Many residents say Valley has enough park land

The city of Spokane Valley has one of lowest ratios of parks to people in the Spokane area, but preliminary results from a survey show that the majority of residents don’t mind.

Although about 100 more citizens are still expected to return the city-sponsored questionnaire, about 53 percent of the 300 citizens who have responded so far are saying more park land isn’t needed, a consultant told the City Council on Tuesday.

The city is in the process of writing a parks and recreation master plan that will guide future decisions on whether to develop parks, offer more recreation programs or acquire land for future park use. The survey is one step Spokane Valley is taking to gather public input for the plan. A series of community meetings also are being held, including one in April that will focus on swimming pools.

The city hired California-based Moore Iacofano Goltsman Inc. to lead the master planning effort.

Spokane Valley has about 1.5 acres of developed park land for every 1,000 people. By comparison, the city of Spokane has 8 park acres per 1,000 people; Post Falls has 16 acres per 1,000; and Coeur d’Alene has 4 acres per 1,000.

Jerry Draggoo, of the consulting firm, said it’s important to look at more than just the numbers, though. For example, a city might have a couple of huge parks that aren’t close to residential areas. He called neighborhood parks the “workhorse” of a park system and said residents in some parts of Spokane Valley don’t have easy access to them.

“We found there are a whole lot of neighborhoods that aren’t served right now,” Draggoo said.

Council members encouraged Draggoo to look beyond just the city’s official parks as he considers Spokane Valley’s needs. Many residents use school and church playgrounds as they would a city park, they said. And Councilman Mike Flanigan noted that the Dishman Hills Natural Area and Plantes Ferry Park are just outside the city limits and are used regularly by its citizens.

The council asked Draggoo to come back with a map that shows city parks as well as those other recreation areas and to gather data on the size of Spokane Valley’s school playgrounds compared with playgrounds in other communities.

Draggoo told a reporter after his presentation that part of his responsibility is to advocate for the city’s future. Down the road, when there are more people, homes and buildings in Spokane Valley, a similar survey might find that 80 percent of the people will want to acquire more parkland, he said.

“At that point, it’s too late,” Draggoo said.