FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: January 3, 2006
Contacts: Mark Mauren, Director at (360) 337-4252
               Rick Fackler, Park Planner at (206) 380-5549

County Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan to Be Updated
Public invited to express opinions in meetings next week  

PORT ORCHARD, WA—Kitsap County is reevaluating what it should be doing to provide park facilities, open space lands and recreational programs for county residents. And they want to hear the opinions of county citizens, especially park and open space users. The county Facilities, Parks and Recreation Department is holding a series of three public meetings on January 10, 11 and 12 to begin that public discussion. The meetings are scheduled at 7 p.m., Tuesday, January 10 at the Community Center at Long Lake County Park, 5100 Long Lake Road SE; 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 11 at the Eagle’s Nest on the Kitsap County Fairgrounds, 1195 Fairgrounds Road; and 7 p.m., Thursday, January 12 in Room 219 at the Poulsbo Campus of Olympic College, 1000 Olympic College Place NW. These meetings are the kick-off of a six-month public process to update the county’s Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan.  

In 2000 the county adopted an Open Space Plan that identified shortages in virtually all types of recreational facilities, as compared to other counties in Western Washington. That plan also determined that no single agency within the county could adequately meet all the identified needs. The 2000 plan declared the county’s role in meeting those needs would be to protect key open space areas and to provide regional facilities, including waterfront sites, trails and large “heritage” parks which can accommodate a wide range of uses, including preservation of environmentally sensitive areas, ballfields, playgrounds, picnic areas and trails. There was also a priority given to purchasing appropriate lands to meet these needs, as owning those lands is a necessary first step to providing needed facilities. The county committed to working cooperatively with other agencies and communities to provide recreational facilities and local parks, as a secondary county priority.  View the 2000 Open Space Plan.

Since the 2000 plan was adopted, the county has purchased large, regional “heritage” park sites throughout the county: Banner Forest and Coulter Creek Heritage Park in South Kitsap, Illahee Preserve and Port Blakely lands in Central Kitsap, and North Kitsap Heritage Park and Hansville Greenway additions in North Kitsap.

Since the old plan was written, waterfront access has been improved with purchases and improvement of properties at Wick’s Lake, Anderson Point and Ollala Beach in South Kitsap; acquisition of Laughlin Cove, Nick’s Lagoon and Barker Creek and development of Old Mill Park in Central Kitsap; and purchase of waterfront land at Point No Point, Forbes Landing, Kingston Slough, and Bloedel Indianola waterfront property and the redevelopment of Salsbury Park in North Kitsap. Trails have been developed or improved in Banner Forest, Anderson Point, Anderson Landing, Illahee Reserve, Clear Creek Trail, Carpenter Lake, Point No Point and in the Hansville Greenway. 

The county has worked with community groups or other agencies to acquire the Bloedel Lands in Indianola and develop the Indianola Ballfield Park, acquire additional land for and build the trail system in the Hansville Greenway, acquire the Kingston Slough property, build the Carpenter Lake Trail, contribute toward the construction of the Clear Creek Trail, and contribute toward acquisition of Blakely Harbor, Gazzam Lake and Pritchard sites on Bainbridge Island.  Fields have been improved in Indianola, Edgewater, Fairgrounds and Gordon Field. Kingston has a new skate park, and new dog parks have been established at Burley-Olalla and Howe Farm.

Much has been accomplished in the past six years, but much remains to be done. While the Heritage Park system is largely in place, relatively little has been done to provide more athletic fields or trails, and the county is still far short of the goal of making 10% of the county’s saltwater shoreline available to the general public.

Both the State Growth Management Act and the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation, the state agency that administers grant programs for acquisition and development of parks and open space, require the county to update the Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan every six years. With the accomplishments of the past six years, it is appropriate to look again at how the needs for park facilities and open space lands within the county can most effectively be met.

As part of the planning process, the county will be meeting with providers of park, recreation and open space services within the county to discuss how we can best work in a coordinated way to most effectively provide needed services. A series of meetings will also be held with groups of facility users and advocates, such as trail users, field sport representatives, preservation advocates, sport courts, etc., to gather opinions on the needs for land, facilities and programs for various recreational activities. The list of the groups the county intends to meet with is posted on the county’s web site. Anyone representing a recreational activity which is or is not on that list is encouraged to contact Rick Fackler by phone or e-mail to be included in the user focus group meetings. General Public meetings will be held at the beginning of the process (January 10, 11 & 12), after the meetings with user groups, and, at the end of the process, before the Park Board, Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners. 

For further information, contact Mark Mauren, Kitsap County Facilities, Parks and Recreation Director at (360) 337-4252, mmauren@co.kitsap.wa.us, or Rick Fackler, Park Planner at (206) 380-5549, rfackler@co.kitsap.wa.us.