One step forward.

The Clallam County Parks, Fair & Facilities department is planning to move forward with Phase I of its Dungeness Recreation Area Preferred Master plan that allows for improvements general maintenance of the existing facilities of the area, but is holding off on phases II and III.

At the Clallam County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting on May 1, the board approved to recommend to County Commissioners at a future meeting to proceed with phase I of the plan, but agreed to hold off on recommending phases II and III to commissioners.

County parks department officials said they receiving many comments and concerns before and after the May 1 meeting regarding feeder bluff erosion and the possibility of a new camp loop being added to the park for recreational vehicles (RVs).

“The board modified the recommendation last board meeting,” Parks executive director Joel Winborn said. “We have more answers to get on phases II and III, and as of right now we don’t have definite answers.”

Phase II of the plan concentrates on a proposed road alignment and relocation away from the bluffs in the Rec Area, improves Voice of America Road and access to the park, adds a bike lane/trail, allows for vegetation management and relocation of the Manager’s residence.

Phase III of the plan includes a proposed new camp loop C for RVs in an area that is inhabited by conifer forest.

“Nobody knows when/if we will lose more of the bluff, but it’s safe to assume we will at some point,” Winborn said in an email.

“For that reason alone, we must plan for the future and look at other areas where camping might occur in the coming years. Currently, the new camp loop C is proposed as the best location.”

Before the May 1 meeting, this part of the plan tentatively allowed for about 40 RV sites, but Winborn said at the May 1 meeting the Parks department has cut that number in half to allow for about 20 RV sites.

“In the end, the impact to the treed area would be far less than originally shown, and in time would grow in and look virtually identical to the other two existing camp loops ‘A’ and ‘B,’” he said in an email.

On April 30, Clallam County Commissioners gave the OK to the Board to submit a grant application to the State RCO to cover some of the costs of the improvements in Phase I, which is estimated at $1,017,400-1,276,700.

Winborn said the grant covers $500,000 for improvements and the Parks department would cover the rest with a capital project fund from real estate excise tax dollars. The deadline for the grant application was May 1, and will only cover costs for phase I improvements.

“Approval of the grant application submittal by Commissioners does not bind the County to anything,” Winborn said in an email.

“It basically establishes our interest and intent, with the deadline for the application submittal being Tuesday, May 1, 2018.”

Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias said in an email that commissioners had no objection to submitting the RCO grant application.

“We addressed it briefly at an April 30 work session but no formal action was required simply to submit the proposal,” he said.

Phase I of the plan will allow for improvements to most of the existing amenities in the Rec Area, such as the entry contact station, the group campground, existing campsites, new and existing trails and the bicycle campground.

This phase also provides for the general maintenance of existing facilities, both day-use and existing camping loops not including utility sites in existing camp loops A or B. The construction is set to occur tentatively from late 2019 through early 2020.

Winborn said he is hoping to bring the board’s recommendation for phase I to County Commissioners and update them on the park’s process at a commissioner work session in the next few weeks.

Public comments

Residents that live near the recreation area again expressed concerns at the May 1 board meeting for adding an additional camping loop for RVs, a lack of information regarding bluff erosion and some said they did not receive emails as to when the next Park’s Board meeting was.

Keri McIntyre, a resident who lives across the street from the recreation area at Blue Ribbon Farms said many residents in her area are not in favor of some of the details of the park’s preferred plan.

“Virtually everyone at Blue Ribbon Farms is against expansion of the park,” McIntyre said.

“A lot of people were upset because they felt like the announcement and advertisement of these meetings were not widespread the way they should have been.”

She said it was difficult for her to find when and where the meeting on May 1 was and if it was open to the public. She also does not think 40 RV spots to 20 spots for camp loop C in the phase III proposals is a reasonable compromise.

“One of the things other people are concerned about is getting a geological survey done of the bluff that should happen before any of these other plans are made,” McIntyre added.

Walter Trial, a resident on Holgerson Road said he concurs with McIntyre’s sentiments.

“There’s a lot of opposition out there to the RV facilities,” Trial said. “A lot of the improvements are called for, but people are not happy about the RV facilities.”

Trial said he does not think the board should approve the Preferred Plan as a whole with phases II and III. “For you guys to tonight vote and say you agree and adopt this Preferred Plan I think is wrong,” he said.

Trial also said no one he knows on Holgerson Road was notified of these meetings.

Winborn said 80 letters of notice were sent to residents living within a 1,000 foot radius of the park, 42 stakeholders were emailed (local/state/federal agencies, groups, etc.) fliers were previously posted to the park, and notices for comments ran in the Peninsula Daily News and the Sequim Gazette. Winborn said that Trial should have received a notification.

“We did everything we could to notify people,” Winborn said.

Winborn said he did sent out emails previous to the May 1 meeting to make sure those who signed up at the March 6 Board meeting were notified of future meetings, but apologized for those whose emails he missed.

After the March 6 Parks Board meeting, comments for the Preferred Plan were extended throughout the end of March online.

Moving forward

Board members said at the May 1 meeting part of the job of the advisory board is to look at the 10-year plan of the park and how it can meet the needs of all Park users and those are some of the reasons why a new Preferred Plan was created.

“That’s the whole thing about a Master Plan,” Winborn said in an interview. “You’re looking down the road and it’s a road map to get to where you need to be in the future.”

Parks department officials said other reasons for the Preferred Plan include: changes in user trends by Baby Boomers who prefer more comfort as they enjoy parks during overnight stays, bluff erosion, utility and service costs that continue to rise, improving safety in the park for all users, an economic and recreational deficit for the loss of campgrounds on the Olympic Peninsula and enhancing the park experience with more trails, restrooms and shelters.

Winborn said the Parks department and Board will continue to revisit phases II and III of the Preferred Plan before it moves forward with those plans or recommends them to commissioners.

Since the May 1 meeting, Winborn said the Parks department has already looked into getting four reports regarding bluff erosion at the Park from entities such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and said it will continue to look into this issue.

“I know some people are concerned about the bluff and it’s a concern for us too,” Winborn said. “No one knows in the end what’s going to happen.”

Winborn also said he will continue to update the park department’s website with information and changes regarding the Preferred Plan as it becomes available and will email those who are on the park department’s email list.

For more information about the Preferred Plan or Park’s department, visit www.clallam.net/Parks/.

Part of the Phase 1 Preferred Master Plan for the Dungeness Recreation Area includes improvements to existing trails and new ones that will be added throughout the Park. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins