Parks pursuing priorities for recreation

Whatcom County parks and recreation director Michael McFarlane was on the Point last month for a public workshop on parks and recreation priorities in Point Roberts, to be included in a revised comprehensive plan for the county.

“In the next 20 years the population of the county is expected to double and that will put a tremendous strain on our open space and facilities,” he said at the January 25 meeting at the community center. “What are the priorities?”

Preserving Lily Point came out as a strong priority for most of the two-dozen people who attended the workshop, for reasons ranging from shoreline protection to public recreation opportunities. “We’re looking at multiple benefits from sites for parks,” McFarlane acknowledged. Lily Point came up in discussing forested lands that warranted protection, shoreline access, wildlife habitat preservation, recreational amenities and trail systems. It was cited as culturally important both as a native American heritage site and as part of the area’s fisheries history. “That’s going to rank fairly high,” McFarlane acknowledged.

Those attending the workshop wondered if it was appropriate for the county to include land they didn’t own in their planning documents. “We need to think of the big picture, not what we have today but what might happen if something became available,” he said. He added inclusion in the plan was critical to accessing many government funding sources.

Workshop participants looked at the big picture of parks and recreation facilities in the county in over a dozen categories and talked about what the Point had, and could use, that would fit into the plan.

“One of the areas the plan will be looking at is our agricultural lands and farmlands,” McFarlane said, in an effort to balance further urbanization with a protection of the county’s rural character. George Wright suggested some of the old apple orchards on the Point had both cultural and biological importance as heritage gene stock.

Parks board and historical society member Irene Waters said the historical society had lists of historical homes and farms which could be used to target potential properties to preserve as heritage sites, and added the historical society continued to try and acquire one of these properties as a museum. McFarlane said the cemetery might also be listed as a heritage site in the plan.

In discussing recreational amenities chamber of commerce member Terrie Laporte stopped in to point out that two local projects still in the planning stages, a pier at the foot of Gulf Road and the plan for a lighthouse or replica at Lighthouse Marine Park needed to be listed in the plan.

Many workshop participants wanted to see access to the water improved. While most of the beaches and tidelands on the Point are privately owned, the state constitution protects the public’s right to use navigable waters and in many legal opinions that extends to use of the lands between the high and low tide marks even when the tide is out, even on privately owned tidelands. However, without upland access there is no way for the public to get to these public resources.

Specifically, workshop participants wanted a good inventory of access points and clarification of how the public can get to the public access beach between the marina and Oceanside condominiums.

Trails were also a priority for workshop participants, and Lighthouse Park manager Ben VanBuskirk presented a locally developed plan for a system of multi-use trails, such as the new trail connecting the marina to Lighthouse Park. “We can take that local plan and roll it into our plan,” McFarlane said. Wright also asked that some of the Point’s more informal trails be catalogued. “Even though it may be on private lands now if the opportunity comes up for funding to acquire the easement then it’s in the plan,” Wright said.

Scenic roads will also be part of the county’s comprehensive plan and Waters suggested, “The whole outside of Point Roberts is a scenic route,” and it was appropriate to take measures to protect the stands of trees lining local arterials.

Expanding the existing community center or building another facility was also discussed. “We’ve already identified the need for a community center here,” McFarlane said. “The next thing we need is for something indicating the scope of what is being asked.” Wright said he envisioned a multi-use center that would have fewer restrictions than the current community center, such as allowing alcohol at a wedding reception with proper permitting.

An open house is scheduled at the community center March 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. to share with a wider audience some of the priorities identified during the workshop and get public input prior to their inclusion in the new version of the county parks and recreation plan.