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Lake Stevens seeks public input to reimagine Cedarwood site; splash pad, multi-sport court floated
Summary
Lake Stevens parks staff presented options to redevelop the city-owned Cedarwood property, citing wetlands and a limited footprint that make a full community center unaffordable. Staff will release a three-week survey tomorrow to collect neighborhood preferences on lower-cost options such as a covered multi-sport court, splash pad, playground or community garden.
Lake Stevens parks officials asked residents for input on plans to reimagine the city-owned Cedarwood property, saying a full enclosed community center would exceed the available budget and that lower-cost, flexible options are being considered.
Sarah Garceau, Lake Stevens parks and recreation director, opened the meeting and introduced Jill Meese, parks planning and development coordinator. Meese told attendees the city acquired the property in 2021 and that a structural analysis and a critical-area report identified wetlands and a stream on the parcel. “We have been successful in getting some... grants, but there would still be a several million dollars of a shortfall,” Meese said, explaining why staff are reconsidering the scale of a community center.
The staff presentation described site constraints: about half the parcel is usable because of wetland and stream buffers, the building lacks conditioned space and basic systems, and on-site parking is limited to roughly 15 spaces. Given those limits and cost estimates, staff proposed lower-cost alternatives, including a covered, flexible sport court (for basketball, volleyball, futsal and similar uses), a playground, a splash pad, a pump track or a community garden. Meese said ideas raised at the meeting will be incorporated into a public survey to refine preferred alternatives and that the city plans to hire a design and engineering team after the survey.
Neighbors broadly supported more active, walkable recreation in the neighborhood. Chelsea Ruiz, who said she lives across the street, told staff that “the splash pad and park idea would be a really great thing for our little community” because families walk to the vacant lot and lack nearby play spaces. Kimberly, who identified herself as the Cedarwood homeowners association president, said she liked the splash pad and garden ideas but worried about summer traffic and crowding: “I worry that the area would just kinda get overrun a little bit.”
Other residents raised safety and access concerns. One participant asked the city to consider sidewalks or a crosswalk at a blind corner and requested more patrols or lighting; another cautioned that added lighting can sometimes draw more users at night. Meese said the city installs frontage improvements such as sidewalks when development occurs and that private roads would be a separate Public Works discussion. Staff also said field crews would clear vegetation and litter to improve visibility and would coordinate with police about patrols.
Staff said the survey will go live the day after the meeting and remain open for three weeks; paper copies and QR-code signage at the park will be available and staff said they will return with preferred alternatives based on survey results. The meeting closed after staff collected contact information to share survey links and future updates.
What happens next: the city will publish a survey, gather neighborhood feedback for about three weeks, develop preferred alternatives, and then hire a design and engineering team to produce drawings for additional public review.
