PORT ANGELES — Neighborhood park areas, ponds and wetlands, open space and educational uses are the most popular ideas that have been offered for a master plan to replace the tall evergreens at Lincoln Park if they are removed, the Port of Port Angeles commissioners were told Monday.
Four possible master plans for Lincoln Park that were presented to the Port Angeles Parks, Recreation and Beautification Commission on Feb. 15 are being merged into a single master plan based on the preferences stated at that meeting, Juliet Vong, president of Hough Beck & Baird Landscape Architecture, told the commissioners.
That plan is expected to be made available at a city parks commission meeting in April, she said.
Her firm — HBB of Seattle — was hired by the port to create a concept design for what the park could become if the trees that currently obstruct the landing path to a runway at the adjacent William R. Fairchild International Airport are removed.
The Port of Port Angeles, which owns the airport, has proposed removing most of the trees in Lincoln Park, which is owned by the city of Port Angeles, to protect landing aircraft and avoid losing more of the safe approach to a runway.
The trees have been identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as obstructions.
Because of the height of many of the nearby trees, the port has prohibited airplanes from landing on 1,354 feet of its eastern runway.
The city and the port have agreed to create a master plan to determine the future use of the park, particularly what should replace any trees that are felled.
The City Council has final say over the plan.
A proposed final draft will be presented at another meeting in May.
Once a plan is in place, multiple sources of funding are under consideration to ensure the park does not remain a clear-cut wasteland for any length of time, commissioners said.
“We have substantial funds,” Commissioner John Calhoun said.
Those funds include $3 million already dedicated to park redevelopment, Calhoun said, with an additional $500,000 expected to be raised by the sale of the trees that are cut.
The commissioners said that they don’t want to see a clear-cut blight next to the airport any more than anyone else.
Commissioner Jim Hallett said that he has done flyovers of logging areas that are dominated by “clear-cut run amok,” and compared them to the devastation caused by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
“We’re going to open our checkbooks and help,” Hallett said.
The plan is also designed to help the port and city to raise even more funds.
“We purposefully consider grant cycles in our plan and process,” Vong said.
More than 50 pieces of written and verbal testimony were taken at the Feb. 15 meeting, where the public commented on the four plans.
The number one element the public testimony called for is neighborhood park areas, with playgrounds and picnic areas, Vong said.
Testimony led the architecture firm to plan to replace the current forest with new trees, since large grassy open areas were widely rejected as not being in the character of the area, Vong said.
The new forest would be populated with mostly native trees that don’t grow as tall as the current Douglas firs, she said.
Vong explained that the plan could be to plant fast-growing deciduous trees and relatively low-growing evergreens, to provide an immediate forest canopy.
Slower-growing evergreens would be added to eventually replace the Douglas fir.
The species used for each area would be different, to provide a lower canopy near the runway approach areas, and taller trees in other areas, she said.
Ponds and wetlands were listed as among the most important features of the park, Vong said.
The new plan is expected to include expanding existing wetlands and building raised trails and boardwalks through the wetlands to allow public enjoyment without damaging the ecosystem and improve trails.
Another element strongly supported by testimony is flying disc golf and other outdoor activities, she said.
Vong said that elements such as the existing BMX bicycle course and a dog park didn’t receive much attention, mostly because they are considered to be a given and will be included in the plan.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
