Seattle Washington Resolution On Sports Parks

Information updated as of July 23, 2003 3:02 PM
Date introduced/referred: Sep 23, 2002
Date adopted: Oct 7, 2002
Status: Adopted As Amended
Vote: 9-0

Committee: Parks, Education and Libraries
Sponsor: STEINBRUECK

Index Terms: STATING-POLICY, PARKS, ATHLETIC-FIELDS, PLAYGROUNDS-AND-PLAYFIELDS

WHEREAS, while the City Council supports the development of athletic fields, potential impacts on neighborhoods need to be considered and mitigated where necessary; and

WHEREAS, the Council believes field improvements should be distributed throughout the City to the extent possible; and

WHEREAS, the majority of the City's athletic fields are within residential zones and increasing the number of hours of play at athletic fields could negatively impact neighborhoods by generating an increase in traffic, noise, lighting, and parking if not adequately mitigated; and

WHEREAS, the City Council believes that Seattle's user fees for athletic fields should not be significantly less than King County's user fees to avoid creating outside demand for City fields; and

WHEREAS, the City Council encourages Parks to establish user fees that more closely recover the costs of maintaining and operating athletic fields and that reflect the various costs of different field types and lights; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

Identify sites where impacts from improvements have fewer negative impacts to adjacent residences relative to other sites and install improvements at these sites first. Improvements at these sites should then be installed in the following order:

Parks should distribute field improvements throughout the City to the extent possible and install improvements in areas of the City that lack adequate field capacity relative to other areas.

To determine the appropriate level of investment and track increases in trends, Parks shall track the following information and, beginning with the 2005-06 budget biennium, provide a report during each budget biennium to Council that links proposed field improvements to unmet demand trends:

• Number of hours/games scheduled each season broken down by sport, league, and age group
• Number of games that organizations play outside the City
• Annual hours scheduled on Seattle School District Property for non- school sports
• Number and type of fields available each season for each sport
• Number of in-city and out-of-city players for each organized league
• When (time of day, weekend vs. weekday, and month) and how often an organization/team/league is denied a request to schedule a game or practice due to lack of field availability within the City of Seattle (denials for particular fields are of less concern than denials for any field availability throughout the City).

During the 1st quarter of 2003, Parks shall submit a report showing how scheduling practices would be impacted if Department sponsored sports groups are not given scheduling priority over non-Department sponsored sports groups, distinguishing between youth and adult groups. Parks shall also identify the percentage of Department sponsored sport groups that are neighborhood based, i.e., membership is geographically based vs. based on some other affiliation.

Parks should continue its current policy of setting different fee levels for youth and adult users and for lighted vs. non-lighted fields. Parks should also consider the costs associated with different field types when setting user fees.

Public Involvement Process for Site Specific Planning Decisions
Specific improvements that increase the playing capacity of athletic fields shall be based on a thorough public involvement process. Parks must also demonstrate it has conducted public workshops for residents within one-eighth (1/8) of a mile of the affected field to solicit comments and suggestions on design and potential impacts in a manner that provides residents a full and fair opportunity to be heard. During the public workshops, Parks will describe the proposed improvements, the increase in hours of use and traffic that are anticipated and various options to mitigate any adverse impacts identified to the extent practicable.

Seattle Youth Sport Park Use Fees

*Note: this is an abridged version of the full resolution