Athletic fields, a swimming beach, stray dogs and access for pedestrians – those are the four topics that have most concerned Sammamish residents and users of Beaver Lake Park as the city continues it efforts to draft a Master Plan for management of one of the area’s most popular recreational resources.

Parks and Recreation Director Jessi Richardson told The Reporter this week that her department would consider holding an additional public meeting in the next 8-12 weeks, to give the public and city staff another chance to discuss the various options for the park.

Project consultant The Berger Partnership have spent the last few weeks compiling the responses of the 232 people who took the Beaver Lake Master Plan online survey, as well as those contributions gathered at the three meetings held so far.

On Wednesday night at the Beaver Lake Lodge, Berger presented three master plan options, Schemes B, L, and P.

The three options will be marked primarily by their different treatments of:

• the swimming beach issue.

• the location and size of the off-leash area.

• the number of sports fields.

• pedestrian access along Southeast 24th Street and 244th Avenue Southeast.

• the provision of fish dock at The Point.

Option B opts for surface improvements for the existing off-leash area, provides for both a swimming beach and a fishing dock at the lake’s edge, as well as trails along 244th and 24th inside the park boundary. Option B includes the smallest allocation for sports fields, adjacent to an improved plaza, pavilion and rest room area and increased parking along the western edge of the park.

Option L expands the amount of area for sporting fields. Parking beside the fields has been expanded as in option B, but has also been increased at the existing entry point on Beaver Lake Drive. The off-leash area has been contracted and moved to the south-west corner of the park. A sidewalk along 244th and pedestrian access to Southeast 28th Place south of the park are provided, as well as a widened path along 24th. A designated fishing area is set aside at The Point, though there is no dock, and no swimming beach.

Option P further expands the area for sporting fields, at the expense of parking space on the western edge. This option does, however, include a new car parking area in the north-west corner of the park, with a new entry driveway. The off-leash area has been further contracted, and relocated to the northern edge of the park. Concessions to pedestrian access are granted with a sidewalk and trail along 244th, and extension of the existing sidewalk along 24th. On the lake, there will be a fishing dock but no swimming beach.

The Reporter stresses that these descriptions of the three plans are only summaries, and urges interested residents to consult the project website at www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/BeaverLake for more detailed information.

Richardson said that she was not surprised by the large number of comments from the public.

“The response has been about what I anticipated,” she said. “This is a well-used and well-loved park. People have a number of different ideas about what they want the park to become, and what we hope to do is find some middle ground between the range of ideas.”

Richardson said an additional public meeting would allow her department to present some further refined concepts to the public, or promote further discussion on areas of great interest, such as the possible creation of a swimming beach, and whether or not to increase the amount of space given to sports fields.

More than 50 percent of survey respondents said that they would like to see more athletic fields, and only 7 percent said they would like to fewer athletic fields.

A large number of respondents made specific mention of the need for fields for lacrosse.

However one comment made an interesting point as to the wisdom of clearing more natural areas for sports fields.

“The trees make this park aesthetically, protect the lake and keep it cool in summer,” the respondent wrote. “As more and more development happens, we need our park trees all the more. Active recreation should not be expanded at this park like it was at Pine Lake Park and Ebright Creek Park. The character of both of these parks was damaged by the removal of so many trees. The old trees, especially evergreens, should have precedent over active recreation for childern. That demographic is only temporary (they grow up after all) and does not justify the disrespect that is shown by removing trees that are older than they are.”

“There are multiple schools on the Plateau with athletic fields. We do not need to bulldoze strips out of woodland parks for ball,” wrote another.

Although none of the three plans include the removal of the off-leash area completely, the idea is being suggested by some residents.

“Truthfully I would like to see the off leash dog area removed, especially as the entire park has always been considered an off leash dog area and now it just means more people than ever are coming from far away to use the entire park as an off leash dog area,” wrote one respondent.

More than 80 percent of respondents said travelled to the park by car.

The encouragement of pedestrian traffic is a goal not just a goal for Beaver Lake Park but for the city in general.

The amount of comments from the survey enforce the idea that residents are demanding better pedestrian facilities.

More than 20 percent of respondents said they felt unsafe en route, presumably walking, to the park.

“A couple of weeks ago I walked from our home to the park along Southeast 24th pushing my 6 month old grandson in his buggy,” wrote one respondent. “It was quite frightening along the section from 244th to 248th – traffic goes very fast over the hill. Any development of the park needs to include completion of sidewalk along Southeast 24th for safe pedestrian access to the park.”

$125,000 has been allocated in the 2009 budget to complete the Master Plan for Beaver Lake Park. The 2010 budget has $1,750,000 allocated for Phase I improvements, as identified by the Master Plan.