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PARKS, RECREATION, TREES, & TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD
Minutes - Council Chambers
March 25, 2025 1 4:30 p.m. I Virtual or In Person Meeting
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Welcome, Introduction & Call to Order - Chair Debbie lahnke
Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of the Port Townsend Parks, Recreation, Trees & Trails
Advisory Board. The role of this Board is to assist City staff and to advise the City Council on
legislative matters concerning parks, recreation, trees and trails.
This meeting is open to the public at the City Council Chambers, virtually via this web format, and is
also being video recorded for those who could not attend the meeting today and for future
reference. Given that this meeting is in virtual format, we ask that the board members raise their
hands to be called on by the Chair. The public can do the some to comment during the public
comment periods. We take public comment at the beginning and end of the meeting.
I. Roll Call: Pam Adams, Richard Hefley, Russell Hill, Becci Kimball, Jim Todd, Debbie Jahnke present,
Matt Miner absent excused, staff present include Melody Sky Weaver, Steve King, Winn Mclnerny,
Jeff Kostechka, Michael Todd, Robin Hill, Rachel May
II. Approval of Agenda/Changes to Agenda: approved by consensus, noting packet is out of order
III. Approval of Minutes: approved by consensus
IV. Public Comment (3 minutes per person/agenda items only): none
V: Staff reports (15') (Michael's images are on packet pp. 60 and 61) - New staff. • Rachel May,
working to be certified ISA, Tommy Rodriguez in parks maintenance, seasonals will start soon.
Four skate park lights are installed; ribbon cutting is April 19th, 8pm. Koh Tai restrooms have
new doors, working to replace mirrors, dividers, etc.. Plan is for opening in the summer and
getting rid of the portajohn. Staff may re -do the educational display boards. Staff is cutting down
poplars along the sidewalk at Koh Tai, many of which are hollow and could endanger use of the
sidewalk. Jim suggested having an article in the paper or newsletter with photos.
VI. Old Business: none
VII. New Business
A. Active Transportation Goals & Policies (Steve: 40') (white paper is on page 6 of the packet
and the presentation starts on page 32) - Steve, Winn and Jeff discussed how trails relate
to street circulation, looking at connected routes. Pre -platting makes PT unique - we do not
have typical city blocks of about 600ft, we have blocks of about 200ft. Infrastructure is
difficult for this design. Planning ahead of time helps determine which corridors will
become streets to prevent development of redundant streets. Tax burden is four times
greater if we have all ROWS improved around each block on four sides. We must also
consider wildfire and other emergency risks with street layout. Jim noted that grants often
require sidewalks on both sides of every street. We need to find a way to have 20-25% of
our population have access to ADA routes. We are preplatted with about 14,000 lots,
usually of 5000 ft2. Some lots have been rotated due to topography and other geologic
features, which disrupts the layout. Platting is done by the planning department and the
legal issues are dealt with by the hearings examiner. Open space maps and information are
in the appendices of the parks plans. Winn presented a street circulation plan using North
Beach as a model with an overlay analysis, removing the areas that can't be developed.
Plan is working on a broken grid. What to do about redundant streets? City would not
prioritize maintenance of redundant streets, which could be used in multiple ways - trails,
driveway, open space, etc. Jeff noted that this idea will need to be integrated with the
active transportation plan, with a more intentional approach. Streets noted in purple on
the map would likely receive priority maintenance, with the blue dashed streets also
planned to be maintained. Pam noted that we need to keep emphasizing to the public that
this is a long-range plan - a hundred -year plan.
B. Native plant garden at the library (Steven Yanoff: 15') (Steven's summary documents start
on page 46 and images start on page 54.) For years, residents have expressed interest in
volunteering to maintain and improve small public spaces, like raingardens and plantings
around public buildings. Steven, a retired conservation biologist, has been working with the
plantings at the library and provided an overview of the effort he has made to give us an
idea about encouraging such efforts. The library grounds are maintained by volunteers and
city staff. Steven advocated for the planting of native species; even small planted spaces
help with habitat. This is an opportunity to raise public awareness about adopting small
public parcels. Steve King noted that recent Discovery and Tyler street plantings
emphasized native species.
C. Update from Tree Subcommittee (Richard, Russell, Debbie, staff: 10') Committee finished
the street/ROW list and are now planning to address 'POS' and understory lists. Although
residents are not supposed to plant in parks, many of the same species are appropriate for
private open spaces like yards and gardens. Understory list should include both permanent
and temporary understory species with clear disclaimers that lists are not inclusive but are
recommendations. Most importantly, committee will provide a so-called 'dirty dozen' list of
species which should not be planted here.
D. PROS Plan update - Salish Coast Elementary open house reminder page 62 of packet
Vill. Next Regularly Scheduled Meeting: 22 April 2025
IX. Public Comment: Mary McCurdy asked Steve about the road plan; could any ROWS be opened for
housing? Steve noted that vacation releases the ROW property to the adjacent property owner,
so the City would have to be the adjacent owner to be able to build in an ROW.
X. Adjourn: 6:03pm
Future agenda items:
• Master plan for future westside park
• Tree subcommittee update — final drafts of POS trees, understory lists
• PROS Plan update