Chapter 17.128
PARKS, RECREATION, AND OPEN SPACES
Sections:
17.128.030 Park size and design standards.
17.128.040 Trails and open space.
17.128.060 Facility maintenance and liability.
17.128.070 Impact fee credits.
17.128.010 Purpose.
A. To promote Battle Ground’s Community Vision, which encourages the city to continue to provide for parks and open space, and trail networks.
B. To implement the 2022 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan (“parks plan”), as amended, said plan which is incorporated by reference.
C. To manage the challenges of growth to ensure the long-term sustainability and high quality of life for the citizens of Battle Ground, by providing for parks, trails, and open space.
D. To assure new development provides for their fair share of trails, an equitable distribution of parks, and conservation of open space. (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)
17.128.020 Applicability.
New development is required to provide for their fair share of parks, trails, and open space, in accordance with the parks plan. This chapter is applicable to the following developments:
A. All new developments, which includes residential, commercial, industrial, and mixed use, shall dedicate and construct trails identified on the trail plan (Map 8: Existing and Conceptual Recreational Trail Corridors).
B. New residential subdivision development (ten or more lots). If a development is proposed outside of a pocket park travelshed (see Map 2 of the parks plan) but within the travelshed of a neighborhood park (see Map 3 of the parks plan), a pocket park is required. If a development is proposed outside of neighborhood travelshed, the developer shall provide for a neighborhood park, or portion thereof based on park acreage set-aside requirements.
C. Multifamily developments, including those in the city’s commercial districts, are exempt from this chapter, except they must set aside a minimum of fifteen percent of the gross site area for recreation use. Recreation use must be designed to serve as a centralized recreational facility, not merely leftover space along the edges of required yards and standard landscaping. This area may include open space areas, play structures, sport courts, plazas, indoor or outdoor recreational facilities, trails and paths, community gardens or other similar facilities. Open space/recreation areas do not include the following: parking lots, driveways, private/public street rights-of-way, required storage areas. (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)
17.128.030 Park size and design standards.
A. For developments required to provide a park per BGMC 17.128.020:
1. Size. Parks set-asides shall be provided at 435.6 square feet per housing unit (or one acre of park per one hundred units). Accessory dwelling units do not need to be counted.
2. Design. Parks provided pursuant to this section shall meet the following minimum standards:
a. Park design and layout shall meet current Battle Ground standard requirements and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations.
b. Parks shall be designed by a landscape architect licensed in the state of Washington.
c. It is highly desirable that parks required pursuant to this chapter be one contiguous space to minimize maintenance. However, a required park need not be a single contiguous area if the applicant demonstrates a series of smaller parks better meets the needs of the users or is not practical based on environmental reasons.
d. Parks provided under these provisions shall not be located on streets of a minor collector or higher classification as defined in the transportation plan.
e. All parks shall be fronted by a public road for at least forty percent of their perimeter. If it is not feasible or practical to meet this standard because of location and/or physical site constraints, a pedestrian pathway or other design element approved by the review authority to assure free and open public accessibility shall be established through a dedication or perpetual easement with a minimum width of twenty feet. This pedestrian pathway connection shall be made from the public street to the park.
f. All parks shall have at least seventy-five percent of their area improved with usable active play areas and open space.
g. The provided park facilities and amenities should consider the range of ages of the target residents for the development. While the choice of park facilities and amenities is determined by the developer, each pocket park shall, at a minimum, contain the following amenities:
i. A paved pedestrian circulation path or sidewalk;
ii. Two sitting benches, a minimum of four feet long each, for each one-quarter acre of park area;
iii. Bike rack(s) to accommodate a minimum of six bicycles for each 0.25 acre of park area or part thereof;
iv. One play structure intended primarily for use by children ages two to twelve;
v. One picnic table for each one-quarter acre of park area or part thereof;
vi. A developer may request a variance to these requirements if it can be shown that the proposed facilities and amenities meet the intent of this chapter and the parks plan.
h. Play areas shall be covered with live vegetation which shall be irrigated by a permanent, below-ground, automatic irrigation system.
i. A low fence or impassible vegetative buffer shall be used for the screening of park borders where they abut a residential area. This screening should be a minimum of three and one-half feet in height and shall not exceed six feet in height. Neither the fence nor hedge shall be fully sight-obscuring.
j. Each park shall meet the following safety requirements:
i. The parks shall be designed to facilitate crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) guidelines.
ii. A minimum of one side of the park shall abut a public road, unless otherwise approved by the review authority.
