PARKS

BREMERTON'S HARBORSIDE PARK EMERGES
Geoffrey Wentlandt, AICP
geoffrey.wentlandt@ci.bremerton.wa.us

As the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park nears completion in downtown Seattle another striking urban park is unfolding on the other side of Puget Sound. Bremerton's new Harborside Park is being constructed on a narrow swath of land between the Washington State Ferry Terminal and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in downtown Bremerton. The two parks share characteristics as a new brand of public space that seeks to enhance urban livability and creates an outdoor destination in a highly urban setting.

Bremerton's Harborside Park includes feature elements to make the park an experience. Five elliptical copper mounds are placed along the park's axis leading to a viewpoint over Sinclair Inlet. Each copper mound is a fountain that integrates a system of lights. The park also affords close-up views of docking ferries.

This park makes strong connections with Bremerton's heritage as a maritime community. Passersby often remark that the fountains resemble surfacing submarines. The park will include a Naval Museum within the shipyard's historic Building 50 which fronts First Avenue. Both the historic Building 50 and the land for the park were deeded over to the city by the Navy. The waterfront portion of the park is expected to be completed in early 2007 with the Naval Museum opening later that year. A second phase will expand the park one block along Pacific Avenue, Bremerton's historic main street.

Harborside Park is a part of the city's overall strategy to create a livable downtown environment. Ongoing construction of several five and six-story condominium buildings within two blocks of the park are the first sizeable residential developments Bremerton has seen in the downtown core for several decades. Numerous additional opportunities for infill development are now being explored by the development community. The city's comprehensive plan encourages this density by calling for an average of 40 units per acre in the area. With pending density the city is taking steps to provide a network of enjoyable public spaces to support quality of life downtown.


BUILDING COMMUNITY PARKS & GREEN SPACES WITHIN THE GIG HARBOR PENINSULA
Dr. Julie Ann Gustanski, AICP

The majority of Americans at the turn of the last century lived in small towns and rural communities; their connection to land and open space was direct and immediate. Today, nearly 85 percent of the American population lives in suburban cities and metropolitan areas. Many of these areas have 'grown-up' rapidly over the past few decades, their populations expanding at unprecedented rates. In the aftermath, we are learning that often little attention was paid along the way to ensuring that people had places to play, experience nature, meet and commune with their neighbors, and to just generally take a breath of fresh air.

It is interesting that several 19th century park prophets, such as Frederick Law Olmsted, predicted the evolution of America to an urban nation. These designers, gardeners, and passionate visionaries, innately understood the power of parks and the force that the grand parks they planned would play in shaping the quality of people's lives for generations to come.

PenMet Foundation . . . building parks for life!
In the eyes of these early park visionaries, parks were not "amenities." In many ways, the PenMet Foundation, a recently established 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation on the Gig Harbor Peninsula, has a similar vision. That is; that parks are necessities—they provide tremendous community assets, serving not only as a place to relax, relate to nature, find inspiration, and recreate—they can also play an important role in building 'community' by creating places for social exchange. www.penmetfoundation.org

The population on the peninsula has grown over twenty percent since 2000 to nearly 40,000. Current projections show that the area's population will grow at least this much again in the next five years. In evaluating population growth and suburban development across the peninsula, the Foundation's founders were particularly concerned with the fact that park, recreational facilities, and public open space development has not kept pace with the demands of the growing population to date, let alone that projected for the near-future. Currently, there are only four public facilities in the park district's service area to serve a population of nearly 40,000; about 14,611 families with nearly 8,600 children.

Thus, a primary goal of the Foundation is to work with the local park district and communities across the peninsula to identify needs as well as opportunities so that all area citizens have access to a diversity of recreational, educational, and cultural activities in community-based parks throughout the region.

Site plan

Harbor Family Park Project—Building community and quality of life
The Foundation's signature project, Harbor Family Park, was launched in early 2006 with the belief that children and families in communities throughout the peninsula should enjoy convenient access to nearby parks, playgrounds, and green spaces for all the various benefits they provide.

