Sand Point off-leash improvements tied up in court

The Seattle Parks Departmentıs plan to improve the off-leash area at Magnuson Park is at least temporarily delayed by an appeal made by the Citizens Sand Point Planning Association to the King County Superior Court.

Jeanette Williams of the planning association said her group is appealing the Parks Departmentıs determination of non-significance regarding the environmental impacts of the off-leash area improvement project. Williams added that her group would like to see the Parks Department do a full environmental impact study.

According to Eric Friedli, director of operations and planning for Sand Point Magnuson Park, the Parks Department does plan to do an environmental impact study, which examines other planned renovations for the park in mid-2001. A court date has yet to be set for the planning associationıs appeal.

The Parks Department hopes to make several improvements to the off-leash area including trail and fence renovations and the addition of 60 new parking spaces adjacent to the area, which would also serve a future community garden. They had planned to break ground on the project in January, but Friedli said that timetable now seems unlikely.

For more information about the off-leash area project, contact Eric Friedli at 684-8369.

Lower Woodland Park at Green Lake gets new lighting

It seems you canıt turn around in Seattle these days without running into a new scheme for playfield lighting.

The Seattle Parks Department hopes to put in lights for baseball field No. 1 at Lower Woodland Park in either the winter or fall of 2001. The project will cost approximately $395,000. Armstrong Electrical Engineers has been hired to consult on the project.

Project Manager Liz Alzeer said the Parks Department has put up signs, done a direct mailing and posted flyers in the immediate area to let neighbors know about their plans and about a public meeting which took place on Nov. 30.

While several representatives from the various recreational sports teams that use the playfields attended the meeting, Alzeer said only two community members from North Seattle showed up.

Currently, 16 different organizations use Field No. 1. Adding lights will mean that it would probably be scheduled for 600 hours per year in addition to the average of 532 hours it is already used. The field would potentially be used until 11 p.m. and could also be used for tournament play.

Alzeer said the Parks Department has selected a lighting system that it believes would minimize negative impacts, such as glare, sky glow and spill over into the surrounding neighborhood.

For questions or comments regarding the Lower Woodland playfield lighting project, contact Liz Alzeer of the Parks Deaprtment at 233-7936.