Public Document Library Table of Contents
The Seattle Board of Park Commissioners ("Parks Board") is an advisor board to the Superintendent of Parks, the Mayor, the City Council, and other city departments with respect to park and recreational matters. The board's decisions are non-binding. As part of its duties, the board conducts public hearings and meetings on a variety of issues affecting the Parks and Recreation Department, including the development of Magnuson Park. The board's duties are enumerated in Seattle Municipal Code Section 3.26.030.
The board, which meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, consists of six citizen volunteers—a chair (who does not vote) and five voting members. Board members are appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the Seattle City Council. Each serves a three year term, ending Dec. 31. Members are appointed on a staggering basis, two per year.
The following is a list of minutes for Parks Board meetings where the proposed Magnuson Park lighted sport fields were discussed: The Parks Department does not keep minutes of meetings prior to January 2001 online. Those unfamiliar with the history surrounding the lighted sport field complex at Magnuson Park may find it easier to read the minutes summaries from bottom to top (i.e., oldest to most recent minutes).
Subject / Date / Link |
Summary |
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Date: Nov. 18, 2004 Subject: Seattle Management Awards Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Seattle Management Awards: Magnuson Park Director Eric Friedli won the 2004 Seattle Management Association (SMA) Leadership Award and Central East District Manager Royal Alley-Barnes has won the award for Management in the Field. The awards will be presented at a December 8 luncheon. This is eight years in a row that Parks staff members have won SMA awards Briefing: Sand Point Historic Campus Strategic Development Plan: Magnuson Park Director Eric Friedli distributed a large packet of information to the Board members. Jack requested a tour of the campus be arranged for Board members. Eric agreed to arrange this tour, after which the briefing will be rescheduled for a future meeting |
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Date: Sep. 23 2004 Subject: Magnuson Rededication Ceremony Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Magnuson Rededication Ceremony: The rededication of Warren G. Magnuson Park on Monday morning, September 20, went well. Several community members and park users have given positive feedback on the new signs. Approximately 25 citizens were in attendance to hear remarks by Superintendent Bounds, Mayor Nickels, and Congressmen Dicks and McDermott. |
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Date: Aug. 12, 2004 Subject: Magnuson Naming Ceremony Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Magnuson Naming Ceremony: The recreation facilities at the park were recently named and a formal naming ceremony for the entire park is planned for Monday, September 20, at 10:00 am. The celebration, to formally namethe park Warren G. Magnuson Park, will include friends and staff of the late Senator, representatives of the Congressional delegation, and other community members. |
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Date: July 22 2004 Subject: Sports Meadow ground breaking, EIS appeal Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Sand Point Magnuson Park: Sports Meadow: On Thursday, July 29, at 6 p.m., Mayor Greg Nickels will join members of the Sand Point and sports enthusiast communities in breaking ground on the Sports Meadow. The meadow, unlike the controversial lighted fields project, will not have any lighting and very few structures. The project will renovate the existing fields into a multi-purpose activity field with a natural grass surface that will not include bleachers, base path cutouts, back stops, and goal cages. The Cumulative Reserve Fund and the Pro Parks Levy allocate $2.6 million for this project, which is expected to be complete by summer 2005. Wetland, Habitat, and Athletic Fields Master Plan Appealed: As expected, late last week the Friends of Magnuson Park filed an appeal with King County Superior Court on the wetland and habitat and athletic fields’ master plan. They claim the environmental impact statement is inadequate and the Council decision should be voided. A court date has been set for December 20, 2004. |
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Date: Jun. 10, 2004 Subject: Sand Point Magnuson Park Update Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Sand Point Magnuson Park Update: City Councils’ Parks, Neighborhoods and Education Committee has made a recommendation on the Sand Point Magnuson Park Athletic Field and Wetlands Project. Part of the recommendation is that the number of lighted fields in the proposed sportsfield complex be reduced to seven fields. The Committee also recommended that the lights on all lit fields be turned off at 10:00 pm and that no fields be lit on Sunday night, to give neighbors a break from the lights. The Plan goes before the full Council on Monday, June 14, for a possible vote. Sarah asked if the unlit fields could be wired for lights during construction. This would keep costs lower in the possibility that, when Seattle’s population grows and the demand for lit fields increases and City Council chooses to acknowledge the demand for sports fields, these fields would be lit. Ken said that the full Council could amend the plan in this way, if it chooses. |
