Park searching

Rising development increases search for available park land

MOSES LAKE —Surrounded by a desire for green space, Spencer Grigg is always on the lookout for another place to play.

With housing units gobbling up available land within the corporate limits, the city's parks and recreation director is looking to secure a little space for the future kids to roam.

"We're trying to keep an eye on what's out in front of us without losing touch on what's beyond out in front of us," Grigg said.

Moses Lake boasts 159 acres of park space, with more than 100 acres of parks still to be developed. But the saturation of open space is at different levels depending on the neighborhood you go to. With neighborhoods building out over what could be prime recreational space, city officials are having to step up their search for land. The city recently purchased five acres in one city neighborhood, but more land remains on the agenda. Applying what he calls "Swiss cheese technology," Grigg admits his search is never over, and as the city grows so will its parks space.

Grigg continually mentions the example of other communities which he desperately does not want to follow. The neighborhoods filled to capacity, those cities started to tear down old houses to make way for park space.

Dick Deane could run wild throughout the Columbia Basin when he was young. But the current Moses Lake city councilman and former longtime parks commissioner said roads and fences have gone up with the times, creating barriers which don't allow for today's kids to run wild. That's why he has and other have been putting pressure on city council and staff to get those kids a place to play.

The quest to fill the Swiss cheese holes started in the 1990s, when Deane and others on the city's park's commission sought to plug in holes in neighborhoods at which park space wasn't filling the needs. The commission took a city map, and using the outline of a coffee cup, and anything else they could find, circled the needs within different neighborhoods in the current city limits. The map was plugged into city computers in April 2000. The city has its community parks covered, but still, Grigg said, there are some neighborhoods which lack the green space afforded by a quarter-acre mini park.

"Most of what we focus on are mini and neighborhood parks," Grigg said. In the last several years, Grigg said conversations have surrounded filling some of those circles.

Grigg wants to check off every park on his list, but admits the cost of park improvements led them to be completed one at a time.

It costs $100,000 per acre to develop a park, Grigg said, leading to a $500,000 bill to develop a 5-acre neighborhood park with grass, irrigation and the play equipment which draws many families in.

"It is very expensive, and we recognize there are a number of city services that are critical and crucial, but when it comes down to it," Grigg said, "we are essential."

Not all parks need to be developed with city money though. Donations from families, local professionals and civic groups have brought the help many of the parks need.

But both Deane and Grigg point to the intrinsic values the parks in those neighborhoods hold. From the increase in property values, to quality of life and recreation, the creation of parks fits with the city's plan for a healthy community, as a method to reduce stress and increase health. Grigg cites studies which show a level of open space as important in planned communities.

The mini or pocket parks range in size from one-quarter acre to one acre, as measured by the National Recreation Park Association. Under those standards, a neighborhood park is considered anything from five to 10 acres, and a community park is considerably larger from 30 to 50 acres.

A city policy allows developers to pay a fee in lieu of dedicating land for a park in their subdivision, after which the city will use that funding to fill park holes. If the fee is paid, the city is required to spend that money within the specific neighborhood area.

"We have to be extremely proactive," Deane said. "Because an area can instantly develop and it's not even on our chart."

Steve Shinn has noticed the lack of park space in his neighborhood. The former city councilman has been to public meeting after public meeting in recent months to voice concerns about the kids playing in the street in his Crestview neighborhood.

"There's no place for people to go in the neighborhood, to enjoy a little green space or park," Shinn said.

Shinn thinks a few mini parks in the developing neighborhood are in order, to alleviate the overflow of kids onto the street. He feels there needs to be a mini park within a quarter mile of neighborhood kids, without them having to cross a major street.

"I think we are missing the boat by not promoting smaller parks in our neighborhoods," Shinn said.

That's why he's been pushing the city for two smaller parks in the Crestview neighborhood on the west side of Paxson Drive. A park has already been planned on the east side of Paxson, but Shinn and others have said the street is a barrier to kids. He too feels the green space adds to the value of a neighborhood, and needs to be done during the planning process.

Ed Greer is a land use planner based in the western Washington town of Ridgefield who is working on a development on the Crestview area of Moses Lake. He said Moses Lake is not unique in its desire to create more park space.

Greer is proposing selling land to the city for parks, and developing the park space with the neighborhood. He said it works better for marketing new homes when parks are completed and open.

Greer said he thinks Moses Lake is on the right track building both bigger regional parks with ball fields, and smaller parks which have room for benches and green space.

Grigg realizes there needs to be a park when they see more and more kids put up basketball hoops in driveways. He said it would be much nicer if those kids had a game slab to play on.

The first step is acquisition of land. But sometimes it takes time. The city acquired land for a park in the city's lower peninsula in the 1950s, and park space still is in need of being created.

Deane conceded the city has had to follow the line of developers in recent years, as a building boom has forced their hand. But he said they can't wait until all the land is gone before they start thinking about future parks.

"If we can't buy now, it's goodbye," Deane said.