King County committee forwards Skyway West Hill community center plan after staff briefing

The King County Council Local Services and Land Use Committee on May 21 voted 4-0 to forward a motion acknowledging receipt of the Skyway West Hill Community Center project plan and recommended the item for placement on the full council’s consent agenda.

The plan, transmitted in response to a 2023–2024 budget proviso, outlines a preliminary project concept for a new community center in unincorporated Skyway West Hill, summarizes potential sites identified in a 2019 feasibility analysis and estimates capital and operating needs. Council central staff said King County’s 2025 budget already includes $10 million toward the project and that Parks estimates an additional roughly $28 million in capital resources will be needed beyond what has been appropriated.

Why it matters: Skyway West Hill is identified in King County planning materials as having relatively high shares of underserved populations. Committee members and County staff framed the project as an equity investment intended to restore community programming and facilities that were lost after prior operators and partnerships ended.

Leah Kreckle Zappi, council central staff, summarized the plan and funding pathway, noting the project grew from a 2019 feasibility study and that Parks and community partners have been engaged in concept-level design. She said Parks’ cost estimators placed the total project range between $35 million and $50 million and that the transmittal was delayed beyond the original budget cycle because of project timing.

John Taylor, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP), told the committee the project remains at a concept-design level and that Parks plans more community outreach to refine siting and amenities. Taylor said Parks has been running summer programming in the Skyway area to build local partnerships and better identify operational needs as design continues.

Committee members pressed staff on operations and sustainability. Parks staff estimate the completed center would require roughly six full‑time equivalents to operate and about $1.4 million in annual operating and maintenance costs; consultants estimated roughly 30% of those operating costs could be covered by user fees and rentals. The parks levy that county voters are being asked to renew would, if approved by voters, provide $13 million toward planning, design and construction of the Skyway center and $2 million toward operations, and real estate excise tax (REET) dollars were listed in the plan as another funding source.

Vice Chair Quinn moved the motion to acknowledge receipt of the plan and forward it with a “do pass” recommendation; the roll call vote was 4 ayes, 0 noes (Dunn — aye; Mosqueda — aye; Quinn — aye; Chair Perry — aye). By committee action the item will move to the full council on the consent agenda.

Next steps: Council staff said transmittal and the budget context do not change current appropriations; construction remains several years from now based on staff estimates that design and construction would occur over a roughly five‑year schedule. Parks staff said additional schematic and community design work will continue and that funding decisions beyond already appropriated dollars will depend on levy results, REET, other capital sources and partnership commitments. No binding construction contract or final site selection was approved by the committee at the May 21 meeting.

The vote and staff briefings conclude an extended local planning process that began with the county and community discussions in 2019 and continued through the budget proviso requiring a project plan.