Smith Cove ballfields Initial plans revealed, to dogged objections
By Russ Zabel
02/18/2004
Cracks in the dream? Can existing pavement support parking for interim playing fields? Photo by Russ Zabel
Organized youth sports teams are practically drooling over the idea of ballfields going in at Smith Cove, where the city spent $6 million to buy the surplused Navy land, along with a smaller parcel of Navy property that will be used as a passive park on top of the hill above.
Half that money came from King County with the proviso that the land on the lower section be reserved specifically for sports fields to be used primarily by small children.
But that didn't stop several people from complaining at a Parks and Recreation meeting last week that other uses besides youth sports should be included in the mix of interim uses - notably an off-leash dog area, but also use as a passive park.
King County Council member and Magnolian Larry Phil-lips, who was instrumental in securing the county funds, was a little surprised at the complaints.
Reached in Washington, D.C., last week during his annual lobbying trip to Congress, Phillips said: "It's pretty hard [for me] to understand why there would be objections to interim uses. Rather than argue about it, we should celebrate that we have a city park in Smith Cove."
The meeting last week focused only on interim uses of the property near the Elliott Bay Marina. Only the upper two-thirds of the site will be developed initially, explained Don Harris, property and acquisition service manager for Parks.
At the moment, nothing is planned for the lower third of the property because it lies within a 200-foot shoreline zone, which normally restricts uses to those that are water-depend-ent, he said.
"Ballfields are not considered a water-related use," added Rich Hen-nings, major maintenance manager for Parks. For that matter, neither is an off-leash dog area, he said. The key is changing the existing use on shoreline property: "Even something like putting up a fence would have shoreline implications."
There are exceptions to having only water-related uses on shoreline property, but the exceptions are granted only after an extensive and expensive permitting process, which Parks can't afford at the moment, according to Parks spokeswoman Dewey Potter.
In the meantime, the department has $300,000 to spend on developing the upper portion of the site for an interim use, and the goal is to make it "clean, green and flat," according to Ted Holden, a senior landscape architect with Parks.
The plan, he said, calls for the removal of buried utilities, asphalt, concrete and compacted gravel on the property, adding 9 inches of potting soil and planting grass seed on it next October. "It's going to take at least a year for the grass to get established," Holden added.
Parks and Recreation currently has no money for further development, and potential sources of future funding haven't even been identified, Harris noted.
"The long-term use of this property," he added, "will be subject to public processes ad nauseam till we get the money." However - as with the shoreline issue - Parks does not have money available for a full-blown planning process for ball-fields, Harris said.
Sharon LeVine, a Queen Anne resident and a dog owner, called for Parks to start a full planning process right now, though. "I'm horrified you're taking two-thirds of the site for fields," she said. "It's a perfect place for an off-leash area." LeVine wasn't the only one at the meeting who felt that way.
Besides, the purchase agreement did not specify what percentage of the land should be used for ballfields, she argued, adding that she has a friend who would like to see a skateboard park built for very small kids on the Smith Cove property. "We're not even discussing all these things."
Queen Anne resident Jim Smith expressed similar misgivings about dedi-cated ballfield use on the site because it might intrude into the shoreline area. "I'm really concerned this is the nose of the camel," he said, using an analogy that normally includes a tent.
One Queen Anne soccer dad applauded the plan for quickly putting in interim fields for kids, describing it as "an elegant solution to a need in the community."
Edward D'Alessandro from the Seattle Youth Soccer Association took a similar tack, saying Smith Cove ballfields are needed because there are roughly 8,000 kids who play soccer in Seattle, and there are a limited number of suitable fields in the city.
Jim Pappin from Magnolia Youth Soccer went one step further. He showed up at the meeting with an initial rendering that showed four small sports fields on the site, along with parking using existing roads.
Taking that approach would allow play on the fields as early as this fall, he said. "They would require substantial watering," Pappin added.
Hennings conceded that Pappin's plan might be cheaper than the one Parks envisions for preliminary use, but he cautioned that the city department doesn't have enough money to pay staff to handle the watering chores. Still, Hennings said Parks would consider the idea.
Parking at the fields during interim use is still a factor, according to Holden. He said parking is available along 23rd Avenue West next to the site, along with parking on the southern portion of the property.
Magnolian Heidi Carpine was aghast that the shoreline property would be used for parking, but Harris from Parks said that's an existing use not subject to shoreline restrictions because people already park there on the Fourth of July.
Further complicating the situation is the possibility that the Port of Seattle and Parks might do a land swap in which the northern part of the Smith Cove site would go to the Port in exchange for Port property near the shoreline. "That's not going anywhere at this point," Harris said. "It's a concept."
Then there is the plan to replace the Magnolia Bridge. One alternative would see a new bridge built approximately 100 feet south of the existing bridge and across the northern portion of the Smith Cove site, noted Virginia Hassinger, project manager for Parks.
"What it means is we have some unknowns playing out here," she said, pointing to a map of the site. Hassinger also said a small electrical substation sits in the middle of everything, and there is also a Federal Avi-ation Administration navigation beacon on the site.
Moving the beacon, which pilots use on their approaches to Boeing Field, will require FAA permission, and its presence is why the site is still fenced off to the public, she said. "My goal is to get that site open by March."
Grousing about the site being dedicated to ballfields aside, Hassinger was pleased with the comments people made at the meeting. "This is good," she said. "This is what the process is all about, to bring us your ideas."
News reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
