Parks board backs Westlake Avenue as pilot for lake-access street-end improvements

The Lakewood Parks & Recreation Advisory Board voted to recommend Westlake Avenue as the pilot project for a citywide street-end enhancement program, aiming to show how modest, low‑impact improvements can expand public access and protective shoreline treatments.

Board members and staff spent the July 23 meeting reviewing a 2022 update to an earlier street-end study that assessed 12 candidate sites across four lakes. Presenter and project consultant summarized the study’s goals as improving water access, equity and safety while minimizing vegetation loss and neighborhood impacts. “We really just most of the sites have very passive use, accessible trails, but really kinda minimal landscape design,” the Presenter said while walking the board through schematic plans and cost estimates.

The board’s discussion focused on a prioritization matrix staff developed that scored sites on need, equity, feasibility, use, cost and safety; apparent encroachment onto public right of way carried a heavy penalty. Board members debated how to weight water-quality concerns (noting more frequent toxic‑algae blooms on Lake Silicon) and current community use; staff said county monitoring and lake‑management groups hold water‑quality records that can inform scoring. After live adjustments to weights and scores, staff reported Westlake Avenue and Lake City Boulevard tied for the top score. Board members favored Westlake because it showed no obvious encroachment and would be comparatively feasible to develop into an ADA‑accessible public access point.

A member proposed recommending Westlake Avenue as the pilot to city council; another member seconded and the board voiced its support. Staff said it will include the board’s recommendation and the revised scoring matrix in a staff report for council in September. The board asked staff to plan neighbor outreach and an on‑site public meeting if council approves the pilot.

Board materials and the presentation emphasized conservative, low‑impact shoreline treatments (natural materials, minimal hardscaping), parking strategies where feasible and preservation of existing trees. The presenter cautioned that many sites include apparent encroachments that will require surveys, appraisals or legal resolution before construction, and estimated typical permitting and development for a water‑access site could take several years.

The board’s recommendation is procedural: councillors will consider the staff report in a future council meeting; the transcript did not record a formal roll‑call vote tally of board members on the recommendation.