iii. Street lighting or park lighting as necessary shall be used to illuminate the park to be visible at night from a public street.
k. Other design features in addition to or in lieu of the standards included in this section may be acceptable if determined by the review authority to meet the intent of this section and the parks plan. Deviations from the standards shall follow these requirements:
i. A deviation from the park design standards in this section will require the submittal of a variance request.
ii. In a case where a neighborhood park is required, additional design features and facilities may be required to meet the intent of the parks plan.
iii. Neighborhood parks shall be designed, if possible, to allow for acreage to be added in the future. The goal is to design neighborhood parks between three to five acres as referenced in the parks plan. (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)
17.128.040 Trails and open space.
A. All new developments, which includes residential, commercial, industrial, and mixed use, shall provide for trails identified on the trail plan (Map 8: Existing and Conceptual Recreational Trail Corridors).
B. New development should continue existing trails adjacent to the land proposed for development. Trail connections should meet the standards listed in BGMC 12.116.070 and provide connections to passive open spaces and park. If no trails are adjacent, but development is located within a conceptual trail corridor as identified in Map 8 of the parks plan, the site shall add trails for future development to connect to, which ultimately will connect to the regional trails identified in Map 8. The total area allocated to new trails shall not be used to meet the parks area requirement unless it is incorporated into a linear park. Such trails shall be overlain with a perpetual public access easement. Refer to BGMC 12.116.070 for design and construction standards.
C. Passive open spaces, such as wetlands, stream corridors or other unbuildable lands, shall be combined with active open spaces, either contiguously or via pedestrian facilities, to create interconnectivity between neighborhoods and/or other park and pedestrian facilities. Where possible and feasible, these areas shall be improved with an integrated network of trails within the buffer areas. Where feasible these trails will be connected to existing or planned Battle Ground regional trail systems consistent with the provisions of the parks plan or to the trail system outlined in subsection B of this section. Such unbuildable areas shall either be dedicated to the city or encumbered with public easements for pedestrian facilities.
D. Developers are encouraged to incorporate into the open spaces other required facilities such as stormwater treatment and detention ponds to provide more open space. However, such areas shall not be used to meet the active park area requirements of 17.128.030(A). (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)
17.128.050 Facility plan.
A. A complete preliminary land use application shall include a preliminary park site plan and landscape plan. The preliminary site plan shall depict the location and number of play structures, bike parking structures, surface materials, how ADA requirements are being met, furnishings, and pedestrian circulation routes. The preliminary landscape plan shall depict the location of plant materials, species, and size at time of planting.
B. The final site plan and final landscape plan shall provide all information contained in the preliminary plans with additional construction information including but not limited to: irrigation plan, construction details, grading, CC&Rs, utility services, and parking. The land use application for final approval shall provide a mechanism for adequate funding and the continual care and maintenance of the parks and trails as approved by the review authority. The city shall not approve the final plat or final site plan of a land use application in which parks and trails are required unless the review authority has reviewed and approved the final plans and specifications for the park. (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)
17.128.060 Facility maintenance and liability.
A. Applicant Maintenance. The applicant retains maintenance and liability responsibilities unless these responsibilities are accepted by the city, as indicated on the face of the final plat. Where the applicant retains maintenance and liability responsibilities, the facilities must be maintained at a level at least equal to comparable facilities maintained by the city. Easements, covenants, and/or dedication shall occur prior to or concurrent with final site plan or plat approval.
B. City Maintenance. The city reserves the right to, but is not obligated to, assume maintenance and liability of park and trail facilities developed pursuant to this chapter.
1. The city may accept maintenance and liability for park and trail facilities if the public works director finds all of the following:
a. The applicant requests that the city assume the responsibilities.
b. The facility lies within land dedicated or granted to the city.
c. The facility has been constructed to city standards.
d. The facility meets a need identified in the parks plan.
e. The city has adequate resources for maintenance of the facility.
2. If the city accepts maintenance and liability for the park and trail facilities, the applicant shall provide maintenance of provided parks and trails for a period of two years after the dedication of the park or trails to the city. The applicant shall submit a park landscape maintenance agreement and a two-year park maintenance bond, in a form acceptable by the public works director. (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)
17.128.070 Impact fee credits.
Park impact fees credits may be authorized pursuant to Chapter 3.60 BGMC.
A. Park or trail facilities identified in the capital facilities project list of the parks plan are eligible for park impact fee credits, subject to the proportion built and the creditable percentage listed.
B. Park facilities not listed in subsection A of this section are not eligible for park impact fee credits. (Ord. 23-05 § 1, 2023)