Potential for new Greenway projects in Bellingham’s Puget
neighborhood depend on citizen initiative for a fourth levy to follow-up the
2006 levy, according to Greenway program coordinator Tim Wahl.
Greenways can be parks, playgrounds, trails or general
open space, Wahl said, and adding that the spaces are not necessarily green but
simply connection routes between other Greenways.
Bellingham has been investing in Greenways for 24
years, according to the Greenway Strategic Plan. The first Greenway levy was in 1990, then
1997 and the most recent in 2006. As for the next levy, Wahl said, “Who knows?”
“It’s just kind of political,” Wahl said, referring to
the process of approving another levy that would continue to fund the Greenway
programs.
“Citizens put together the nuts and bolts,” said Wahl,
and in 2016 the funds from the previous levy of $26.4 million will be
exhausted.
Chris Webb, a father who visits Civic Park two or
three times a month for his children’s’ swims and playground time, said that
the Greenways are a “big part of the quality of life,” and “they’re part of our
identity here.”
In the neighborhood of Puget, two projects are
outlined in the greenway strategic plan. Project S4 (Samish) would connect
Whatcom Creek Greenway with Lake Padden Park over Samish Hill, according to the
Greenway Strategic Plan.
“Samish Hill is a huge project for that neighborhood
[Puget],” said Wahl. The project would “secure multi-use park land at the
northwest corner of the Wright tract to expand the anticipated active use area
and provide a strong entrance into the North Samish Hill neighborhood park and
Samish Crest Greenway,” according to the Greenway Strategic Plan.
Wahl said that the S4 project is progressing with
money targeted for the acquisition of land and that the project is “very much
alive.”
The project will be a huge benefit to those that live
in the Puget neighborhood, according to Wahl. “Puget is a very difficult
neighborhood. There was no thought to walking and biking when it was built,”
said Wahl. Since there are many streets with sharp inclines people don’t want
to walk or bike, instead they prefer to drive, said Wahl.
The second project that would affect the Puget
neighborhood is W3 (Whatcom Creek), which would connect the Roosevelt
neighborhood to Whatcom Creek Greenway, according to the Greenway Strategic Plan.
The plan states that “$331,000 is identified for purchase of corridors linking
Roosevelt Park, the Boys and Girls Club campus with the Whatcom Creek
Greenway.” This project would benefit those in Roosevelt more so than those in
the Puget neighborhood, Wahl said. Puget and Roosevelt are very different kinds
of neighborhoods, the connection Greenway would be very beneficial, according
to Wahl.
“Roosevelt is poor people, it’s crime, it’s lack of
opportunity,” said Wahl.
As far as progress with this project, Wahl said it has
been pretty dormant lately since money allocated to this project has been
pulled for use rebuilding the Whatcom Creek Trail Railroad Avenue bridge.
Additionally, Dewey Griffin Automotive owns, and plans
to expand its dealership, on land that could have been used for the W3 Greenway.
As Cynthia Bush gave her daughter a push at Laurel
Park, she said that the parks and Greenways are a reason why people move here.
Webb commented that he thinks people from other
communities might come to Bellingham for the parks and Greenways that the city
has, because the city is better endowed than others.
Wahl explained that acquisition of land for Greenways
comes in a two-step process. First, parks and recreation staff refer to the
Greenway Strategic Plan for general outlines on what kind of land they should
be looking for, the funds they have available to them and which neighborhoods
should be focused on.
As Wahl said, “Every neighborhood gets some. We want
to spread the wealth.”
Once the property has been investigated, the owner of
said land is contacted to figure out a price. Only at this stage, said Wahl,
does the team take this information to the Bellingham City Council and Greenway
Advisory Committee to decide if the property works with the Greenway Strategic
Plan.