Harbor Family Park, though still several years short of completion, is truly one of community. The site (displayed above), which was slated for residential development, is located in one of the most densely populated suburban residential areas of the peninsula. A small group of visionary community leaders joined together to purchase the land to give the community an opportunity to build a park, and offered the local park district a two-year option to purchase the 19-acre property—at cost! Shortly thereafter, the PenMet Foundation and the Park District got busy working with the community to learn what park elements area residents felt were most important in meeting the area's needs. The concept plan (displayed below) is the result of a series of community workshops, held in early 2006, in which over 100 area residents joined together to develop the park vision.

Concept plan

The result was a neighborhood park that will serve as a symbol of the community's character and vivacity; a park that is vibrant and teeming with an array of activities. Plans include regional community park elements, such as athletic fields and picnic shelters; neighborhood elements, such as a playground, tennis courts, dual walking/cycling trails, and a community center building; and environmental elements, such as opens space and wetland areas—to ensure that the community as a whole will be served by the park.

Much work lies ahead to meet the community's vision of a completed park by 2009. Currently, the Foundation is working to raise the $1.4 million in funds to acquire the land and establish a park maintenance endowment by September 2007. From there, the Foundation will work with the community to raise the additional $6.3 million necessary to complete final design work, permitting, site preparation, and park development.


Schematic design drawing

Across the country, communities are recognizing that by conserving land for new parks and green spaces, they are building healthier communities and economies. In many ways, community-based parks, such as Harbor Family Park, offer people a variety of opportunities that extend beyond those of the completed park—they offer opportunities to be visionaries, to take part in shaping the character of the individual neighborhoods in which we live, to be philanthropists, to step forward and get involved in creating community legacies, and quality spaces for all to enjoy, both today and for generations to come.

For more information on the PenMet Foundation or the Harbor Family Park project, please visit the Foundation's website at: www.penmetfoundation.org or call the PenMet Foundation at (253) 223-7855.

About the Author
Dr. Gustanski is treasurer for the PenMet Foundation and president of Resource Dimensions. She has served many civic and professional organizations in various capacities and recently co-authored and edited the book Protecting the Land: Conservation Easements Past, Present, and Future (Island Press).

INDIVIDUALS AND COALITION PUSH FOR PARKS
Velvet Brown, community correspondent
salmonsave@wavecable.com

How does a new park get started? How is it best sustained through economic ups and downs and extremes in the cycles of nature, or local politics? What about occasional acts of carelessness, ignorance, or malfeasance? Or simply cumulative overuse by Washingtonians and tourists? Who cares enough to help favorite parks thrive in the 21st century?

Parks Need Champions and Allies
Often a burning soul is pivotal and becomes an unstoppable champion. For example, the founder of a park district on the Kitsap Peninsula created a new future for a mostly forested parcel that once belonged to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Slated for logging by DNR in preparation for a housing development in the 1980s, this parcel was reborn as the South Kitsap Community Park (at Jackson and Lund, within the Port Orchard Urban Growth Area).

That required leadership from Chuck Jeu, chairman of Citizens for Section 36. On his deathbed, he conveyed his vision and transferred financial resources intended to benefit the park to a trusted community activist, Mary Colborn.

However, the district's board of commissioners never realized sufficient entrepreneurial success in generating revenue from concessions to handle an ongoing burden of debt from past elections needed to fill board positions. The district levied no taxes, yet park maintenance entails costs. In 2006, heated financial, political, and physical issues reached a flashpoint. The park suffered an arson attack, among other incidents. It made more headlines than headway this year in terms of definitive administrative solutions, but huge momentum was gained with a Grow the Park campaign, involving Colborn and other park devotees.

Nearby, on urban waterfront property with a different DNR history, a parking lot was once built on fill, abutting the shoreline of Sinclair Inlet. According to a downtown merchant and property owner, in a more recent chapter of the waterfront's history, DNR officials paid a visit and required elimination of 26 parking spots so that flower plantings, lawn, and pedestrian improvements could enhance the shoreline in downtown Port Orchard. The resulting pocket-sized park with a big marina view is appealing to visitors and locals. The Port of Bremerton maintains the area and parking remains plentiful.