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Date: Apr. 22, 2004 Subject: Sandpoint/Magnuson Park PNE COmmittee meeting Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Sandpoint/Magnuson Park: The City Council’s Parks, Neighborhoods and Education (PNE) Committee held a hearing on the Master Plan for Sand Point Magnuson Park. Councilmembers Della, Steinbrueck, Godden, and Compton attended. There were about 100 speakers — evenly split between supporters and opponents. Some of the key themes expressed by the opponents were cost of the project, the dominance of the athletic fields over the natural areas in the park, the light and noise impacts on the neighborhood, and the unsubstantiated need for the fields. Someof the key themes expressed by the supporters were the demand for the fields, acceptance of the proposal because of its replacement of existing fields, and not succumbing to the interests of “Not in My Back Yard — NIMBYs”. In addition, Parks staff made a presentation to the Parks, Neighborhoods and Education Committee on the proposed Phases 1 and 2 this week. The Council will continue its discussion on this issue at its May 5 PNE Committee meeting. Terry attended the hearing and is concerned that Council staff gave very low figures, based on Vancouver, B.C. Sarah asked if Terry thinks the Department should respond to this information and Terry answered yes. |
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Date: Mar. 11 2004 Subject: Sandpoint/Magnuson Park PNE COmmittee meeting Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Sandpoint Magnuson Park: Parks’ staff members have been before the City Council’s Parks, Neighborhoods and Education Committee regarding the Athletic Fields and Wetland portions of the Sand Point Magnuson Park Master Plan. Councilmember Della and staff toured the site today. There will be a presentation to the full Council on April 5 and a public hearing on April 21. A decision on these issues may be made in early May. |
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Date: Feb. 26, 2004 Subject: Sand Point Magnuson Park Focus of E-mails Link:
http://cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Sand Point Magnuson Park Focus of E-mails: The Department has received more than 1200 e-mails in the last few days in support of moving forward on the fields/wetlands project. Councilmember David Della and other CityCouncilmembers are receiving the same amount of mail. These appear to be coming from youth soccer supporters. |
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Date: Oct. 23, 2003 Subject: Recommendation of Magnuson Park Wetland and Sports Field Complex Project Link: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/parks/ |
Parks Board was asked by Ken Bounds, Parks Superintendent, to make recommendations with respect to the proposed Magnuson Park sport field configuration, field surfacing (synthetics vs. natural turf), and lighting hours of operation. The Board unanimously approved the current plans for field configuration and surfacing, but was divided over lighting hours of operation. Three out of five Park Board members voted to shut-off the lights at 10pm instead of 11pm. |
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Date: Sep. 25, 2003 Subject: * Link: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/parks/ |
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Date: Sep. 11, 2003 Subject: * Link: www.cityofseattle.gov/parks/ |
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Date: Jun. 12, 2003 Subject: * Link: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/parks/ |
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Date: Aug. 22, 2002 Subject: * Link: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
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Date: Jul. 25, 2002 Subject: Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) review and public commentary Link: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
This meeting was held two weeks after the Parks Department published the final version of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Magnuson Park sport fields and wetland project. The meeting was divided into three parts: an overview of the 15-field "Proposed Action" outlined in the EIS, a summary of the environmental impacts noted in the EIS, and over 2 hours of testimony by 54 citizens. The first two parts were presented by Eric Friedli, Sand Point Magnuson Park Director, and Jeff Girvin, of The Berger Partnership (lead consulting firm for the project team). The proposed action put forth in the EIS, 11 lit fields with synthetic surfaces and 4 unlit with natural grass, is identical to the field layout presented to the Parks Board at its Jan. 11, 2001 meeting except for two small modifications—one of the three little league fields (field #11) is moved north approx 350 feet and the orientation of the youth soccer field (field #5) is changed from east-west to north-south. The lighting design in the EIS calls for a total of 80 light poles with 640 luminaries spread over 22 acres. There would be 488 full cutoff luminaries on nine soccer, rugby, and little league fields and 152 shielded conventional luminaries on the two full-size baseball diamonds. All fields would provide level 4 lighting [as defined by an international standards body], “the lowest level for safe recreational play". "Work on this project will be done in five phases: 1) redevelopment of the existing sport fields; 2) five athletic fields and the southern area of the wetlands; 3) the ponds and eastern side of the wetlands; 4) the southern athletic fields; and 5) the existing parking lots and vegetation." "Once any appeals have been resolved, Parks staff anticipates asking the City Council to reaffirm its commitment to the proposal. Specifically, the City Council has to waive or modify land use code development standards for the installation of light poles and fixtures. This is the same process Parks has undertaken at other fields such as Genesee and Lower Woodland." Friedli also gave a brief overview of some of the lighting, noise, traffic impacts called out in the EIS: Light: "There will be impacts from the lights on residential areas west and south of the Park. The most intense impacts will be on the transitional homeless housing located on the Sand Point campus... The primary mitigation measures suggested in the FEIS include using advanced technology lighting systems and altering the hours of operation." Noise: "The FEIS also concludes that, without mitigation, there is a potential for