To: Planning Commission D.. June 3, 2009

Agenda Item No. 9(a~ CITY OF WOODINVILLE, WA REPORT TO THE PLANNING COMMIS ION 17301 133 1'd Avenue NE, Woodinville, WA 98072 WWW.CI.WOODINVILLE.WA.US To: Planning Commission D.. June 3, 2009 From: Subject: Hal H. Hart, Development Services Director Study Session - 2009 Annual Docket: Comprehensive Plan Amendment CPA 09009 - Amend the Parks, Recreation, Open Space (PRO) Plan 2005, the Little Bear Creek Linear Park Master Plan 2004, and the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan 2005, to relocate the future proposed eastside trail to the west side of Little Bear Creek ISSUE: In preparation for the 2009 Annual Docket public hearing, shall the Planning Commission review and discuss the proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendments that would change the subject technical plans to relocate the future proposed east side walking/hiking/biking trail to the west side of Little Bear Creek? STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Planning Commission consider the proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendments presented in as part of the 2009 Annual Docket process in preparation for the public hearing and to determine if any additional information and analysis is required. POLICY DECISION: Woodinville Municipal Code (WMC) section 17.07.030 requires the Planning Commission to hold a public hearing for all proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments. Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan may be initiated by the City Council, the Planning Commission, City Staff, or application submitted by a citizen (WMC 21.46.020). POLICY CONTEXT: The Planning Commission must determine whether the proposed amendments comply with criteria contained within Woodinville Municipal Code (WMC) 21.46.030. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The purpose of this report is to provide information on the proposed amendments and assist the Planning Commission in determining if additional information is needed in preparation for the upcoming Annual Docket public hearing. BACKGROUND: As part of the current Shoreline Master Program (SMP) update, the Little Bear Creek (LBC) property owners made a request to relocate the future walking/biking trails proposed by the City's Parks, Recreation, & Open Space (PRO) plan, from the east to the west side of Little Bear Creek (Attachment B.) The property owners are concerned about their right to privacy, and control over their land which they consider already heavily regulated by local, state and federal law. The Comprehensive Plan amendment as proposed would make the necessary changes so that the trail system could be relocated to the west side of LBC. This change would be consistent with the intent of the above master plans, which is to create a park and trail system that will achieve the recreational needs of the community. Appropriate

easements from public and private land owners at the time of development! redevelopment will need to be attained to establish the trail system. ANALYSIS: The Comprehensive Plan Amendment is consistent with the City of Woodinville's Comprehensive Plan Parks, Recreation, and Open Space goals and policies. PF~O 2.5 states: Develop and maintain a comprehensive multi-modal trail system connecting all parts of Woodinville. And PRO 3.1 states: Preserve open space throughout the City to provide for passive uses such as scenic vistas, shoreline access, and fish and wildlife habitat. The proposed plan amendment is not only consistent with the policies/goals of the comprehensive plan, which requires adequate recreations facilities, but it also respects the opinions and rights of private property owners. FACTS & FINDINGS: 1. The 2009 Annual Docket proposal subject to this report is a City staff-initiated Comprehensive Plan amendment that would relocate the LBC trail system from the east side to the west side of LBC. 2. The Comprehensive Plan Amendment is consistent with the City of Woodinville's Comprehensive Plan Parks, Recreation, and Open Space goals and policies. PRO 2.5 states: Develop and maintain a comprehensive multi-modal trail system connecting all parts of Woodinville. And PRO 3.1 states: Preserve open space throughout the City to provide for passive uses such as scenic vistas, shoreline access, and fish and wildlife habitat. 3. Pursuant to the City of Woodinville Municipal Code (WMC) Chapter 17, the Planning Commission is required to hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments and make a recommendation to the City Council. 4. The proposed amendment appears to be consistent with the requirements of WMC 21.01.170 and WMC 21.46.030. An analysis of the proposed amendments and decision criteria will be provided at the public hearing for the 2009 Annual Docket Comprehensive Plan amendments. 5. The 2009 Annual Docket public hearing for the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments is scheduled for July 15, 2009. ALTERNAnVES: 1. Direct staff to continue the research on the trail relocation and bring back the results to a future Planning Commission meeting or to the public hearing 2. Accept the proposal as presented in and forward them to the July 15, 2009 public hearing as part of the 2009 Annual Docket. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Review the proposed City staff-initiated Comprehensive Plan Amendments discussed herein in preparation for the July 15, 2009 public hearing.

