Portland State University PDXScholar Master of Urban and Regional Planning Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Workshop Projects Planning 1-1-2010 Willamette Park Assessment and Recommendations Julia Babcock Portland State University Bernadette Le Portland State University Maren Murphy Portland State University Amy Rossa Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/usp_murp Part of the Urban Studies Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Babcock, Julia; Le, Bernadette; Murphy, Maren; and Rossa, Amy, "Willamette Park Assessment and Recommendations" (2010). Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects. 18. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/usp_murp/18 This Report is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. ARKWILLAMETTE P ASSESSMENT & TIONSARECOMMEND CTEJOPRA OFCUSUEROFQQ CTEJOPRLANNINGPP CUSUER ROUPGG LANNING ROUP: INALFFEPORTRR INAL EPORT ULIAJJOCKABCBB ULIAERNADETTEBB OCKABC, B LL ERNADETTEEEARENMM, M URPHYMM AREN &A&A&A URPHY&MY AAOSSRR MY AOSS 9,UNEJJ 2010 UNE 9, 2010 LIENTCCTLANDOR:P: LIENT P SARKPP TLANDORTIONACREE&R SARK& R TIONACREE WILLAMETTE PARK ASSESSMENT & RECOMMENDATIONS Willamette Park Assessment & Recommendations is a project developed by Quercus Planning Group, a team of Portland State UiUnivers ity MtMaster of UbUrban & RiRegional Plann ing Stu den ts. Quercus Planning Group worked as a consultant to Portland Parks & Recreation, and partnering agency Bureau of Environmental Services. Quercus Planning Group http://quercusplanning.wordpress.com Juualia Bab abocock [email protected] Bernadette Le [email protected] Maren Murphy [email protected] Amy Rossa [email protected] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Quercus Planning Group is grateful for all of the support that was given to Technical Advisory Committee members include: make the Willamette Park Assessment & Recommendations project possible. On this page, we offer acknowledgement and gratitude to those • Bryan Aptekar, West Service Zone Coordinator, Portland Parks & who contributed their time and resources to the project. Recreation • Mary Bushman, Environmental Specialist , Bureau of Environmental First of all, we would like to acknowledge and thank Portland Parks & Services Recreation (PP&R) for supporting this project as our client. PP&R • Terri Davis, West Service Zone Manager, Portland Parks & Recreation generously provided a number of resources to aid us in the completion of • Marissa Dorais, Stewardship Coordinator, Portland Parks & Recreation this project including: staff support, work space, public outreach materials, • Astrid Dragoy, City Nature West Zone Manager, Portland Parks & access to printing and meeting space. Special thanks to staff member Recreation Bryan Aptekar who served as the Project Coordinator from PP&R. • Nancyy, Gronowski, Senior Planner, Portland Parks & Recreation • Elizabeth Kennedy-Wong, Public Involvement Specialist, Portland Parks For supporting this project as a partnering agency, we would like to thank & Recreation the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) for their support and guidance • Don McTaggart, Parks Maintenance Supervisor, Portland Parks & throughout this project. Recreation • Dan Moeller, Natural Area West Supervisor, Portland Parks & Recreation A special thanks goes to the Willamette Park Technical Advisory Committee • Emily Roth, Natural Resource Planner, Portland Parks & Recreation (TAC) for the ir generous support and guidance through h numerous hours of • MkWilMark Wilson, R Rtestorati tiElon Ecologi itPtldPk&Rst, Portland Parks & Recreati on document review and meetings. This report would not have been possible without their feedback and guidance. We would also like to acknowledge the many additional PP&R and BES staff that contributed their expertise and technical skills to support our project and guide us through specific tasks. We also wish to thank the following community organizations and businesses for supporting our project: • SWNI Parks Committee • South Portland Neighborhood Association • The Portland French School • SW Neighborhood News • Southwest Portland Businesses Our Planning Workshop advisors, Ellen Bassett and Sumner Sharpe, provided valuable advice, support and mentoring. We thank them for helping us to learn the planning process from beginning to end. