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Parks and Recreation Committee

BEL-PRC-2025-02-10 February 10, 2025 Parks & Recreation Committee City of Bellingham 36 min
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The Parks and Recreation Committee received a comprehensive overview of the process to update Bellingham's Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan for 2026. Planning and Development Coordinator Peter Gill outlined a major structural change: the current 106-page PROS Plan will be split into two integrated parts. A high-level Parks & Recreation chapter will be incorporated into the Bellingham Plan with goals and policies, while the PROS Plan becomes a functional implementation document focused on inventory, service standards, and capital improvements. The update is mandated by state requirements for Recreation and Conservation Office grant funding, which provides approximately $2 million to Bellingham for current projects including Bakerview Neighborhood Park, Boulevard Park shoreline, and Sunset Pond trail. The last update was completed in February 2020, making this update due by February 2026. Significant changes since 2020 include the passage of Greenways 5 Levy in 2023 with new climate resiliency funding, dramatically increased park usage following COVID-19, rising operations and development costs, improved data tracking systems, and Bellingham's continued urbanization requiring updated park models for equitable distribution. Council members emphasized prioritizing equity in park investments and reaching underrepresented communities in the public engagement process. The discussion revealed tension between community aspirations for new facilities like an indoor recreation center and budget realities, with Mayor Kim Lund noting the city "struggles to afford what we have today."

This was an information-only session with no formal votes taken. Staff presented the PROS Plan update process and timeline, seeking Council feedback on public engagement priorities. The committee p…

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**PROS Plan Structure and Integration** The most significant change involves restructuring the current PROS Plan from a single 106-page document serving dual purposes into two integrated components. The Parks & Recreation chapter of the Bellingham Plan will contain high-level goals, policies, and growth estimates, while the PROS Plan becomes a functional implementation document with detailed inventory assessments, service standards, and capital improvement planning. Peter Gill explained this separation allows for better consistency with other city planning documents and more efficient adoption processes. The Parks chapter will move to Planning Commission in May, with hearings likely in July alongside the broader Bellingham Plan, while the PROS Plan completion extends through the remainder of 2025. **Equity and Prioritization Framework** Council members strongly emphasized maintaining equity as a central principle in park planning and resource allocation. Council Member Hannah Stone stressed the need to move beyond opportunistic investments toward intentional focus on gaps in park access and infrastructure throughout the city. Council Member Michael Lilliquist highlighted the existing equity prioritization tool and urged that equity "remains very much at the center of our prioritization." The discussion revealed ongoi…
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**Parks & Recreation Department Staff** Staff emphasized the importance of balancing community aspirations with fiscal realities. Director Oliver noted that community surveys consistently show residents want the city to "take better care of what we have" alongside requests for new facilities. Staff highlighted improved data tracking and GIS systems that will inform more evidence-based decision making in the updated plan. **Committee Members** Council Member Stone advocated for intentional focus on equity gaps rather than continuing opportunistic investments, and stressed the need for transpare…
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**Council Member Hannah Stone, on balancing community engagement with fiscal reality:** "I foresee members of the community sort of being like, yes, right. We're all for everything and really wanting community members, I guess, to reflect on what are the true priorities, and that if we were going to have to say no to things, right, what are the things that really elevate to the top of the list?" **Mayor Kim Lund, on fiscal constraints:** "The reality is, is we are struggling to afford what we…
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**Immediate Timeline (February-May 2025)** - Community survey continues through February 2025 - Public meetings: February 13 at Cordata Pavilion (5:30 PM), February 18 at Fair Haven Pavilion - Spanish-language public meeting in March through Vamos partnership - Draft Parks & Recreation chapter to Planning Commission in May 2025 **Mid-Year Milestones (June-August 2025)** - Planning Commission hearings on Parks chapter likely in July 2025 - Facilities and program recommendations completed by Augus…