In a much larger city across Puget Sound, tireless efforts to restore and protect salmon-spawning creeks are underway in a number of parks. For example, recipients this fall of the fourth annual Denny Awards for Volunteer Service to Community included both Nancy Malmgren and Les Malmgren (posthumously) of the Carkeek neighborhood in Seattle. Salmon-Nancy and her husband worked for 35 years to restore Piper's Creek. The Malmgrens and their allies first realized a return of spawning salmon in 1987. Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project was founded by the Malmgrens 1979. They served on the Carkeek Park Advisory Council, helped generate over a million dollars in grants for park and creek projects, while mentoring countless children.

Their cooperative work with neighbors, nonprofits, and government agencies comprise a legacy that lives on through the Les Malmgren Salmon Fund, seasonal migrations of Coho and Chum, plus the ongoing work of park volunteers and unstoppable Salmon-Nancy. New challenges arise and public education is a ceaseless requirement. For example, a wetland in Carkeek Park has become a covert release site for unwanted iguanas, aging chickens, kittens, exotic turtles, and other critters discarded by unthinking people.

From suburban Bellevue to rural Banner Forest, planners have noticed our throw-away lifestyle leaves its signature in the places intended to reconnect people with nature. Besides pets, shopping carts are abandoned. In a forested area of the South Kitsap Community Park, BMX devotees dig pits in the dark and partially bury used refrigerators, tires, and other bulky items. Then they pile dirt into mounds to create new courses for their favorite two-wheeled sport. Secretive digging and mound-buidling compromises the root structure of trees. In other parks, certain plant species are prey to opportunists who remove them or strip their foliage. Parks are far from immune to problems in the 21st century.

Sometimes a park champion is a visionary and committed local official or public sector employee, planners included. One way or another, parcels for parks are discovered and inspire action. Ideas spark within communities and sites are transformed. Results range from neighborhood pocket parks to generous swaths of green and perhaps blue (water), with amenities chosen to suit each site and local priorities.

Parks Need State Funding
The formal process for obtaining state funding these days involves budget approval from our legislators. As we head toward a new legislative season, a package of park, open space, and recreation proposals to fund at the $50-million level awaits legislators' attention, as does a robust package to fund at the $100-million level.

For more information, visit the website for the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation, known as the IAC. Normally, IAC applicants bear responsibility to cost-share their projects with matching funds. Certain state agencies may also apply for project grants, without designating a matching fund. www.iac.wa.gov

An Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account that uses revenue from geoduck harvests and land leases provides another funding source that IAC may tap for certain projects. One such project now proposed by IAC is the Chico Estuary, requiring purchase of a 3.2-acre parcel on Dyes Inlet. Tidelands and salt marsh near a stream with significant Chum migration would be protected if this project is approved.



Fresh catch at Chico Estuary, November 2004
Photo: Dulce Setterfield

To identify choice projects, the IAC screens applications and priorities are assigned. The evaluation team includes professional experts and members of the public. If a recommended funding package is approved by the Legislature, the money is distributed by the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP).

A nonprofit citizen's group called the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition was formed in the 1980s, with leadership from former governors Dan Evans and Mike Lowry. The coalition seeks to double the amount of grant funding for the WWRP in the coming biennium, from $50 million to $100 million. Getting the larger amount included in Governor Chris Gregoire's capital budget this month is the first step. www.wildliferecreation.org

An example of a project included in the $50 million request is the Bremerton Boardwalk Trail. A $2 million grant through the WWRP, leveraged with a local match valued at $6.7 million, would enable the Louis Mentor Boardwalk to extend to Evergreen Park for pedestrian enjoyment, including wheelchair users.

Stavis Natural Resources Conservation Area is an example of a project slated to receive state help if $100 million is approved. Stavis Creek offers premier spawning habitat on Hood Canal and the area features a rare example of mature forest within the Puget Sound lowland.

Since 1990, the WWRP funding level has remained the same. Yet our state's population has increased about 25 percent. Now another two million people are expected to choose to live here within the next 25 years. Recognition of increasing needs for recreation and contact with nature, coupled with the need to better protect ever-shrinking natural habitats compel the coalition's push. Recent editorial opinions have called for local governments and elected officials to align with the coalition.



