exactly like mine".
Mark

Hahaha!

Since you are a Midwesterner, I should mention that you will find C-D posts on the apparent comparative "chill" some people have experienced when trying to meet new folks in the PNW. I cannot speak for any areas beyond Sequim, Bellingham and Bainbridge but in all three I've experienced nothing close to that "chill" and felt right at home considering we love the apparent comparative "warmth" of folks in the Midwest. In Sequim especially we enjoyed many conversations with strangers and even made one good friend with whom we maintain a long distance relationship.

I am not suggesting that PNW "chill" doesn't exist in some form...many people have posted on their chilly receptions and there has gotta be something to that...but I do think some of this might depend on the perception and attitude of the receiver. Of course our experience is very limited at this point so maybe I am off base. But we already feel a comfy connection to Sequim after only two short visits.