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Clerk 05/12/2016
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AN ORDINANCE relating to King County's open space system and adopting the King County Open Space Plan: Parks, Trails, and Natural Areas 2016 Update as the principal document guiding the future of the county open space system.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. The King County Open Space Plan: Parks, Trails and Natural Areas 2016 Update ("the plan") guides the acquisition, planning, development, stewardship, maintenance and management of King County's complex system of two hundred parks, one hundred seventy-five miles of regional trails, and twenty-eight thousand acres of open space, including such regional gems as the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center and Cougar Mountain Wildland park.
2. The plan updates the inventory of open space.
3. The plan update clarifies that regional trails provide recreational opportunities as well as non-motorized transportation options and that future development will focus on filling gaps in the system, providing connections to regional destinations, and providing improved access.
4. The plan clarifies that King County will develop and implement forest stewardship plans for forests on all types of park lands, not just working forest lands.
5. The plan is consistent with countywide planning policies, including the King County Comprehensive Plan and the Strategic Climate Action Plan.
6. The plan is consistent with the Phase II Parks Business Plan and parks omnibus ordinance, Ordinance 14509, enacted November 21, 2002.
7. The update aligns the plan with Ordinance 17568, authorizing a property tax levy for the funding of the parks system.
8. The plan renews eligibility for Washington state Recreation and Conservation Office grant funding.
9. Adoption of the plan will allow King County to apply for state and federal grants for open space acquisition, development and restoration, thereby leveraging county funds.
10. The environmental impacts of the plan were considered in an environmental checklist and a determination of nonsignificance was issued on December 1, 2015.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
The King County Open Space Plan: Parks, Trails and Natural Areas 2016
Update, Attachment A to this ordinance, is adopted as the implementation plan guiding the future of the county open space system.