Evolution of Wellington Hills Park Master Plans by Snohomish County's Department of Parks

As reference, the Department of Parks held the first public meeting about their "plans" for Wellington Hills Park on May 8, 2012.

At that meeting, the director of the department of parks said, "It's a done deal ... and you're going to love it."

Obviously, the concept of a sports complex predates any significant public notice or actual public involvement in the design or re-purposing of Wellington HIlls Park.

Take a look at the following "Master Plans" ... some of the detail shift and move around ... and there's the extra property they bought on the Park's eastern edge ... none the less, the major elements proposed in May 2012 are about the same as the December 2013 version.

June 25, 2012 Preliminary Master Plan

July 23, 1012 Concept Design

 August 30, 2012 Master Plan

 October 17, 2012 Master Plan

 January 28, 2013 Master Plan

 
December, 16, 2013 Master Plan

Letter to Editor, Woodinville Weekly, Jan. 27, 2014

Woodinville Weekly, Letters to the Editor - Jan. 27, 2014

I was pleased to see the prominent mention of the comment period on the future of Wellington Park in last week’s paper.

Snohomish County Parks Department has applied for a Land Disturbing Activity (LDA) permit that would allow them to clear, level and grade approximately 50 acres of giant trees and rolling hills.

It would also allow construction of seven playing fields, four of which would be artificial turf.

The county would widen the little park road, rearrange the wetlands and excavate for a community center that has no funding.

This is a disastrous design for a small hilltop site in a rural neighborhood!

The traffic for year-round operation of the turf fields until almost 10 p.m. each night would far exceed the infrastructure in this area.

Construction of the turf fields would involve digging down more than two stories and moving all that dirt to fill in the rolling hills we enjoy.

This quiet rural area would suddenly be inundated with stadium lights, noise from tournament games and exhaust fumes from the huge influx of cars trying to get in and out of the sports complex.

Don’t let the County Council, the County Executive and the Parks Department ignore this travesty.

You have until February 5th to make your concerns known.

Do not be polite. Do not be quiet. Yell now and tell them this is the wrong place for a commercial sports complex.

These wonderful turf fields should be built on a flat commercial site, where participants can easily access them.

The Parks Department, the council and the Executive need to wake up and work with the community to design an appropriate park for this neighborhood.

Comments on the LDA permit application need to reach Tom Barnett by February 5th: Tom.Barnett@co.snohomish.wa.us.

Please visit SaveWellingtonPark.com for County Council contact information and more about this disastrous plan.

Tina Stewart, Woodinville

The Teigen Plan for Wellington Hills Park

from the County's webpage

Kinda makes Costco look small, doesn't it?

Note - The intersection at Costco (Rt. 9 and 240th St) is intended to be the main entrance to the proposed Wellington Hills Regional Sports Complex.

A Christmas present from Snohomish County

Snohomish County has a (bad) habit of releasing things which require citizens to make formal comments during holidays ... 

Regarding the turgid idea of turning Wellington Hills Park into a regional sports complex ... their first and flawed SEPA proposal was released during the recent Easter and Spring holidays ...

With that in mind, of course Snohomish County's Dept. of Parks would discharge their next slug of bureaucratic nonsense (their application for a "Land Disturbing Activity") during the Christmas holiday.

Anyway ... this is what we received in today's - Christmas Eve's - mail.

Hey Santa ... I think you know where to dump the coal.

Merry Christmas.

Wellington Hills Park, Northside of 240th St SE

First, let's look at Snohomish County's Department of Parks and Recreation's so-called "Master Plan".

I drew a red "X" on the "Master Plan" indicating the general location where the following photos were taken.

Standing sort of midway on the Northside of the Park and looking east towards 71st. Drive SE, this is the view:

Turning around and looking westerly and a bit to the south, towards 240th St. SE, this is the view.

The point I want to make - the Department of Parks and Recreation's "Master Plan" calls for the rolling topography in the photos to be filled in.  

Earth movers will dig out and remove soil from where the golf buildings once were located. Then, truck load after truck load of dirt would be taken to the Park's Northside and dumped in order to flatten that side of the Park.

The fence in the second photo is a nice reference point ... in that general area, the "Master Plan" calls for a traffic circle on 240th St. SE. And, there would be a driveway northward to a large parking lot (for 250+ cars) in front of a proposed 50,000 square foot commercial mountain bike building.

They actually think this is a good plan. Amazing.




Park photos by Bill Stankus

There will be no snickering

excepted from The Seattle Times, 

Conservation panel hears plans to preserve 
Snohomish County land
go here for the complete article:

"In Stanwood, the city would like to purchase for an estimated $2.3 million the 15-acre Ovenell Dairy Farm where the Stillaguamish River empties into Port Susan Bay and Skagit Bay. It’s in the city’s urban-growth area and zoned commercial. Buying it would preserve it, said city administrator Deborah Knight.

“The property is pretty unique. It has the former barn, milking shed, farmhouse and our long-term plan is to do ... a small education center and conference center,’’ Knight said. It has waterfront, and “We’d also be able to ensure the estuary habitat there would continue to thrive.’’

Other properties under consideration for Conservation Futures money include a nine-acre tract called Deer Creek Park next to the watershed in Woodway, for $3.5 million, and $2.7 million for a golf course and other properties adjoining the county’s Flowing Lake Park.

In King County, 111,000 acres of land, including forests, shorelines, greenways and trails, have been preserved under the Conservation Futures program, say officials.

Snohomish County lists its Conservation Futures acquisitions as totaling $80 million since the program began in the county in 1988.

The acquisitions, Tiegen (Snohomish County Parks and Recreation director) said, are a chance for the county to make priceless additions that will benefit “our grandchildren’s grandchildren.’’ 

 ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------   --------- 

If you would like to write the Snohomish County Council:

snail mail - 3000 Rockefeller, M/S 609, Everett WA 98201

email - contact.council@co.snohomish.wa.us

click for County Council website

click website

for Conservation Futures 

For Tom Tiegen: 425-388-6617 

click website
for Department of Parks and Recreation

snail mail - 6705 Puget Park Drive, Snohomish WA 98296 

or email tom.teigen@snoco.org

And, as always, please think of the children.

Today, August 21, 2013

Here's an update, a feet-on-the-ground report.

Wellington Hills Park, owned and managed by Snohomish County ...

1.  There are no trash cans in Wellington Hills Park, so litter is accumulating. Beer cans seem popular.

2.  Pick-up truck drivers and motorcyclists are enjoying the former golf greens.

3. The former golf greens appears to be mowed by someone wearing a blindfold.

4. It's a Park without park benches.

And, someone, please tell me, what genius thought-up the plan to:

Cut down old trees, dig out and remove the soil, de-water the park and then flatten it ... and when the terraforming is finished to replace the once nice, natural park with giant parking lots, stadium lights, artificial turf fields, commercial buildings and a bunch of other trivial crap ... just so they can make a few bucks?

Can someone answer this ... Do you believe regional governments, when making a choice between "A" and "B", will choose correctly?

You already know the answer to that question.


Anyway, here's a few photos of today at the Park.

photos by Bill Stankus
August 2013

I sent mine

April 4th is the stated deadline for submitting comments on the proposed Wellington Hills County Park (aka, SPORTS COMPLEX).

I reviewed SEPA sections on Geology and certain portions of the Traffic Study reports.

I followed the specified rules and submitted my comments.

Over the past few days I've also spent considerable time convincing distrustful / angry people to submit their comments.

They didn't want to send in their comments because the SEPA review comments are sent to the Snohomish County department/bureaucracy that designed and promoted the Sports Complex. 

Yeah, it does seem as if we’re feeding chickens while foxes are in the coop. 

We have no choice but to hope there's a "fail-safe" in place and the foxes follow both the spirit and intent of the rules.

