Plans are in the works to build a park on this county-owned open space in Salmon Creek. (Alisha Jucevic/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Hoping to keep up with nearby residential growth, Clark County is planning a new neighborhood park at 1014 N.W. 149th St.
According to the county’s website, the county purchased a 9-acre parcel in September for $900,000. Bill Bjerke, Clark County parks manager, didn’t have a timeline for when the park will be complete.
“In the interim, it will be a public green space,” Bjerke said.
Only 5 acres of the property will be used for the park, he said. That’s because the property was a joint purchase between the parks department and the county’s Clean Water Division, which will use the remainder for water quality enhancement projects.
“Our mission is to try to have a neighborhood or community park within a half-mile walking distance of the subdivisions in our community,” said Bjerke, who noted that there has been a significant amount of housing built nearby.
“To the east, south and west, it’s all been getting developed,” he said.
Bjerke said it typically costs $1 million or more to develop a new neighborhood park. Money for new parks comes from impact fees paid by developers. He said that once adequate funding is in place, the county will go through a design process, including an open house where neighbors can offer ideas for which amenities they’d like to see at the new park.
Bjerke said that the county has removed the old house and buildings on the property, as well as invasive vegetation. It’s also installed a perimeter fence on the south and east property lines and signs listing the park rules.
He said that the Tower Crest Neighborhood Park in East Minnehaha is the last park the county built.
Otto Brown Neighborhood Park is under construction in the Heritage neighborhood northeast of Vancouver.
Barbara Anderson, a resident who serves on the county’s Parks Advisory Board, said that the new park will be a “wonderful, wonderful thing for the neighborhood.”
Speaking as a resident, and not as a member of the parks board, she said that children and families in the area have had to cross busy Northwest 149th Street to get to the nearest playground.
“It’s absolutely perfect,” she said. “It fits right into the neighborhood.”
She said that she’s advocated for a park in the area for years and is pleased that the timing to purchase the property worked out. But she noted that it’ll take some more time before the park is fully realized.
“We still have to wait our turn,” she said.
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