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the dedication PP&R Project Coordinator Bryan Aptekar and Quercus and hard work put forth by members of Quercus Planning Group: Julia Planning Group (l-r) Bernadette Le, Maren Murphy, Julia Babcock, Bernadette Le, Maren Murphy and Amy Rossa. Babcock, and Amy Rossa at a Community Meeting. TABLE OF CONTENTS i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 CHAPTER 1: ItIntro duc tion 6 CHAPTER 2: Context 12 CHAPTER 3: CditiConditions & AtAssessment 25 CHAPTER 4: Recommendations 38 CHAPTER 5: NtNext Steps 39 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Willamette Park Assessment & Recommendations was a collaborative FINDINGS project between Quercus Planning Group (QPG), a team of Portland State University Master of Urban & Regional Planning students, and Portland Willamette Park is visited by a wide variety of park users. Organized user Parks & Recreation (PP&R), with the Bureau of Environmental Services groups most frequently engage in active recreation and large social events. (BES) acting as a partnering agency. This report documents the process IdIndepen dent groups and idiidlindividualsalso engage inmanyactiv ities, QPG undertook to explore opportunities and constraints in Willamette Park, including but not limited to: walking, running, cycling, boating, and and provides recommendations to guide the future planning of the park. reading. Weekends attract the most park users, especially on Saturdays when the weather is sunny. Willamette Park is a 26.85 acre regional park located in southwest Portland along the Willamette River acquired by the City of Portland in 1926. In the This project uncovered a range of opportunities and constraints in 1960s, the park was filled with debris from the demolition of various Willamette Park. The park contains some of the only flat land in southwest structures in the area, which allowed for the construction of sports fields, Portland, making it an important resource for both passive (or but also altered the slope and shape of the riverbank. Willamette Park is unprogrammed) and active recreation. The sports fields, picnic shelter, designated as a hybrid park because it has both developed recreational boat launch, and Willamette Greenway Trail are heavily utilized park amenities and significant natural resource components within the park amenities. Inadequate informational signage and facilities for cyclists, boundaries. standing water in the sports fields and along the trail, and safety concerns among the diversity of users at the boat launch were a few constraints Currently, a master plan for Willamette Park does not exist. Thhis project identified during this project. provides an assessment of existing conditions and uses in Willamette Park to help guide future planning of the park. The vision of the project was to Willamette Park is part of a mosaic of parks along the Willamette River and prioritize park improvements that balance the long-term sustainability and provides connectivity for the park system, important fish and wildlife viability of the park with growing user demands. The project began with habitat, and stormwater management benefits. Management strategies of three focus areas to guide analysis and evaluation of the park, which the natural resources and underperforming stormwater facilities may be included: recreational opportunities, natural resources management, and adversely impacting the park and the river. Also, access to the Willamette stewardship and education. River is poor to nonexistent for pedestrians, which limits the user experience and disconnects park users from the larger landscape. From January to June 2010, QPG conducted an analysis of Willamette Park through information gathering, public involvement, client consultation, and As a hybrid park, Willamette Park has a unique set of challenges related to alternatives development and evaluation. The information gathering its operations and management, as it is managed for both recreation and process included: secondary research, client and community stakeholder natural areas. During information gathering, park users and City staff interviews, observations, a park user intercept survey, an ecological identified various potential improvements related to informational signage assessment, and a Stop & Talk in the park. The public was engaged and the management of geese. A growing metropolitan population and throughout the process to gather the values and input of park users on the significant planning projects including the Water Bureau Fulton Pump conditions of Willamette Park and the proposed alternatives and evaluation. Station development and the Lake Oswego to Portland Transit Project also This outreach culminated in two community meeting discussions on the have the potential to impact Willamette Park and the user experience by improvement actions. A technical advisory committee comprised of PP&R increasing popularity