Bothell begins outreach for six‑year update to Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan

City of Bothell parks staff and consultants introduced a yearlong update to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan during the Parks and Recreation Board meeting in July 2025, saying the plan is required for some state grant applications and will guide capital and program priorities over the next six to ten years.

The update, Aaron Milner, parks planning and development manager, told the board, will follow a four‑step process of initiation, community engagement, a needs assessment and plan development and adoption. Anna Laborde, a principal with Design Workshop, said the PROS plan is a “long range planning tool” meant to set goals and prioritize investments rather than specify exact next‑year budgets. The team emphasized equity, sustainability, accessibility and adaptability as organizing themes and said the last PROS plan was adopted in 2020 and the city typically updates the plan every six years.

Why it matters: City staff said an updated PROS plan is needed both to reflect demographic and usage changes since 2020 and to remain eligible for some state grant funding administered by the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). The consultant team presented a public outreach schedule that includes site visits, two rounds of focus groups, a widely distributed community survey, pop‑up events in the fall and community workshops in spring before a draft plan is posted for review in May or June and sent for council adoption the following June–July.

Key details:

- Timeline: consultants plan in‑person visits within weeks, focus groups and survey work through September–October, community workshops in March–April, draft plan May–June and council adoption targeted for the next summer cycle.

- Engagement approach: a combination of targeted focus groups (stakeholders and informal leaders), an online survey for broad input, pop‑up events and a “meeting in a box” for residents who cannot attend in person.

- Technical analyses to inform priorities: walk‑shed mapping to understand park access, a conditions assessment of park facilities, benchmark comparisons with peer communities, and equity‑priority mapping that layers demographic indicators with canopy and facility coverage.

Board reaction and priorities: Board members offered early guidance. Manny Ocampo urged the plan to set the stage for a capital funding measure, saying succinctly, “park bond soon.” Board member Maggie Catlin said accessibility and inclusion should be central, stating, “I would say accessibility and inclusion in the parks.” Members also raised programming shortfalls since the COVID period, underused neighborhood parks that may need different investment or programming, and the importance of factoring topography into access analyses (for example, quarter‑mile walk distances that are uphill may be functionally less accessible).

Other points raised by the board included wayfinding and connecting park corridors, prioritizing acquisition in growing or densifying areas, and exploring targeted investments (rather than only a citywide percentage target) to address canopy and access gaps. Several board members urged the consultants and staff to present the plan in “bite‑sized” pieces so the public can see timelines and realistic steps rather than a single overwhelming price tag of long‑term needs.

What happens next: Design Workshop and subconsultants will conduct initial interviews and focus groups, refine the public survey and coordinate pop‑up outreach. Board members were asked to help advertise the survey and participate in the community engagement process. Staff said there will be additional opportunities for the board to review analyses and priorities before a draft is published.