The Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation Department presented its list of 10-year accomplishments and discussed challenges, such as public safety, climate change, equity issues and funding large-scale projects.
At a city council study session on Tuesday, Dec. 3, council members reviewed the Parks chapter of the Comprehensive Plan update.
Sylvanna Niehuser, Director of Parks Planning and Maintenance, said the department learned about the key challenges and community priorities through extensive public engagement over the past year.
She explained that the department hired a consultant to conduct a random sample survey, which resulted in a 126-page report providing feedback from the community.
They also received input from various commissions and committees. Additionally, two online surveys garnered 94 responses.
Through this outreach, the department learned that public safety remains a top concern for park users. She said there are concerns around open drug use, mental health crises, as well as homelessness and encampments.
The community also wants the city to continue acquiring park properties to ensure there is enough parkland to serve the growing population.
Climate change emerged as another major priority, with 84% of survey respondents agreeing that the parks system must work to mitigate climate impacts and build climate resilience.
"They value our natural areas, and they believe that parks have a role in reducing carbon and providing education to the public around climate," Niehuser said.
The department also recognized the challenges around institutional injustice in parks and a sense of belonging for everyone in the community.
The community values inclusiveness, as residents voiced the need to improve accessibility and a sense of belonging for people of all ages, genders, abilities and racial backgrounds.
People felt that inclusivity around both visible and invisible disabilities, as well as for youths, older adults and people of diverse backgrounds, emerged as important considerations for the department's equity work and programming.
Niehuser also identified the "mega projects" like Percival Landing and West Bay Park as another challenge for the department.
She acknowledged that these large, expensive undertakings are important to community connectivity, but they exceeded the funding that they currently have.
"We can't go at the pace that folks would like ... we will continue to move forward and take the steps that we need to advance the work. It might take us a little bit longer," Niehuser added.
Despite the challenges, Niehuser said that the department has achieved several accomplishments, including:
Council member Robert Vanderpool emphasized the importance of accessibility to parks and how people can get to those spaces. He suggested that accessibility should be part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work, as not everyone drives to access parks.
Vanderpool recommended that the city should plan for better bus services and transportation options in the future to improve accessibility to parks, even though it may require more funding.
"But planning for it now is a critical thing, especially looking at 20 years in the future," he said.
Niehuser pointed out that in the transportation chapter of the city's comprehensive plan, there are goals and policies around bicycle and pedestrian connectivity.
Niehuser added that the department is working to acquire property and eventually develop a park within half a mile of every resident in the city. This goal is outlined in the park's plan.
She also mentioned that the planning commission also recommended specifying policies on accessible routes measured by half miles.
Council member Clark Gilman commended the Parks chapter's arts and recreation section, particularly the efforts to facilitate a community of artists and encourage public art displays throughout the city.
Regarding the policy about providing affordable housing for artists (PR 8.2). Gilman stated that this was originally an effort by the Art Space Alliance to try to recruit artists for live-work projects in Olympia.
Even though that specific project did not materialize, Gilman said it was still valuable to keep that policy as a placeholder in the comprehensive plan as part of the city's overall vision.
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