Chum fishing at Chico Estuary, November 2004
Photo: Dulce Setterfield

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

A FANTASTIC EFFORT TO DEFEAT I-933, AND APA NEWS FROM FORT WORTH, TEXAS
Steve Bulter
sbutler@ci.seatac.wa.us

I was overjoyed on election day when I-933 went down in flames! The fact that California and Idaho voters also rejected their so-called property rights ballot measures only added to my happiness. Those of you who worked so hard to defeat this misguided and poorly worded initiative should be proud of yourselves. My heartfelt thanks go to Joe Tovar, the committee's chair and our chapter's president-elect, who was out working on the campaign more than he was home, along with Scott Greenberg, the committee's vice chair. I also want to thank the many other members of the Washington Chapter's Committee on Regulatory Fairness, and the rest of you, who spent countless hours on campaign activities, such as meeting with groups and making presentations, putting up signs, doorbelling, calling voters, e-mailing friends and neighbors, fundraising, and writing letters to the editors, to name just a few. Finally, thanks to the Citizens for Community Protection's campaign director Aisling Kerins and her staff, along with the other member organizations of the coalition, who ran the highly organized and well-funded NO on 933 campaign. As I mentioned in last month's newsletter, the Washington Chapter now needs to work with others in Olympia to ensure that our state laws are functioning in a manner that best serves the needs of all of our citizens.

Recently I attended a National APA/AICP/Chapter Presidents Council meeting in Fort Worth, Texas. At that meeting, I learned about an upcoming Certification Maintenance program for AICP members. While all of the details haven't been ironed out yet, the basic concept is that all AICP members will need to accrue a set number of continuing education credits every two years, in order to maintain their certification. This approach is similar to that taken by allied professions, such as architecture and engineering. AICP is working to make it as user-friendly as possible. More information will be forthcoming in the near future. A new branding program was also unveiled by national APA staff at the Fort Worth meeting. This branding effort is an attempt to strengthen the identity and link between national APA and the chapters, and will likely mean a change to every state chapter's logo, among other impacts. I have some concerns about this program and its effects on our chapter, but there are many details still being worked out. Stay tuned. Finally, I heard that Seattle will host the 2015 National APA Planning Conference.

I am excited about the prospect that a Columbia Section may be added to the Washington Chapter. This new section would encompass the central part of our state, and join the existing Inland Empire, Northwest, Peninsula, Puget Sound, and Southwest Sections. Ferdouse Oneza is spearheading this effort, and I wish her well with this endeavor.

Parks planning is the theme for this month's newsletter. I know you will enjoy reading the article about the successful working partnership between the City of Bremerton and Naval Base Kitsap (which includes the shipyard) for development of a waterfront park, as well as an article on planning a new park on the Gig Harbor Peninsula.

That's it for now. Keep on planning!

INITIATIVE 933

POST-MORTEM OF THE I-933 DEFEAT
Richard Carson

Now that the election is over, it's a good time to talk about why Initiative 933, also known as the Property Fairness Initiative, failed with 56.5 percent of the voters rejecting it. A similar measure in Oregon, Measure 37, passed in 2004 with 61 percent of the voters approving it. The conventional wisdom, and apparently wishful thinking, was that if such a property compensation measure could pass in Oregon, then it could certainly pass in Washington. However, the defeat of the Property Fairness Initiative occurred because the proponents, in this case the Washington Farm Bureau, failed to achieve four important political goals.

First, the proponents failed to get key endorsements from pro-development groups like the Washington Association of Realtors, major chambers of commerce or the Associated General Contractors of Washington. On the other hand, the opponents created a major alliance that included civic and environmental groups such as Futurewise (formerly 1,000 Friend of Washington), American Planning Association, League of Women Voters, American Institute of Architects, American Federation of Teachers, the Audubon Society, and the Sierra Club.

Second, the proponents also failed to get major financial support and to raise enough campaign contributions to fend off their opponents. By mid-October, the proponents had raised $727,595 compared to the opponents' $2.03 million. That's almost a three-to-one margin.