UPDATE:  
Word is, we will either be getting a form letter saying 'thanks (but no thanks)' or we will be ignored (SOP) … our SEPA comments will filed away, probably in a dark room with a giant-economy sized shredder. 

Fire Department response, car fire, Wellington Hills Park

I want to share a portion of what I wrote in my response to the SEPA Checklist section, "Traffic Impact Analysis".

"Despite the proposed street improvements at the intersection of 240^th Street SE and Route 9, the significant increase in traffic resulting from the proposed development of Wellington Hills Park will increase the risk of congestion, accidents and injuries, especially when the street is used or blocked by emergency responders for specific fire and rescue purposes.   

At no point in the Traffic Impact Analysis … is there a discussion of emergency vehicle response within the Park and its impact on 240^th Street SE, which is expected to be the main entry/exit point to the proposed regional sports complex.

... I have enclosed a selection of six photographs that were taken of 240^th Street SE following a car fire.  During the fire department’s response to the car fire, traffic on 240^th Street SE was blocked in all directions.  If this type of emergency occurred during a sports event, what are the contingencies for supplemental rescue vehicles? What are the strategic exit plans for those already on-site should an evacuation be necessary?"

photos by Bill Stankus

Makes no sense - UPDATED

UPDATE: 
March 7, 2013
SEE PHOTO AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Despite the FACT the Snohomish County Council has not been presented the proposed sports complex plan … and that certainly means they haven't voted on it … Yes, despite those sort of important steps, The Department of Parks and Rec has brought in a work crew with their big backhoe and big truck … and, this morning, they demolished the old house, commonly referred to as "the log cabin on the golf course".

Just as with the club house and golf office building - the log cabin is now history.

                               ……………………………………………………….


Another item on the list of, "Building A Sports Complex In The Wrong Place"

The justification for demolishing the golf course buildings?  

A quote from Tom Teigen, Director, Snohomish County Parks & Recreation:

"It was determined that the most prudent, safe and cost effective option was to demolish the buildings. … The buildings represent a public safety hazard, attractive nuisance and have been targeted by vandals. As a result we believe the best  course of action is to continue with the abatement and demolition as planned and permitted. "

 Yet the golf course building and club house were both in use until the end of September 2012.  

If the buildings were that unsafe, why did the County allow them to be used for all these years?

Snohomish County - "Your Master Plan has more bad than good."

Not mentioned at The Wellington Hills Park public meeting

Several of us attended a recent County's Park and Rec ad hoc planning committee.  We heard about the newest changes to the park plan and we listened to the committee's discussion of the plans  - most of what was repeated at the 1/31/13 public meeting held at Brightwater.

One detail I didn't hear mentioned at Brightwater:

Parks and Recs plans to knock down the golf course buildings sometime during the next month. 

The two club house structures, the sheds used for golf carts storage and the boarded-up house at the eastern edge of the grassy area will be demolished.

I mention this, not because the buildings are remarkable but because the County is proceeding as if their proposed change to Wellington Park is a "Done Deal".

On the contrary - the sports complex is NOT A DONE DEAL!

If the neighborhood raises it's voice, writes letters to the Snohomish County Council telling them the current plan stinks ... and if the community donates time and money to the Neighbors to Save Wellington Park (NSWP) legal fund - the outcome will be different.

Just because a few people are pushing for a sports complex - doesn't make their plan a good one.

                         A Community Park is much better than a special interest park.

Make a Difference:
Please, send a check or use the PayPal button located on the right side of this page - all funds are used to pay legal fees.

Review of Wellington Hills Park Plan Public Meeting (1/31/13)

• Sharks
• Inky Octopuses
• Slippery Eels

• Red Herrings

• Lion Fishes
• Earnest Fishes
• Pissed-off Guppies

Updated - Google views and the County's Master Plan for Wellington Hills Park

* Update * New 1/28/13 version of master plan located lower on page.


There's something honest about an aerial photograph.  Of course you're looking down on the tops of things ... but unlike the limitations of a drive-by view or the simplicity of a plan drawing, you can actually see familiar landmarks and place them in a meaningful picture.