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The meeting established a fundamentally different structure for Bellingham's parks planning. Rather than maintaining the current single 106-page document serving dual functions, the city will now operate with two integrated but separate documents: a high-level Parks & Recreation chapter in the Bellingham Plan and a detailed functional PROS Plan focused on implementation. The committee provided clear direction that equity must remain central to prioritization decisions, moving beyond opportunistic investments toward intentional addressing of access gaps. This represents a continuation and strengtheni…
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# Planning Bellingham's Parks Future — The 2026 PROS Plan Update Begins The Parks and Recreation Committee of Bellingham's City Council met on February 10, 2025, to launch what may be one of the most consequential planning processes for the city's recreational future in years. With $2 million in state grants on the line, aging infrastructure straining budgets, and a community hungry for more recreational opportunities, the update of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan — known as the PROS Plan — carries significant weight for a city that has seen explosive growth in park usage since the pandemic. ## Meeting Overview Committee Chair Skip Williams called the brief but substantive meeting to order at 2:15 p.m. in City Hall's Council Chambers. Joining him were committee members Hannah Stone and Jace Cotton, along with Mayor Kim Lund, who participated in the discussion. The single agenda item — an overview of the 2026 PROS Plan update process — sparked a wide-ranging conversation about equity, financial realities, and the challenge of managing community expectations in an era of constrained resources. Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Oliver brought a team that included Lane Potter, the department's design and development manager, and Peter Gill, the planning and development coordinator who led the presentation. Their mission: to brief the council on a year-long planning process that will determine priorities for Bellingham's parks, trails, facilities, and recreation programs for the next two decades. "We are jumping on the Bellingham Plan train," Oliver announced, explaining how the parks planning process will integrate with the city's broader comprehensive plan update for the first time. "We're going to have a chapter six in the Bellingham plan. We're going to be going to narrow that goals and policies and be part of that revised framework." ## The PROS Plan Explained Peter Gill opened with a bit of linguistic housekeeping that revealed the department's attention to both detail and image. "Thank you, chair, for acknowledging that we are changing the terminology from pro plan to pro plan it," Gill said with a smile. "It's always been there. The S has just been silent. So good. We're good." The Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan is far more than a wish list. It's a 20-year strategic guide that functions as the implementation blueprint for everything the Parks and Recreation Department builds, maintains, and programs. Updated every six years,…
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### Meeting Overview The Parks and Recreation Committee met to discuss the upcoming update to the 2026 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan. Parks staff outlined the process for updating this long-term planning document that prioritizes improvements to Bellingham's parks, facilities, open space, trails, and recreation programs, which is required every six years for state grant eligibility. ### Key Terms and Concepts **PROS Plan:** The Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan - a 20-year strategic guide for improving parks, facilities, trails and recreation programs, updated every six years to maintain state grant eligibility. **Growth Management Act (GMA):** State law requiring cities to plan for growth, including parks and recreation elements with specific requirements for inventory, public process, and regional coordination. **Washington Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO):** State agency that provides grant funding to local governments for parks and recreation projects, requiring updated PROS plans for eligibility. **Bellingham Plan:** The city's comprehensive plan being updated simultaneously, which will include a parks chapter with high-level goals and policies. **Functional Plan:** The implementation-focused portion of the PROS Plan containing detailed inventory, service standards, and capital improvement projects. **Greenways 5 Levy:** Voter-approved funding measure passed in 2023 that includes a new category for climate resiliency projects. **Equity Prioritization Tool:** A framework used to ensure parks investments focus on underserved communities and address access gaps. **Level of Service:** Standards for how much parkland, facilities, or programs should be provided per population. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Edwin "Skip" Williams | Committee Chair, Fourth Ward Council Member | | Hannah Stone | Committee Member, First Ward Council Member | | Jace Cotton | Committee Member, At-Large Council Member | | Nicole Oliver | Parks and Recreation Director | | Peter Gill | Planning and Development Coordinator | | Lane Potter | Design and Development M…
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Parks & Recreation Government Operations Budget & Finance Bellingham Tenants Union Greenways Advisory Committee Parks Recreation Advisory Board Planning Commission Washington Recreation Conservation Office Edwin Williams Hannah Stone Jace Cotton Kim Lund Nicole Oliver Peter Gill Budget Finance Climate Action Comprehensive Plan Equity Inclusion Land Use Policy Parks Chapter Bellingham Plan Parks Recreation Pros Plan Public Engagement Transportation Policy