State of the Parks: Yearly Report from the Parks and Greenspace Committee

It has been 9 years since the passage of the metropolitan park district (MPD) which promised enhanced maintenance of neighborhood parks. There have been some improvements, but some problems remain.

On the positive side, in the years after passage of the metropolitan park district, we note four improvements:

First, landscaped beds that were overgrown and virtually out of control, were improved by clearing all plants in the beds–good plants as well as bad (invasives)–and preparing new beds with wood chips and new landscape plants. These were the beds along the Lake between the North Leschi Moorage and the parking lot for Madrona Beach and Bathhouse and along Lake Washington Boulevard between Erie and Huron. Unfortunately, these are also examples of how non-maintenance of landscaping leads to more drastic and expensive solutions as everything needs to be replanted.

Second, the conifers of Leschi Park were limbed up to give see-through visibility.

Third, the side-cutting by machine mowers was greatly improved by an operator, who avoided as much as possible the desired plants and instead mowed the weeds.

Fourth, the east hillside of Powell Barnett Park is better cleared of invasive plants and new native plants are installed.

However, several problems remain. Many landscape beds are overgrown with invasive plants and suffer from lack of pruning. These beds are so dense that there is little visibility in them, which makes them areas in which homeless people can set up camps.

Still unmaintained are the display beds at the Leschi Park’s historic fountain, half of the historic rose beds, and the lower grassy slope next to the South Leschi Moorage where blackberries are taking over the grass.

Another problem is the lack of support for maintaining the steep slopes of the natural areas like Frink Park and the Leschi Natural Area. The value of the work by crews and volunteers from previous years is being lost as they are not permitted to volunteer in these areas.

There is intermittent homeless camping in Frink Park, along with one long-term camper, and also a problem with vehicle parking, with associated messes and sometimes human waste, which neighborhood volunteers remove and dispose of on an ongoing basis.

With this progress and remaining opportunities, how do we move forward? We look forward to discussing budget, maintenance plans and opportunities for volunteer engagement with representatives of the Parks Department at our Community Meeting on September 11.

Please reach out to leschicouncil@gmail.com if you would like to see any specific parks related topics addressed during the meeting.