Parks board backs Option 2A for Eastgate park and recommends name 'Eastgate Commons'

The Parks and Community Services Board voted unanimously to recommend Alternative 2A as the preferred design for a new neighborhood park in the Eastgate area and to forward the name “Eastgate Commons” to the City Council.

Staff presented the project background and two refined concept plans during the board’s September meeting. Zarian, the city’s capital project coordinator, said the site — two parcels at the intersection of 147th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 39th Street — totals about a half acre and was acquired for park development. He told the board the department ran three community meetings, mailed invitations to about 500 households and has a project subscriber list of more than 900 people.

“The site in total is about a half acre,” Zarian said during the presentation, and staff showed two design alternatives: Option 1A, a rectangular lawn with a shelter, and Option 2A, a split-oval layout with larger, more diverse play areas, a seat wall buffer and a pavilion moved to the park’s eastern edge. Staff reported that in the public survey respondents strongly preferred Option 2A.

Board members focused their discussion on safety and neighbor impacts. Eileen asked whether immediate neighbors had attended outreach meetings and whether the plan sufficiently addressed buffering and traffic risk. “Do you have specific feedback from the two houses just right next to this park?” she asked. Staff said both immediate neighbors had attended and raised questions about fencing, noise and how the shelter would be used; staff cited city noise ordinances and said the design includes buffers and a seat wall to create separation from the street.

Elizabeth, who said she found the revised designs safer for families, described Option 2A as having “a great space for a community park” and offered to sponsor the board motion. Several board members echoed that view and praised staff for incorporating community feedback on play-area size, seating and buffers.

After discussion, the board moved to recommend Alternative 2A to council “as presented as a preferred design” and approved the motion unanimously. Later in the meeting, following a staff briefing on naming outreach that narrowed roughly 73 suggestions to five compliant with the city’s naming policy, the board debated whether to choose a locational name or to honor a local figure named in submissions.

Staff said survey results (107 respondents) showed Eastgate Commons and Peter Wright Park as the top two first-preference picks; staff also reported preliminary background checks on the nominee Peter Wright found no red flags but that family contact was limited. Several board members said they preferred Eastgate Commons because it reflected community input and was easy to understand. The board then moved and unanimously approved recommending “Eastgate Commons” to the City Council as the preferred park name.

Zarian said staff plans to bring both the recommended plan and the name to City Council in November and will coordinate the council presentation with the board chair and vice chair.

What’s next: staff will finalize materials for City Council and refine design details—particularly buffers, fencing options and signage with the transportation department—to address safety and neighbor concerns before the council presentation.