significant noise impacts on some of the on-site residences... The mitigation measures proposed for this project include monitoring noise levels, changing the orientation of some of the fields to move the noise sources farther away from the residences, and limiting the hours of operation." Traffic: "The FEIS concludes that there will not be significant impacts on traffic... and that traffic levels would increase without this project due to general urban growth." In addition, 54 citizens gave 2 hours and 20 minutes of oral testimony. Environmental groups, neighborhood groups, park neighbors, and other concerned citizens came out in force to express opposition to the lighted sports field complex. Approximately half the presenters spoke out against the plan, a quarter expressed support for the plan as presented, and the remaining quarter urged for some sort of compromise with respect to the number of lighted fields and light shut-off times. |
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Date: Feb. 8, 2001 Subject: Board vote on conceptual plan presented at Jan. 11, 2001 board meeting Link: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
The Parks Board unanimously approves the Magnuson Park sport field conceptual plan as presented at the Jan. 11, 2001 board meeting. This approval is only for the general "footprint" of the fields and does not cover lighting. Excerpts from the meeting minutes: - "What is currently requested of the Park Board is approval of the sportsfields "footprint" which will be forwarded to the City Council." - "This action will not end the discussion of what will happen at Sand Point as field lighting and wetland processes are underway" - "When the Department gets into the design process, an Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared." - "The athletic facility complex will be envied by other cities throughout the northwest." - "[Parks Board member Kathleen Warren] is concerned that no determination has been made for field lighting. It is important that the fields be lit, as it would be foolhardy to spend millions on fields and not light them for play" |
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Date: Jan. 25, 2001 Subject: Public testimony on conceptual plan presented to board on Jan. 11, 2001 Link: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/ |
Parks Board hears public testimony on the Magnuson Park sport fields conceptual plan presented at Jan. 11, 2001 board meeting. Representatives of sports groups—including Friends of Athletic Fields, DiscNW, Northeast Seattle Little League, Pacific NW Rugby, Seattle Sports Advisory Council, and various soccer associations—show up in force to state their support for the plan. Several local residents, as well as representatives of Magnuson Environmental Stewardship Alliance (MESA), Seattle udubon Society, and the View Ridge Community Council present their dissatisfaction with the conceptual plan. | ||||
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Date: Jan. 11, 2001 Subject: Presentation of Park Department’s latest conceptual plan for Magnuson Park sports fields Link: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/ Link to associated Conceptual Design Map of Magnuson Park |
The Park Department’s latest conceptual plan for Magnuson Park sports fields, developed as directed by Seattle City Council Resolution 30063 (Nov. 1999), is presented to the Parks Board by C. David Hughbanks, Director of Sand Point/Magnuson Park Division. In addition to a grass sports meadow with 4 unlit fields, the latest Park Department conceptual plan calls for 11 fields with lights and artificial turf, 2 more than specifically called out Resolution 30063. Resolution 30063 specified 4 lighted adult-size soccer fields, 3 lighted softball/Little League fields, and 2 lighted full-size baseball fields; the conceptual plan presented to the Parks Board adds an additional lighted youth-size soccer field and an additional lighted adult-size soccer / rugby field. Excerpts from the meeting minutes: - "...there was a large and vocal contingent of sportsfield supporters that weighed in on the debate over the number, types and configuration during the development process and Council’s deliberation of the design. Many of those advocates have continued to develop alternative designs." - The Parks department reviewed configurations proposed by field advocates. "In this review three key principles were followed: there will be no fewer sportsfields than the number approved by the Council, the sportsfields and outdoor courts complex use approximately the same amount of land area that was approved by the Council; and the basic design quality in and around the fields needs to facilitate trees and walkways." - "The fields will be developed to the highest possible standards for the primary sport for which they are designed. A cloverleaf arrangement will not be used. Each adult field can be converted to two youth ("mod") fields" - "An artificial carpet is estimated to last 8-12 years. The meadow will be a great lawn area that will not be scheduled during the winter and allow general use." - "...the decision to go with the three fast-pitch/Little League fields... would allow Little League tournaments to be held in the city."
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Date: Feb. 10, 2000 -- Dec. 14, 2000 Subject: Parks Board Meeting Minutes Extracts from year 2000 Link: ParksBoard_yr2000.htm
Paper-based copies of Parks Board Meeting Minutes were scanned in and portions related to Magnuson Park, lighted sports fields, and other related issues were extracted to create this document.
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Date: Jan. 28, 1999 -- Nov. 18, 1999 Subject: Parks Board Meeting Minutes Extracts from year 1999 Link: ParksBoard_yr1999.htm
Paper-based copies of Parks Board Meeting Minutes were scanned in and portions related to Magnuson Park, lighted sports fields, and other related issues were extracted to create this document.
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[Page last updated 11/16/05]