Lakewood residents, conservation group urge planners to reject rezoning tied to Edgewater Park expansion

A Lakewood Planning Commission public hearing drew multiple residents and conservation advocates who urged commissioners to withhold a recommendation to rezone a privately owned parcel at 9132 Edgewater Drive SW for inclusion in an expanded Edgewater Park.

Speakers at the hearing said the proposed changes — which city staff described as part of the 24-item 2026 comprehensive plan docket — would convert roughly 0.42 acres into intensified recreational infrastructure that could include additional pavement, trailer maneuvering areas and a formal boat launch. "It stinks. It looks bad," resident Haley Ivy said of the park’s current condition and warned that proposed paving and trailer parking would worsen pollution and noise. Christina Manetti of the Gary Oak Coalition told commissioners the record does not show compliance with Washington shorelines law and argued the plan would cause a net loss of shoreline ecological functions.

Why it matters: Commenters said the site is designated priority fish habitat under city policy, and several witnesses described wetlands, algae and stagnant water at the proposed boat-launch area. Manetti identified a 60-inch Garry oak near the site and urged the commission to reject any action that would imperil the tree’s critical root zone; she cited the Washington shoreline code WAC 173-26-201 and said the city bears the burden to demonstrate no net loss of ecological function.

Residents and nearby property owners also raised process and equity concerns. Ibrahim Mirzalili, who identified himself as the former owner of 9132 Edgewater, alleged the city's prior condemnation and demolition of his house involved procedural problems and said he believed the treatment was racially motivated; he asked for a full investigation and a biology study of the shoreline before rezoning. Several other commenters, including James Dunlop and Bridal Massini (who said he supports rezoning only with conditions), urged the commission to consider independent review of the project's origins and to attach conditions such as fencing and safer docks to protect adjacent private properties.

City staff response and timing: Planning staff told the commission the rezoning question before them is limited: if the parcel is rezoned to an Open Space and Recreation designation, the parks department would later prepare on-the-ground designs and environmental analyses. Staff said some Edgewater-related amendments could become moot if the commission adopts a broader consolidation of open-space zones; the packet will include public comments and staff responses ahead of the commission’s next meeting.

What commissioners said: Commissioners acknowledged the intensity of public concern and the need to reflect public testimony in findings and recommendations to the city council. The commission kept the item on the schedule for deliberation at its next meeting, at which commissioners can take action or propose amendments to staff recommendations.

Next steps: The commission will receive a consolidated list of the public comments and city responses in the meeting packet before its deliberations; if the commission moves to recommend rezoning, the matter would go to the City Council for a separate public hearing and action.