Looking at the Google Map photos of Wellington Hills Park certain things become obvious:

      • Where the park is in the Woodinville - south Snohomish County area.

      • The location and concentration of forested areas within the park.

      • The location of the ex-golf course green areas.

      • The park’s location relative to roads, homes and businesses.

      • The size of near-by structures and parking lots.

Photo 1.
Wellington Hills Park. 240th St. SE goes through the center of the park (east-west).
Costco is on the left side of the photo and Bostian road (75 Ave. SE) is near the right edge.

Photo 1

Photo 2.
Costco, surrounded by Hwy 522 and Route 9.
240th SE is directly across from the main entrance to Costco.

Note:
Costco's parking lot holds approximately 700 cars.
The County is proposing paved parking spaces in Wellington Hills Park for over 700 cars.

Photo 2

Photo 3.
A closer view of the south side of 240th St. SE

This photo shows where the proposed sports fields (seven of them) and a paved parking lot (for 500 vehicles) would be constructed. (Another parking lot would be on the north side of 240th St.)

Note:
To the right side of the old golf course buildings and parking lot, is a forested area. If the proposed sports complex is approved for construction, the trees in this area will be cut down and the area will be dug out and lowered approximately 10-20 feet in depth.  An earthen berm would be built parallel to 240th St.

Photo 3

Photo 4.
A closer view of the north side of 240th St. SE.
71st. Dr. SE is the north/south street, located at the right side of the photo.
The bright roofs are the Primus buildings.

Note:
The proposed 60,000 sq. ft. mountain bike building would be located at the edge of the grassy area at the edge of the forest, left of center in this photo.

A paved parking lot for 250+ cars would be located parallel to the mountain bike building in the grassy area.

Photo 4

New Master Plan 01/28/13

January 28, 2013 Master Plan

For comparison purposes, the older version of the County's Master Plan.

Oct. 2012 Master Plan

NOTE: THE COUNTY'S PLAN IS NOT A DONE DEAL!

Fence - defined, with consequences

fence  

/fens/

Noun
A barrier, railing, or other upright structure, typically of wood or wire, enclosing an area of ground to mark a boundary, control...

Enclosures composed of any substance that will present an adequate blockade around a field, yard, or other such expanse of land for the purpose of prohibiting intrusions from outside.

...

Before the recent cold fog engulfed the area, I had taken a series of photos of the new post fence which lines both sides of 240th St. SE and some of 71st. Dr. SE.

view from 71st Dr. SE near intersection with 240th St. SE

I understand the value of a fence but fences aren’t just for keeping horses from running away or for keeping a dog from visiting the neighbors. Fences are blockades and are meant to separate the inside from the outside.  There’s good reason why prisons and schools have fences.

Of course a case can be made the new post fence is attractive and useful.  On that I agree, but I bet their current “use” is based on litigation reasons and not because it’s pretty. 

The more important issue is - the new fence defines a space (the Wellington Hills Park) which is being proposed as a (non-essential) make-over of the existing park into a commercial sports complex.  

Wellington Hills Park once felt open and inviting and that’s no longer the case, the park now has a significant perimeter fence making an iconic statement that it is a space with limited access.

Undulating terrain now threatened with tree cutting & earth flattening

A fenced natural area ... Of course, if the County prevails with their loony plan to cut down trees and flatten the ground ... the pretty fence will also come down because of movements of the bulldozers and earth movers.

Metal gate and sign of park rules

It’s curious ... isolate with fences, send in the bulldozers, cut down trees and flatten the ground. Hmmmm, the situation, the tools and results sought by land developers.  I wonder ....

all photos by Bill Stankus
1/13

County Public Works, plans for 240th SE

Brad Stoll has been in contact with Steve Dickson, Special Projects Manager, Snohomish County Public Works for the road plan information. Here is a copy of Steve’s email to Brad:

"We are in the preliminary stages of design for the 240^th Street SE improvements. We will be widening the road from the Snohomish Woodinville Road to the top of the hill at the west side of the park. The project will widen both the existing narrow lanes and will provide a sidewalk on the north side of the road. A new turn lane will be provided on 240^th Street SE at the signalized intersection with Sno-Wood Road. These improvements will connect to the new roundabout to be constructed at the west side of the park to provide park access and to walkways built with the park.