Third, the proponents failed to take into account that the growth management programs in Oregon and Washington are vastly different. Oregon's state-mandated land use planning program is a centralized, top down program, which is perceived as being indifferent to local government and local wishes. The state agency in charge of the program (Department of Land Conservation and Development) has strong enforcement powers. There is a single court (Land Use Board of Appeals) that treats all cases as being equal.

Washington, on the other hand, has a bottom-up program that only some counties have to participate in and vests a lot of the decision making authority with the local governments. The state agency in charge of the program (Community, Trade and Economic Development) serves to assist cities and counties to follow state law. The program also established three regional hearing boards to hear land use cases and each board consists of local appointees.

Finally, the proponents failed to find an effective poster child to make their case to the voters. In Oregon, the passage of Measure 37 was helped by having Dorothy English, a 90-year grandmother, talk about how the city of Portland had stolen her retirement money by not letting her develop the family's property. The I-933 folks did take a page from Oregon's play book and played the "old maid" card with 86-year old Grayce Fremouw. However, the spin was that because the county approved development uphill from her, then the county should compensate her for the flooding on her property. That wasn't a very compelling story.

We may have prevailed this time. But keep in mind the property takings were on the ballot in thirteen states and passed in eleven. So there is little doubt they will be back. The next property rights initiative will be about the condemnation of private property by government for use by a private sector development. This is a direct result of the Kelo v. City of New London decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Every one of the initiatives that passed in the eleven states feature this concept.

About the Author
Richard Carson is outgoing president of the Southwest Section of WA-APA and ongoing director of Clark County Community Development.

AWARD

PARK IN WASHOUGAL WINS SPECIAL APPLICATIONS ARTISTIC MERIT
JD White a division of BERGER/ABAM Engineers Inc.

Captain William Clark Park at Cottonwood Beach in Washougal, Washington, received the Special Applications Artistic Merit Award from the Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association earlier this year.

The park was recognized for the concrete canoes that replicate the pine-log canoes Lewis and Clark used on their exploratory expedition to the Pacific Ocean 200 years ago, and the cedar canoes of the Chinookan people that the expedition encountered. The replicas, which are permanent structures anchored to the park beach, accurately represent the ponderosa pine dugout canoes and the western red cedar canoes built by the Chinook tribe. A high level of artistic detail brings out the seams, cracks, and depressions of the rough dugout canoes. Park visitors who see the canoes are concerned that the wood will rot due to weather exposure, not realizing until they get closer that the canoes are made of concrete.

Ron Mah, the landscape architect from JD White a division of BERGER/ABAM Engineers Inc. who led master planning and development for the park, gives credit for the canoes to the team's creative designers. He says, "All of the structures that were designed for the project were meant to look artistic, realistic, but still create a fun interactive learning environment for visitors of all ages. The design team worked closely with Chinookan artist Tony Johnson and the Turnstone Construction craftsmen commented on creating the concrete replica canoes: "We think they turned out better than expected and we are pleased to hear how much people like them and that they will now be recognized statewide."

Crew briefing

Rebar preparation

Vancouver-Clark Parks & Recreation Department owns the park. The consultant team engaged in design and construction was composed of JD White, Barker Landscape Architects, BERGER/ABAM Engineers Inc., and Sea Reach Ltd.

GUEST ARTICLES

HUD CONNECTS PLANNERS WITH RESEARCH THROUGH CLEARINGHOUSE
Steve Kusek, Information Specialist

Many in the planning community are already regular visitors to such websites as About Planning, Planetizen, or Cyburbia. But more and more, savvy planners are turning—and returning—to the HUD USER Clearinghouse: www.huduser.org. HUD USER is your primary source for HUD-sponsored reports and information on housing policy and programs, building technology, economic development, urban planning, and other housing-related topics. We strive to provide relevant, useful, and interesting information to the planning community. Clearinghouse features and benefits are summarized below.

The HUD USER Clearinghouse
Managed by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, the HUD USER Clearinghouse provides housing professionals with access to more than 850 HUD-sponsored research publications and data sets, all at little or no cost. Most of our housing-based research can be downloaded for free, or ordered for a nominal cost by visiting our Web Store: http://webstore.huduser.org.

