Point Defiance Park Master Plan Update ready for viewing May 28

Open house will give public opportunity to talk with planners before Park Board reviews document.

One of the most noticeable outcomes of this year’s proposed update to the Point Defiance Park master plan is the absence of sweeping changes. 

After months of program analysis and conversation with citizens, Metro Parks Tacoma planners discovered the 1911 Hare & Hare master plan still works well for the park. When they share their findings and proposals with the public at an open house on May 28, they’ll be ready to discuss an update to the 1911 plan, not a replacement, with an emphasis on preserving and respecting the park as it is.

“It keeps intact the major design elements that Hare & Hare envisioned in 1911 and how the community utilized the park,” Chief Planning Manager Doug Fraser said of the proposed update. “It still meets the basic needs.”

Under the proposed Master Plan Update, residents can expect to see improvements such as additional restrooms and picnic shelters, upgrades to concessions at Owen Beach, a new fenced dog park, a new nature play area, and a new 11-acre park on the Peninsula at Point Defiance. Mostly hidden will be infrastructure improvements throughout the park, such as utilities and viewpoint upgrades along Five Mile Drive.

After the open house from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Point Defiance Pagoda, the draft master plan is expected to next go before the Park Board for a public hearing. 

“Citizens have given input through a variety of means these past few months, and anyone who hasn’t needs to speak up soon,” said Park Board President Tim Reid. “The open house will be a great way to discuss the proposals before they go in front of the Park Board for review.”

The master plan is the defining piece of the park’s future. The plan is meant to inform the long-term comprehensive planning initiative called Destination Point Defiance, to enhance the experience and honor the character of the park. Several of its projects, such as a new Pacific Rim Aquarium, already are underway.

Other changes proposed in the master plan would not be made immediately. Once the Park Board approves the updated master plan, it will be incorporated into a proposed Development Regulation Agreement (DRA) with the City of Tacoma. The DRA, which would streamline the permitting process for projects identified in the master plan, is hoped to be made final by fall. From that point, as specific projects are undertaken, the development and review of detailed plans would undergo their own public processes with the master plan serving as a guide.

“The Hare & Hare Plan has served the park and community for over a hundred years and this Update is intended as a vision for the next 20 years and beyond,” Fraser said. Some of the specific improvements proposed within the plan include:

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Planning is taking place for a new Pacific Rim Aquarium and renovations to the Rocky Shores and Polar bear exhibits. Like the master plan update, the projects were made possible by the voters’ approval last year of a $198 million Metro Parks Tacoma bond issue.

Capital projects at the Zoo include a new environmental learning center to serve students and staff from Tacoma Public Schools’ Science and Math Institute (SAMI) as well as Zoo visitors and staff.

Former Camp 6 / Baker Tract

The proposed master plan identifies the park’s southwest as an area for a future nature play area, a multipurpose education facility, group picnic and activity area, a fenced dog park to replace the one next to Fort Nisqually and restrooms.

The play area’s siting was one example of how the public process shaped plans. Planners floated the idea of locating it closer to the center of the park but moved it after hearing concerns from citizens that it might infringe too much into the Forest Area of the park. 

Waterfront Phase I

One of the most varied collection of projects underway is Waterfront Phase I. The City of Tacoma’s Regional Stormwater Project near the park’s Pearl Street entrance will be one of the most immediate and visible. In conjunction with the stormwater project is the start of the new Trail & Bridge project linking the Park to Ruston Way. Starting in July, excavation of material for a future boat trailer parking area will get underway and be the first of multiple phases in the improvements that will include new park amenities on the Peninsula adjacent to the Tacoma Yacht Club.

Traffic

“People have to get to the park,” Fraser said. “The big focus is getting them out of their cars once they’re there.”

While the master plan proposals emphasize walking trails, bicycles and pedestrian safety, they also address the flow of traffic and the location of parking.

“One of the biggest concepts is to keep the intensity of cars and vehicle traffic at the edge of the park,” Fraser said.

Two-way traffic between Pearl Street and Mildred Street connecting Fort Nisqually, the Zoo, and the Bowl area and reversing the flow of cars around the rose garden “bowl” are changes residents could see in coming years.

A traffic study revealed that introducing two-way traffic from the Pearl Street entrance to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium could remove up to 1,500 cars on a busy day from the north side of the loop around the entrance’s “bowl.” In addition, adjusting the traffic flow so cars loop around the bowl from left to right, could cut several hundred more vehicles in this heavily congested area.

Public input

“We were pleased how vested the public was with their participation in this planning process,” Fraser said, and not just through public meetings. He also pointed to the “huge amount of response we got online.”

In addition to conducting public meetings from January through April, Metro Parks staff introduced an online forum and took comments through social media, email, telephone calls and surveys. 

In April, the online discussion forum had more than 100 people contributing to the discussion and more than 1,000 visitors. Metro Parks made regular posts to Facebook and Twitter, which were shared by individuals and groups with interests in the park. Over a 14-day period in March, for example, 37 contributors created 70 tweets that led to more than 200,000 Twitter impressions related to that month’s public meeting. The district also communicated through e-newsletters and the DestinationPointDefiance.orgURL, which led to a catch-all Web page that gave project information, meeting dates and background.

Although additional emphasis was placed online, Metro Parks also used hard-copy surveys, placed posters and information cards in public places and directly asked members of community groups to talk with their groups about the process. Telephone numbers and email addresses were included on printed materials, along with Metro Parks’ postal address to encourage letters. The master plan process also was included in the district’s events calendar, which is distributed three times a year through The News Tribune, community centers and other outlets.

The public input this year reaffirmed the central ideas of a Park Board-approved 2008 Concept Plan and led to discussions that helped planners finish their work. Fraser said citizens who participated in the update process – about 200 people attended the first of four public meetings, and many more participated online – were positive and open to new ideas.

“Socially a lot of things have changed over a hundred years,” Fraser said. “Cars are a significant impact. Activities have changed: Everything from dog parks, the Taste of Tacoma, to the multitude of walks and runs in the park. These types of uses and the extent we are experiencing them today were not envisioned by the original designers. But it is to their credit that they gave us a fabulous park to build upon and a framework that has served this community so well. We need to continue to honor that vision.”

Point Defiance Park Master Plan Open House

• What: An opportunity to talk with Metro Parks planners about the proposed update to the 1911 master plan and projects at Point Defiance Park
• When: 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 28
• Where: Point Defiance Pagoda, 5400 N. Pearl St.
• Cost: Free
• Website: DestinationPointDefiance.org