What
Bellevue is starting to update their Parks and Open Space System plan. This plan will set the Parks Department long-term objectives for acquisition, preservation or development of parks, community facilities, trails and open space in Bellevue. To get significantly more outdoor courts, we need it to be included in this plan.
To make your voice heard, you have two main options: Make your case in person during a public hearing on September 14, or write an email that will be entered in the same meeting’s record.
How
In person
The Bellevue Parks & Community Services Board will hold a public hearing during its meeting at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. To be added to the speaker list at the public hearing, please sign-up by 3:00 p.m. on September 14, 2021. Click the following link to sign-up: https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/city-clerks-office/public-meetings-speaker-registration/parks-community. If you choose this option, practice your speech and make sure you can be done in three minutes or less.
By Email
You may also email parkboard@bellevuewa.gov with the subject line “Written Communications – September 14 Public Hearing.”
By Snail Mail
Send your letter to:
Bellevue Parks & Community Services
Attn: Ryan Walker
P.O. Box 90012
Bellevue, WA 98009-9012
What Should We Ask?
The Parks and Open Space System Plan is a 20-year plan. If pickleball keeps growing at its present rate, there will be over 10 times as many pickleball players in 20 years. Tell the Parks Department what it needs to do to prepare for this.
Make it personal. If pickleball has changed your life in any significant way, please mention it.
Will This Be Enough?
It will be necessary to show that there is a strong demand for more pickleball courts at this Parks Board hearing. We will need to keep showing the same enthusiasm throughout the entire development process of the new Parks and Open Space System Plan.
More Information
Here is the public hearing announcement, with many more details.
Public hearing to update Parks and Open Space System Plan
If you live, work, or play in Bellevue then we would like to hear from you. Bellevue Parks and Community Services is updating the city’s Parks and Open Space System Plan, which is the primary tool used to guide the long-term growth and development of Bellevue’s parks, trails, and open space system. Your feedback is critical to creating a successful plan and helps us understand needs and interests of the community.
You are invited to attend the next meeting of the Bellevue Parks & Community Services Board. The Board will hold a public hearing during its meeting at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. The public hearing will be held virtually via Zoom webinar. Connection information is published on the meeting agenda, available here.
The hearing is an opportunity for City of Bellevue residents and other stakeholders to provide input regarding long-term objectives for acquisition, preservation or development of parks, community facilities, trails and open space in Bellevue. Your feedback will inform a set of 20-year capital project recommendations, which are reviewed and updated approximately every six years through this plan.
Comments can be provided in-person at the public hearing or submitted in writing before the public hearing. To be added to the speaker list at the public hearing, please sign-up by 3:00 p.m. on September 14, 2021. Click the following link to sign-up: https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/city-clerks-office/public-meetings-speaker-registration/parks-community. You may also email parkboard@bellevuewa.gov with the subject line “Written Communications – September 14 Public Hearing.” or by mail to Bellevue Parks & Community Services, Attn: Ryan Walker, P.O. Box 90012, Bellevue, WA 98009-9012. All written comments received prior to 3 p.m. on September 14, 2021 will be read or summarized into the record at the meeting. For alternate formats, interpreters (voice or sign language), or reasonable accommodation requests, please phone 425-452-4162 (voice) or email parkboard@bellevuewa.gov at least 48 hours in advance.
Information on the Parks and Open Space System Plan can be found at the following website: www.bellevuewa.gov/park-plan.htm. Additional opportunities to engage with this planning effort will be posted at this website as available, including a forthcoming survey in which Bellevue park users are invited to answer questions about how they use parks and what types of parks they would like to see in the future.