From broad overviews to detailed analyses, this online resource is designed to meet the changing needs of the professionals it serves. We recognize that many visitors are looking for concise, plain-language summaries of our research publications, while others demand greater depth and detail. Still others seek out our unique data sets—raw information that can be used to conduct new research and to identify location-specific market activity. Some of the data sets currently available include HUD median family income limits, qualified Census tracts, low-income housing tax credits, fair market rents, and portions of the American Housing Survey.

While our website offers a considerable depth of resources, finding what you need has never been easier. Our publications are sorted according to topic and our enhanced search capabilities allow users to conduct advanced searches to find exactly what they need. Should you require additional assistance, our knowledgeable information specialists are available Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:15 PM (Eastern Time Zone). Call 1-800-245-2691, option 1.

Helpful Publications
To keep busy professionals informed, we offer free subscriptions to both HUD USER News and to our newsletter, ResearchWorks. HUD USER News is a weekly listserv that surveys the latest housing resources produced by HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. (PD&R) The listserv summarizes new research findings, activities, and events in a concise electronic message that delivers the key points in a straightforward, uncluttered manner. The newsletter, ResearchWorks, offers a more in-depth look at the latest HUD research and how it's being applied in the field. That newsletter is published 10 times a year and you can subscribe online for free.

Another PD&R publication, Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, features research on housing and urban policy issues written by scholars, government officials, and others involved in setting policy and charting the direction of future research. Cityscape examines and gives voice to innovative ideas, policies, and programs that show promise in revitalizing cities and regions, renewing their infrastructure, and creating economic opportunities.

The Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse
HUD USER also manages an affiliated clearinghouse that collects and publishes state and local regulatory reform strategies that support affordable housing: the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse. Located at www.regbarriers.org, our searchable database contains thousands of regulatory reform strategies and relevant resources from around the country. We track affordable, mixed-income housing solutions in ten different categories, including planning and growth restrictions, zoning regulations, redevelopment with infill, and building codes. In addition, we publish a free electronic newsletter, Breakthroughs, that highlights successful 'real world' strategies, case studies, and the people who are making affordable housing happen. Feel free to use our toll-free help line at 1-800-245-2691 when you have inquiries. To reach the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse, select option 4.

SNIPPETS

$5,000 FOR TOP ESSAY

APA has launched a High School Essay Contest. A student in your family or neighborhood may want to pursue this opportunity. The first annual APA nationwide essay contest is for high school juniors and seniors. Theme: "Expanding Housing Choice and Affordability through Planning." The winner will receive a $5,000 college scholarship. Essay submittal deadline: January 15, 2006. Visit the APA website for details.

H&H WOOD RECYCLERS, INC. TO CLOSE DECEMBER 31

The founders and owners of H&H Wood Recyclers, Inc. have announced their intention to close their facility on New Year's Eve. The compelling reasons for closure are personal—owners Richard and Pamela Henker are ready for a lifestyle change. Their company has had a steady presence in Vancouver, Washington for 16 years, serving as the receiving site for yard and land clearing debris, wood waste, sod, concrete, rock, asphalt, and demolition, as well as street sweepings. H&H now receives the largest portion of organic waste in Clark County, or nearly 65% of the organic waste stream. The cities of Vancouver, Battle Ground, Woodland, Ridgefield, and La Center, as well as Clark County Public Works, the Washington Department of Transportation, C-TRAN, Clark Public Utilities, and the Evergreen, Battle Ground, and Vancouver school districts, use H&H to dispose of the organic materials they generate and to purchase products, such as compost, related to their maintenance and environmental programs. Where customers will take their recyclable materials after December 31 is not yet clear.

RETAIL ANCHOR ANNOUNCED

Killian Pacific LLP has announced that Fred Meyer will anchor Grand Central in Vancouver, Washington. Grand Central is a $40-million development at Grand Boulevard and State Route 14. Until a decline in the 1990s, that location supported industrial use: the Jantzen swimwear factory. The infrastructure has since deteriorated, leading to condemnation. Because of its positioning along SR 14, Grand Central is a gateway to Vancouver and to serving the revitalized waterfront development, burgeoning development in downtown Vancouver, and established neighborhoods north of the site.

Killian claims there has long been an unmet need for retail in this area. There are already 228,000 people living within a five-mile radius of this site. Over the next five years, the area is expected to become home to another 14,200 people. The site at Grand and Columbia House Boulevard is approximately 14.5 acres. In 2005, the Vancouver City Council approved a rezone of the property from light industrial to general commercial. Grand Central will transform this property.

Killian intends to build a "groundbreaking facility" that will "raise the bar" for residents needing services and amenities in an underutilized area. The site has high visibility, excellent access, and outstanding retail potential. Other tenants besides Fred Meyer will establish themselves at Grand Central. According to Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard, a "growing reinvigoration of Vancouver's urban core" will result.

Killian Pacific LLP, a family-owned real estate development company headquartered in downtown Vancouver, has strong roots in Clark County.

SECTION SHARING NEWS

PENINSULA SECTION

PenSec president Josh Peters called an executive session on 11/17/06, at a meeting place in Jefferson County.

PUGET SOUND SECTION

Once again, APA members are invited to attend the annual holiday party hosted by PSS in Seattle. Many board members will be present as a quarterly board meeting wraps up right before the party starts. The World Trade Center on Seattle's waterfront is the place to be. Just show up: there's no cost for APA members. That's December 7, 6:30–9:00 PM, 2200 Alaskan Way # 410, in Seattle. Let's shake off the stress of prior months and laugh our way into the last weeks of December.

The PSS News, a quarterly online newsletter, was published in late October and may be found on the WA-APA website by going to the Sections menu. Of note is an article on the studio system of professional training.

Southwest Section

The SWS newsletter, called Columbia Connections, was last published in spring 2006. It may be found on the WA-APA website by going to the Sections menu. The incoming editor for this newsletter is Karyn Criswell, so look for the latest edition soon. In the last newsletter, small lots was a featured topic, along with county updates.

APA MEMBER PROFILE

PHILIP FLETCHER, JD

1. Where are you originally from and how long have you been in Washington State?

   Born in central California and raised in a remote area of the central Sierras. Most of the last 20 years in Arizona. Came to Washington State March, 2006 from Maine and Nova Scotia.

2. What is your educational background?

   BA, Geography, Fresno State University.
   MA, Geography-Civil Engineering, Univ. of Minnesota.
   ABD, Resource Economics, Colorado State University.
   JD, Law, Texas Tech University.

3. How did you decide to get into planning?

   My interest since high school—working with people, landscapes, economics, natural resources, etc. (applied geography)

4. Where do you now live and work?

   Living in Kitsap County, in the Port Orchard-Manchester area. Working in Port Orchard and employed as senior planner for the Kitsap County Department of Community Development.

5. Describe the planning work you do and your agency/firm?

   Primarily working in economic development for Kitsap County. Also have duties as a community planner for the northern district of Kitsap County (e.g. land use, land use regulation, miscellaneous community development issues).

6. What are your primary planning interests? What types of projects or challenges really captivate you?

   My primary interests are in economic development. My primary interest and challenge is to assist communities to identify their long-range goals and policies, and to assist them in actually designing projects and plans to fund and implement actions focused on accomplishing those plans—articulating and facilitating dream fulfillment.

7. Of which planning projects or achievements are you most proud?

   Building an economic development program from scratch for a county in Arizona which resulted in major job creation and industrial development projects. Widely recognized state-wide and regionally as an effective, model program for a primarily poor, rural county.

   I'm proud to have successfully represented numerous mentally-ill and indigent persons to obtain fairness and justice before retiring as a trial lawyer. I'm also proud to have been an active member of the Maine Independent Green Party's Steering Committee (i.e. statewide Board of Directors).

8. How would your city's citizens describe you?

   Hopefully as an energetic, imaginative, optimistic, friendly, and action-oriented person.

9. If you had the chance to do your whole career over, would you do anything different?

   I would finish my PhD in resource economics and publish more. I would be much more of an out-spoken activist in advocating and initiating changes in public policy leading to environmentally-friendly and sustainable planning and economic initiatives. I would have been more outspoken on issues of economic justice as a lawyer and retire as early as I did.

10. Are you a member of any specialized divisions of the American Planning Association?

    Yes, the Economic Development Division.

