By Pepper Fisher

SEQUIM – The effort to restore the iconic grain elevator in downtown Sequim and create a place that residents and visitors can enjoy has run into a possible snag.

Owners Ryan Schaafsma and Jason Hoffman have made progress in gutting the building, getting it down to its sturdy bones, and adding new roofing to protect their progress. But many are unaware that Verizon Wireless has a substantial radio and antenna facility inside and out of the tower, based on a pre-existing lease that could extend as long as 2036. What’s more, the owners just learned on March 25 that the company intends to expand their facility in the tower, adding more equipment inside and more antennas outside, and work is set to begin this month.

Owner Ryan Schaafsma says the announcement caught them completely off guard, and could dash their hopes of someday opening up the building to the public.

“I’m a Verizon customer, and cell phones are a huge part of all of our lives at this point. And we have no desire to just flat-out eliminate it as an option, particularly one that would impact a lot of Sequim residents. But it’s more of the expansion of use that, in our opinion, already tarnishes the visible appeal and usability of the building as a whole. We feel like that would have a detrimental impact, as far as the look and feel and historical accuracy of the building, and in our goal to try to make it something more focused on something that’s accessible to the public.”

Schaafsma says he was told by someone from Verizon that they were also looking at moving the whole setup from the granary to a traditional cell tower south of the downtown area, adding to the confusion.

“Yeah, and that’s part of a little bit of the frustration here on our part is, what we’ve essentially found out is that Verizon appears to be pursuing space on a nearby existing tower that could house all of their current equipment. And for us, it seems an easy choice to both move the existing equipment to a new site that wouldn’t have any negative impact on cell phone coverage in our area, but would eliminate its use on the building itself completely and allow us to use the rest of the building in manners that will make it more accessible to the public.”

Schaafsma says they have applied with the state to have the granary designated an historic building, and expect it to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“In this case, there’s a little bit of a disagreement, but they provided notice to the City on their intent for the, I believe it’s a legal requirement, for the section 106, which is a preservation code at the federal level to preserve historic sites. And, before any work is done on historic sites, there is an obligatory request for public comment on what the public, or other entities, or the city would see as potential negative impacts to that use. And, in this case, they put it out for both public and City comment.”

Schaafsma is urging people to send comments to stsukioka@gssmidwest.com.

Schaafsma also asks would also you Cc’ing your email to thesequimgranary@gmail.com to ensure they have a record of your communication. The deadline is short as work is scheduled for April 25.