Public Works is also designing traffic calming measures for 240^th Street SE. The plan is to construct a raised speed table at the intersection with 71^st Drive SE and speed humps for traffic calming west of the intersection and east of the intersection. In addition, we will soon be installing vehicle activated speed signs on 240^thStreet SE and 75^th Avenue SE to address concerns we have heard from neighbors about existing operating speeds on these roads.

You can keep up to date as our design project progresses by visiting our website at:

http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Public_Works/Services/Roads/Projects/240thwellington.htm

As indicated on the website, if you have further questions you can contact Tina Hokanson, our Communications Specialist for this project."

Thanks for your interest.

Steve Dickson

Special Projects Manager

Snohomish County Public Works

Ph 425-388-6442

No place for this

As you enter the parking lot of Wellington Hills Park, looking straight ahead (southward) ,at the edge of the graveled area, stands this nice tree.

If Snohomish County's Dept. of Parks and Wrecks gets approval from the Snohomish County Council, this beautiful cedar tree (and others too) will be cut down.

The ground in the vicinity of this tree will then be dug out - the area will be lowered about 10 - 20 feet in depth (depending on the ground slope and master plan location).

Why, you may ask, will they dig and lower this area?

Because this is the intended location of four artificial turf fields, field lights and in-door sports facility.

Alas, this is just one example of destructiveness associated with their proposed non-essential sports complex.

Don't you think you should be making noise about this extravigant waste of tax payer dollars - all for a non-esspectial sports complex business?

Enough already

Standing at the western edge of Wellington Hills Park and looking down at Route 9 ... the photos are what you see.

Why can't the County keep development where it already is?

Wellington Hills Park is already a park.  Why does the County need to spend hard earned tax payer dollars to tear-up Wellington Hills Park so that they can construct a large scale sports complex?

Once again, here's the County's "Master Plan"

About their comic book looking "Master Plan":

• 7 sports fields with 4 of those covered with artificial turf and surrounded with field lights.

• Paved parking for 700+ cars.  That's about the same number of parking slots as at Costco.

• A commercially operated Mountain Bike Facility that's 60,000 sq. feet in size (100 ft. x 60 ft.).

• It's estimated by the County, 90% of the Sports Complex traffic will enter from Route 9 at 240th (across from Costco).

• This IS a cut and fill project. The current hill and dale topology will be dug out and flattened.

• The "Community Activity Center" is vaguely described but it probably will have toilets (sewer line?) and office spaces for various commercial sports organizations.

• Most of the open space on the north side of 240th is for off-leash dogs.

(I like dogs, we have a dog, but these open pee zones are well known for spreading dog diseases hence our dog will never visit this proposed off-leash area.)

••• All in all, their Master Plan is akin to having a huge White Elephant suddenly at your door demanding you knock-down walls in your house and feed it lots of peanuts and let it sleep on Fido or Fluffy's tiny bed.

In the current issue of the Woodinville Weekly

Letters to the Editor, Woodinville Weekly

 

