Lakewood holds public meeting on street-end pilot to expand waterfront access

Mary Dogsworth, parks and recreation and community services director for the City of Lakewood, led a public meeting to gather neighborhood feedback on a pilot project to develop one street-end as public waterfront access. The city selected the site as a pilot among a set of 12 street ends citywide and presented a schematic design, timeline and management considerations.

City officials said the pilot intends to provide at least one ADA-accessible street-end per lake and to test approaches for shoreline management, vegetation control and neighborhood coordination. “The idea is making one site per lake to make sure it's ADA accessible,” Dogsworth said. She told attendees the city is treating the project as a pilot so staff can test how to develop, manage and maintain small street-end sites without creating safety or erosion problems.

The meeting focused on three practical constraints that will shape any work: regulatory permitting, maintenance and parking/access. Dogsworth said any work within 200 feet of the water will require a shoreline permit and that the city must follow shoreline-management standards even when removing…