Waive Traffic Impact Fees for Sound Waters Montessori

Sound Waters Montessori wishes to open the Olympic Peninsula's first AMI certified Montessori Preschool. The school will be serving children ages 2.5- 6 years of age, offering families of Sequim another childcare option in a limited childcare area. We have had a hard time finding a location that meets all of the city of Sequim's safety and zoning codes, however we finally found a location which we believe has a lot of potential and which the officials agree is safe and permits use as a school.
This location is 609 W. Washington Street, Unit 13; one of the empty bays near Sunny Farm Supplement store and the old Police Station. Sound Waters Montessori would transform the old parking lot for the Police Patrol cars into a lovely nature based playground for the children, and by using the backdoor of unit 13, we would safely walk the children to and from the playground. This location is currently zoned M for Retail Occupancy, and we would need to change it to E for Educational Occupancy. The change of use fees plus some other reasonable fees will cost Sound Waters Montessori about $1200. These are fees which we find reasonable and will pay without scruple.
With the Change of Use permit comes another fee however, one for Traffic Impact. This fee is estimated at around $10,000 to $12,000. This is money that would go toward the City of Sequim's transportation costs; it is used for the entire city for traffic improvements. While money would undoubtedly be put to good use, we feel that a fee of this magnitude is too much to ask of a small school just opening. The cost alone is nearly half of what we will need to spend on our inventory of materials for the children's activities and school supplies. We are asking the community to stand with us and sign our petition, requesting the City Council to waive the Traffic Impact Fees that will make this school nearly impossible to open. Thank you for your support.