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Planning staff introduces PROS parks plan; Parks coordinator to brief commission in March
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Summary
Planner David Levitan introduced the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan — required by the state to maintain grant eligibility — and said Parks will present a public review draft to the commission in March; commissioners asked whether donated parcels would be programmed as parks.
Planner David Levitan told the commission Feb. 18 that the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan is a six-year document required by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) for eligibility for certain state grants, and that the city’s Parks Department intends to issue a public review draft and present it to the Planning Commission in March.
Levitan said the PROS plan will be adopted by City Council resolution and the parks element of the comprehensive plan would be updated by reference and later formally incorporated by ordinance. He described the PROS plan as addressing levels of service, park typologies (neighborhood vs. community parks), and methodologies such as walk-shed or population-based analyses.
Commissioners asked about a recently donated, roughly 10-acre parcel discussed earlier in the meeting. One commissioner asked whether trails and informal amenities there would be affected; Levitan said the Parks Department does not plan to program the parcel as a formal, programmed park and that critical areas and easements limit what can be developed. He added that smaller upland areas might serve seasonal or limited public works uses but that informal trails would remain accessible.
Jill Meese, the Parks and Recreation coordinator, was noted as expected to brief the commission during a March meeting and supply more detail once the public review draft is issued. Levitan said the PROS plan’s adoption will guide updates to the parks element to ensure internal consistency with the comprehensive plan.
Next steps: Parks staff will present the public review draft to the Parks and Recreation Board and then to the Planning Commission; the PROS plan will then be forwarded to the City Council for adoption by resolution and later referenced in a future comprehensive plan amendment.