11. Do you have any words of wisdom to younger professional planners who may be interested in following your career path?

    Develop strong technical and analytical abilities early in your career and couple them with imagination and sense of responsibility to your community and future generations. Think independently and never sacrifice personal and professional integrity for the sake of a job or paycheck.

    Work/Life Balance

12. Changing perspective, Phil, Do you have a burning passion, educational focus, or community interest that you pursue off-the-clock?

    I'm passionately interested in preserving the future for the younger generation and generations yet to be born. To that extent, I'm very active in issues of sustainability, environmental responsibility and promoting democratic ideals through the creation of wider opportunities for effective participatory democracy. I'm also an avid organic farmer and outdoorsman.

13. How about after a tough week on the job, what's a special way to relax?

    Hiking, reading, outdoor recreation, gardening/farming, taking courses (i.e. learning new things), organizing third-party political organizations and, above all, thinkin' 'n dreamin'.

PLANNERS ON THE MOVE

THREE ANNOUNCEMENTS IN KITSAP COUNTY

Andrea Spencer was selected in October by Bremerton's mayor for internal promotion to head Community Development. After serving as Bremerton's planning manager for about a year, she was selected for interim director of the department and then was confirmed as director after an affirmative city council vote. "I fundamentally believe in promoting from within when you have a qualified candidate," Mayor Cary Bozeman said. "It's a good message to send to staff." The Community Development Department and the Mayor's office are both on the sixth floor of the Norm Dicks Government Center, which opened in late 2004.

Josh Brown was elected to the Board of Commissioners of Kitsap County last month. A Democrat, he defeated the GOP candidate, who had defeated the GOP incumbent for District #3 in the September primary. Brown is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with an emphasis in city and regional planning, as well as policy, within an interdisciplinary degree. Brown may have something to say to planners down the road about what it's like to make the leap to the elected official career path. The week following the election, he attended a two-day conference in Seattle on the Growth Management Act.

Larry Keeton was selected in November for the position of Department of Community Development director for Kitsap County. He formerly served as the chief of staff in Lewis County, but that position was eliminated in August. Keeton is also a retired military officer. He and Brown will both start work in January, in the new Kitsap County Administration Building in Port Orchard. This building earned a LEED®-silver certification and opened about six months ago.

TWO SCIENTISTS PASS QUALIFICATION TESTS

JD White's Senior Scientist Tabitha Reeder and Associate Scientist Dan Gunderson have passed the qualifying tests to prepare biological assessments for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Last June, those departments of the two states began to require consultants to pass separate examinations to be able to write biological assessments for WSDOT and ODOT projects. The goal is to maximize the efficiency and enhance the value of the consultation process.

Reeder specializes in wetland, soil, and vegetation science and has MS and BS degrees from Washington State University and a BS from Western Washington University. Gunderson specializes in plant ecology, wildlife ecology, and wetland science and has a BS in Biology from Portland State University. Both have significant experience writing biological assessments and performing Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations.

JD White (JDW), a division of BERGER/ABAM Engineers Inc., has offices in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. JDW offers a complete range of services including land use planning, civil engineering, natural resources, structural engineering, public involvement, and construction management.

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

Dulce Setterfield, Editor

December is budget approval month for the board of the Washington Chapter (WA-APA). The budget proposal submitted for the newsletter includes the possibility of two new expense items:

• Cartoon pertinent to newsletter content (assuming up to six original, first-rights cartoons in 12 months).

• Editorial Committee's Awards (up to four awards, in certain categories, for contributions to the newsletter.

Final decisions on this and other budget items will be made by the WA-APA Board on December 7.

CHAPTER-ONLY MEMBERSHIP

REMINDER

Last year the board approved a new chapter-only group membership opportunity.

This membership is available to planning commissions, city councils and commissions, tribal councils, and board members of non-profit organizations and other professional associations.

Up to 10 members may be included in a group membership. The group rate is $150 and is administered by the chapter office.

To obtain a group membership form or learn more about the benefits of this membership, contact Anna Nelson, AICP, Membership Committee chair, at (206) 382-9540 or anelson@buckgordon.com.

NEWSLETTER DEADLINE

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

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