Beaver Lake Park plan takes shape

A picture of what the people of Sammamish want of Beaver Lake Park in the future is beginning to form, following Wednesday night’s public meeting on the Beaver Lake Park Master Plan.

The City of Sammamish is aiming to mould the hopes and concerns of the park’s users into a useable document, which will direct the future development and conservation of the park.

Master Plan Project Manager Anjali Myer said this week that although many comments were made at the two stakeholders meetings on March 23 and 24, those comments did not yet indicate a common theme of what was important to the park’s users.

“There are so many different users of the park, and so it’s been a little bit of everything,” Myer said. “We haven’t seen any clear direction yet.”

Myer said that there had been some concern amongst the public about the possible extension of a sewer line through the park.

At present a sewer line from a nearby neighborhood stops just west of the popular Beaver Lake Lodge. The next segment of the sewer line is proposed to be built through the park, running west to east, in the parking lot near the lodge.

City of Sammamish Parks and Recreation Director Jessi Richardson said this week it would make sense to combine any necessary sewer extension work with the city’s Phase 1 improvement project, which will see some construction in the north-eastern corner of the park in 2010 or 2011.

Funding has already been secured for this project, which it is hoped will improve parking, beach access, and the shoreline area of the lake.

She said that the city was looking at installing the sewer line during the Phase 1 project, as combining the two projects would be more efficient, assuming cooperation with the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District.

The sewer line extension will be needed in the near future to service homes on West Beaver Lake Drive.