10/16/2009
Advisory group forwards Hazel Dell sports fields plan
Vancouver, WA – The Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission voted Friday to forward a conceptual development plan for a youth sports fields complex to the Board of Clark County Commissioners.
The project would be built on a 20-acre site in Hazel Dell along the north side of Northeast 78th Street, about a quarter mile west of St. Johns Road. The commission recommended trying to shield the neighborhood to the north from traffic and protecting as much of the site’s existing tree canopy as possible, along with having the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continue monitoring groundwater quality.
The commission’s vote came after a review of costs for building sports fields at Hazel Dell and Fairgrounds Community Park. The Hazel Dell site would cost an estimated $7.09 million to construct, compared with $13.49 million for the Fairgrounds site.
Although each proposal would offer a different number of fields and parking spaces, the analysis found that Hazel Dell is a more cost-effective site because:
• Sports fields at Fairgrounds would cost an estimated $2.39 million for wetlands mitigation while the Hazel Dell site has been designed to avoid wetlands.
• The Fairgrounds site would have an estimated $2.68 million in stormwater costs, compared with $382,500 for Hazel Dell. The difference is largely due to soil types and the ability for water to infiltrate into the ground.
• The Hazel Dell site would include a partnership with King’s Way Christian Schools that would provide three additional fields at no cost, as well as overflow parking.
The WSU Experimental Farm, along the south side of Northeast 78th Street, had been mentioned as a possible site for sports fields, but the county’s partnership with WSU is contingent on the farm being used for agricultural purposes.
The Hazel Dell project is designed to serve local youth sports groups and would include one full-size field, with synthetic turf, for baseball, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey, two intermediate baseball fields and two tee-ball fields, along with concession facilities, restrooms, lighting, walkways and road improvements.
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