ATTACHMENTS: A - Text change shown by strike through and underline for the following plans: City of Woodinville Open Space (PRO) Plan 2005, The Little Bear Creek Linear Park Master Plan 2004, and The Non-Motorized Transportation Plan 2005 B - Revised Maps for proposed trail changes

Parks, Recreation & Open Space Plan -2005 Walking and hiking trail corridors may be independent properties or include portions of other sites provided for Community Parks and Neighborhood Parks, and other park and recreational or public facility prope1ies. Linked with conservation areas and parks, the walking and hiking trails will create a system of interconnected greenways to integrate and define the urban and natural portions of the city in accordance with the Growth Management Act's (GMA) provisions for urban separators. Vision As described, the walking and hiking trails vision will be realized by providing recreational trail opportunities within the city that: a) access natural features that may not be available otherwise, b) link open spaces, downtown, Little Bear Creek, King County's Sammamish River Trail and conservation areas into a greenway system, c) serve persons with varied physical abilities and skills, d) establish high visibility and volume pedestrian routes throl;gh the most developed urban areas, including the Downtown central business district (CBD), e) expand the park system to connect with public properties, and 0expand roadway corridors to provide recreational and commuter trail opportunities in concert with the City's Non-Moforized Transporlation Plan (2005). Proposed Walking and Hiking Trails Little Bear Creek Trail- Valley Industrial, Town Center, North Industrial, and Wedge neighborhoods. This class 2-3 trail will extend from the Sammamish River Park to the northern limits of Little Bear Creek. The trail will create a hiking opportunity connecting the woodlands, wetlands, and other natural areas borderililg the downtow:l and industrial areas with residential neighborhoods. See the Little Bear Creek Linear Park Master Plan (2003) for details. The trail will begin at the Sammamish River Park frontage overlooking Little Bear Creek's outfall into the Sammamish River, and then continue northwest along the bank of the creek to SR202. A direct connection is needed at SR202/131 st Avenue NE to provide uninterrupted creek-side trail passage along Little Bear Creek between reaches one and two. This could be accomplished via an underpass or constructed at-grade as part of proposed roadway improvements to the intersection of SR202 and SR522. From 131 st Avenue NE, the trail will continue east est along the north bank of the creek across 134 th Avenue NE, where at 134 1h ell becomes split is either sis&{} The western segment will crass SR522 via a pedestrian bridg,e over the freeway. w~lle lae eastem edge w M-north paralleling LEttie BeaF Greek 9 the creek until it joins the street system at NE 195 Street and passes under SR522. From INE 195th Street, the trail will continue west under SR522 to the west side of Little Bear Creek, then north along the creek, connecting with the existing trail segment in Rotary Community Park and through the Georgian Heights wetland buffer to NE 205 th Street.

Little Bear Creek Corridor Master Plan.. A hard surface/pervious material trail within the Little Bear Creek 100' buffer on the east est and south side of the Creek between 132 nd Ave N.E. and N.E. 190 th Street extended Some trail design concepts are illustrated in Appendix 0 of this report, and a general discussion of trail location and design parameters is discussed under Recreation below. Non-motorized trails, located within multi-modal right of way, are proposed to be striped, and treelined for safety, security, comfort and aesthetics. Design details for the landscape treatment and features within these routes is beyond the scope of this Master Plan. Where trails meander into or along creek buffer zones, earth mounds, fencing and/or vegetative plantings are proposed to provide for the privacy, security, safety and visual serenity for adjacent lands, both private and public. Proposals for traj] surfaces will provide for the most current environmentally safe products and materials. And, trail locations will be situated so as to take advantage of interesting vegetation, naturally significant features in the Creek and other environmental and sensory features in the landscape. Environment. The central environmentalfeature ofthe Master Plan study area is Little Bear Creek. It has been studied considerably and recommendations for improvements are not lacking. This Master Plan is confirming many ofthose recommendations by proposing measures for habitat in-stream improvements, riparian habitat improvements and off-site mitigation projects. See Figure 3for locations and descriptions ofhabitat improvement recommendations associated with this Master Plan; and see the Little Bear Creek Corridor Habitat Assessment for detailed proposals adopted herein by reference. Recreation. A survey conducted for the PRO Plan in 1998 revealed the recreation preferences of the citizens of Woodinville. The Little Bear Creek Ilinear Park was considered a major recreation resource to be conserved in areas of environmental sensitivity, but also developed as a trail system linked to park sites and activity centers.