Written by Ted Pankowski, Woodinville     Thank you for your coverage of the Snohomish County Parks Advisory Board action on the Wellington Hills County Park Master Plan. I attended their November 12 meeting in support of Neighbors to Save Wellington Park, (NSWP) our newly-formed association of local citizens in both King and Snohomish counties who support Wellington Park and are utterly opposed to the massive regional sports complex that Snohomish County Parks Department has advocated for this site. As the minutes of the November 12 meeting show,  statements from the audience reaffirmed points that NSWP have been trying to bring to the public discussion ever since we were first informed of the draft plan in May 2012. Mike O Grady, Woodinville excerpted comments - stated neighbors were not contacted in advance of May 2012 public meeting. “This is a government run industrial sports complex. A private company would never be allowed to drop a commercial sports complex in a residential neighborhood Larry Nelson, Woodinville, excerpted comments - steep road, rarely plowed. We don’t want to be located across from the new fields. A shame that this money is being spent on this project and should be used instead by the county sheriff’s office, etc. Todd Bailey, Woodinville, representing Neighbors to Save Wellington Park,  excerpted comments - zoned rural. Concerns - commercial development located in a rural neighborhood. This was not part of the county park comp plan in 2007. We were not contacted regarding input as to amenities and features of the property. We are asking you to downsize. Concerns regarding traffic and safety. Property value is projected to decline by experts. Suggested operating hours of the park will leave only eight hours for sleeping. Ed Stevenson, Woodinville,  excerpted comments - largest private property owner adjacent to park. Concerns regarding cycling/bmx complex (public-private partnership). Major  business taking up a lot of square footage. Please get assistance to assess risk vs. benefits of this enterprise that is not zoned as such.” Loss of green area. Katrina Stewart, Woodinville, excerpted comments - this park is for the purpose of generating revenue. It does not benefit the neighborhood. It doesn’t make sense. What is the plan for traffic? Only a 2 -lane road. Not passable during snow. No one at the meeting spoke in favor of the plan. Nonetheless, Parks Director Tom Teigen pressed forward with arguments he has been making since May 2013 at the start of the so-called public involvement plan: Parks Advisory Board potential action on the Wellington Hills County Park Master Plan - Tom thanked audience for coming, and made other comments related to what the Brightwater Mitigation Agreement called for ( 40 + acre park for active recreation) with discussions and meetings held as far back as 2005 detailing the need for multipurpose, synthetic, lit athletic fields. Tom stated: If approved by Board today, plan still needs to be approved and reviewed through the  SEPA process (approx. mid Feb 2013), etc., before moving forward. Important: there will still be opportunity to make comments and appeals before plan is finalized and sent to Council for final approval. Motion to approve. Seconded. One opposed. Nine affirmative.  Motion passed. • More comments from the audience.” The intensity of the “more comments” referenced but not included in the minutes would show just how divisive this issue has become. The Parks Department is claiming it is just meeting contractual obligations imposed by the Brightwater Mitigation Agreement and that there is a local public demand for a sports-complex at Wellington, a claim that is as yet undocumented. Moreover, Parks continues to ignore minimize or defer to the future the following substantive  points: 1) That its interpretation of the Brightwater Mitigation Agreement may be flawed. The agreement certainly wouldn’t require Snohomish County to ignore the needs of its own Comprehensive Plan  or the requirements of the Growth Management Act; 2) That there has been no public needs assessment for a regional sports facility in south Snohomish County. In fact, some of the proposed uses may be illegal outside of  an urban growth boundary. Wellington is a zoned rural area; 3) That Wellington may not be suitable for such a facility. Consider 700 parking spaces to service  two major recreational draws to its traffic “chokepoints”  —  Route 9 on the west and 156th (Bostian Road) to the east of 240th,  the only access road into and out of the park; 4) That alternative uses of the park, such as continuation of an active 82-year-old golf course, had not been seriously  considered. 5) That the changes made to the draft plan because of interactions with the neighboring communities have been little more than a  tweaking of  some features, appreciated but minimal at best. Meanwhile, NSWP has seen the purchase of additional acreage to the park, the placement of fences (albeit attractive) along  both sides of 240th  and a stream of surveyors who represent a harbinger of the massive clearing and grading to come. To learn more, and to see an outstanding photographic record, check out the following sites: • http://iv92588.typepad.com/blog/ •http: // neighborsto savewellingtonpark.blogspot.com. Thank you for your attention and support. We think the future well-being of our Wellington Hills communities are at stake!

Just imagine

Just image how much better Wellington Park will look with bright field lights.