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Consultant shows Lake Stevens draft PROS plan with ~$64 million in planning-level projects; staff to return for adoption
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Summary
Consultants presented a draft 10-year Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan that lists about $64 million in planning-level projects and reports strong public support (over 600 responses; 97% called parks essential or important). The plan completed SEPA review and received a preliminary RCO review; council will discuss adoption at a future meeting.
Consultant Steve Du of Conservation Techniques presented the draft Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan to the Lake Stevens City Council during a workshop, saying the plan is intended as a 10-year strategic guide for parks, trails and facilities and a tool to pursue state and federal grants. "The PROS plan will help guide future investments in the park system, and it will also assist the city in pursuing grants at the state and federal level," Du said.
The presentation emphasized the public outreach behind the plan: a dual-mode survey (mail and online) that yielded more than 600 responses, two open houses, three topic-based small-group discussions and tabling at community events. Du said nearly every survey respondent—97%—reported that parks and recreation opportunities are either "essential" or "important" to quality of life in Lake Stevens. He also said the plan identifies priorities the community flagged, including expanded trail connections, upgraded playgrounds, additional sport courts and more indoor recreation space; "85%" of survey respondents were reported as very or somewhat supportive of additional indoor recreation space.
Du summarized the plan’s scope and costs as planning-level estimates intended to guide future budget discussions rather than a funded capital program. He said the capital list totals about $64,000,000 over a 10-year window, with large items tied to a community recreation center and multiple phases of the Bayview Trail, plus systemwide ADA improvements, pier and dock upgrades, picnic shelters, a pump track and sport-court expansion.
City staff noted the plan has gone through required environmental review and grant-preparation checks: staff said the SEPA review period has closed and that the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) completed a preliminary review and indicated the plan is ready for the city's approval process so the city may pursue RCO grants after formal adoption.
Jill, a staff member involved in parks planning, told council several priorities identified in the plan are already under way, citing pickleball courts at Frontier Heights and continuation of the Bayview Trail. She added that the Parks and Recreation Planning Board "was heavily involved in this process, and they did forward a recommendation for adoption as well." Council members asked technical questions about the community engagement methods, including how staff and the consultant prioritized competing ideas; staff said datasets from mail and online surveys were kept separate so the city can analyze any variations in responses.
Council clarified that the workshop was for discussion only and that formal approval would not occur tonight. Staff said they expect to bring the plan back for formal action and eventual adoption by ordinance into the comprehensive plan; the capital-improvement portion would be integrated into the city CIP and funding choices would follow future budget deliberations.
Next procedural steps: staff will provide higher-resolution maps and materials for council review, prepare any requested analysis of peer-city comparators, and return to a future meeting with an ordinance and a recommended adoption timeline.