Little Bear Creek Corridor Master Plan PRO Plan land and facility demand analysis of the park planning area for Woodinville indicates that there is a deficiency in trail miles, active recreation activities, in resource consenancy land and in resource activities. PRO Plan recommendations for acquiring additional trail miles are as follows: Local Park Walking Trails 1.5 miles of soft trail 5.5 miles of hard trail Separate Corridor Trails: Walking 6.7 miles of soft trail 13.2 miles of hard trail Bicycle 4.5 miles of soft trail 5.7 miles of hard trail On-Road Bicycle Trail 7.5 miles of improved bike lanes The PRO Plan recommends developing active recreation activities as follows: 3 outdoor volleyball courts 4 outdoor basketball courts 6 tennis courts 128 picnic tables 9 picnic shelters The PRO Plan recommends the acquisition of 98.8 acres of resource consenancy land. The City has recently acquired through fee simple purchase and donation approximately 65 acres, leaving 35 needed acres to sustain the existing level of senice to meet demand. The PRO Plan also recommends developing an additional 19 acres for resource park activities such as picnicking, camping and open grassy playfields.

Little Bear Creek Corridor Master Plan The documented needs in the PRO Plan for acquisition and development of additional active and passive recreation lands can be partially achieved by implementing the proposed features within the Schematic Master Plan for Little Bear Creek. Features. While the original concept of a Little Bear Creek L.inear Park was born in the PRO Plan, most of the features proposed for the park were derived by consensus of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Parks department staff and citizen wor-<shops. The proposed features are delineated on the Schematic Master Plan (Figure 1) and explained below. Foot Trails. These are walking and hiking trails, and may be hard or soft surfaced, depending on their location. Foot trails that are part of dedicated right of way will be hard surface paths. In separate trail corridors, not on sensitive lands, foot trails may also be hard surface. On sensitive lands, foot trails slnould be of a soft surface. Sensitive land trails in the study area will be built on the north and west side of Little Bear Creek, meandering along the edge of the 100 foot creek buffer. See Figure 1 for locations of walking and hiking trails. Bike Trails. Bike trails require hard surfaces for safety and efficiency reasons. On road rights of way, these trails will be hard surfaced. In sensitive areas such as creek buffers synthetic, water-permeable, structural, grid systems may be used. The Master Plan envisions a synthetic surface trail on the east west side of Little Bear Creek, meandering along the 100 foot buffer zone linking business uses with other business uses in the corridor and with the recreation and visual resources associated with the Linear Park. The location and design details of this east side trail must consider the existing and future land uses on adjacent parcels to find the right fit. See Figure 1 for locations of bicycle trails. Railroad. The old S.L.S. & E. Railroad (now Burlington-Northern) is projected to provide a future multipurpose trail with amenities through Woodinville with the possibility of future connections to trails in Snohomish County (See Figure 7). Although commuter rail and a train station appear to be dependent on cooperation with Sound Transit and other agencies, the City should preserve the potential for active rail service that might enhance commuter or tourist potential in the Corridor. Bridges & Tunnels. A pedestrian and bicycle overpass is proposed over SR 522 at 136 th Ave. N.E. and N.E. 186 th Street that will connect the Wedge neighborhood with the linear park and downtown. See Figure 8. A direct connection is needed at 131 5t Avenue NE to provide uninterrupted creekside trail passage along Little Bear Creek between reaches one and two. This

Little Bear Creek Corridor Master Plan could be accomplished via an underpass or constructed at-grade as part of proposed roadway improvements to the intersection of SR 202 and SR 522. Other, less prominent non-motorized bridges (footbridges) are proposed to cross the Creek at 132 nd Ave. N.E., at Mill Place extended on or over property lines, at 140 lh Ave. N.E. extended and at N.E. 190 1h Street extended. See Figure 1 for locations of these Master Plan features. Lookouts/Interpretive Sites/Environmentallnterest. Throughout the length of the Creek are places of significant vegetation, and in-stream features such as riffles, pools and glides that salmon and other fish may find functional and that provide visual and educational interest to humans. Many of these places are identified in the Schematic Master Plan as the Confluence overlook, interpretive sites, or viewing platforms. These sites will be developed with decks for viewing, interpretive and educational signage, picnic tables if space permits and trail furniture. Some of these locations have been identified on the Schematic Master Plan, Figure 1. Picnic & Social Areas. Several areas are proposed for development as picnic sites or gathering areas. These are: the proposed confluence park where Little Bear Creek empties into the Sammamish River; north of 131 51 Ave. N.E.

Revised Trail Map - Downtown Little Bear Creek Corridor Master Plan Attachment B Figure 5-1 City of Woodinville Downtown and Little Bear Creek Corridor Master Plan ~n:-r-.."'i"-'- par1s,"l ails & Open Space, o 600 1200 Feet Note For QjS:CLtJ;sIOn purpose.s only. Attu.1 fe..d:ures di nd 10 cation m.y d~f."