Board discusses Healthy Streets pilot for Lower Perkins Way; city staff note process and neighbor consent requirement

Lake Forest Park — Advisory board members discussed a neighborhood pilot to partially close or traffic-calming Lower Perkins Way under the city's Healthy Streets concept and asked how parks staff could support outreach, design and community planting.

One board member described a state legislative bill that would allow substantially lower default speed limits for designated streets and said the proposal prompted renewed interest in a pilot program for Lower Perkins. Participants discussed temporary or pilot approaches that use planters, paint or movable barriers to reduce through-traffic and create safer walking spaces.

Corey, a city staff member, described the administrative process for signage and temporary installations: "If it's temporary, we have ... a signed permit that we would just submit and get approval. If it's more permanent type of thing, that would be a public works project we run by and figure out how much that would be," Corey said. Board members also noted the city's requirement that a Healthy Streets conversion include neighborhood consent; one participant said the ordinance calls for roughly 70% neighbor approval for a permanent change.

Nut graf: The idea is to pilot a Healthy Streets measure on Lower Perkins Way to improve pedestrian space and reduce speed; participants proposed low-cost pilot treatments and volunteer-maintained plantings, but noted the multistep process, neighborhood-consent threshold and staff workload that affect timing.

Members suggested partnering with local groups for outreach and long-term stewardship (Stewardship Foundation and neighborhood volunteers), using temporary materials for trial runs, and exploring educational outreach such as a local urbanism book club and public meetings. City staff noted that implementation would likely require multiple years because of competing priorities and limited staff capacity.

Ending: Board members agreed to keep the idea on the work plan for possible pilot design and community outreach; any permanent or semi-permanent changes would require public works design review, permit approvals and neighborhood consent under existing city practice.