Proposed soccer fields in Plain
Here is information submitted by Don Bottoms about the proposal to build
soccer fields behind the school in Plain…….
About 2 months ago an article appeared in the Echo that described an offer made by a private party to buy or lease an unused portion of the Beaver Valley School property for use as soccer fields. This offer has caused the Cascade School District Board to seriously look into whether or not to sell this possibly “surplus” 10 acres of land.
As the property owners in the immediate vicinity of the school became aware of this possibility, concerns were voiced over whether this use of public land was appropriate. There were worries about the effect of possibly large numbers of people coming into an otherwise, quiet, rural neighborhood. Nobody objected to play fields for the local kids, but this proposed project appears to be something very different than a simple park and play area. It would destroy the nature of the neighborhood, and possibly overwhelm the capacity of the local community to absorb the significant influx of adults and kids that this operation could potentially attract.
On Monday, March 24th, an informational meeting was held at Beaver Valley School hosted by District School Superintendant, Rob Clark.
These are my impressions of that meeting, and of course, I am a bit biased, since I am building a new home on Hill street, just across from the school.
This was not a formal hearing with the whole School Board present, but there was one Board member (Kerry Sorensen 509 548 7194) there in addition to Rob Clark, and the school faculty. There were about 25 folks from the area, with most being from the immediate neighborhood.
After a few remarks by Rob Clark, there was a brief PowerPoint presentation by Eugene Kapisan, the man who had proposed the soccer fields. He lives in Edmonds, but has a vacation home locally on River Road. Rob Whitten, the proprietor of Plain Hardware, has advocated for athletic fields for kids in Plain for several years and was instrumental in getting Mr. Kapisan involved in this effort. They originally made this proposal to the Board about a year ago, but it got very little press and there was no request for public comment at that time.
The key points made by Mr. Kapisan were:
· There would be 3 soccer fields (no other type of field), covering virtually all of the 10 acres, including restrooms and a gazebo picnic area. The 3 field concept would be optimal to generate the needed revenue to support operations of the fields.
· The timetable for getting started is this summer
· These fields would be for use by both local and non-local youth soccer teams for regular games and practices PLUS weekend and week-long soccer camps and tournaments with some kids being bussed in from west of the mountains. Where they and their coaches, parents, etc. would be housed - is to be determined.
· There would “maybe” be parking on Hill Street if the County allowed widening of the street on the side where the fields are located to accommodate parallel parking for maybe 75 cars. Otherwise, parking would be in the school lot (which can hold only about 30 cars).
· Typically, there would be about 14 players for each team, plus coaches and spectators amounting to about 50 people per play field, or 150 folks for 3 simultaneous games. Kapisan said there could be up to 6 rounds of games on any weekend day, resulting in over 500 people coming and going on an otherwise, quiet, dead-end street – every weekend from May to October!
· To defray the operating cost of the fields, the teams using the fields would pay a fee for use, yet the operation would be “non-profit”. A “fairly large number” of teams would be needed.
· Locals could use the area when there were no games being played – he mentioned times like 7am… and December, when it would be available for snow-mobiles – another wonderful thing for the neighbors!
· The fields would be used fairly constantly from about April thru October during daylight hours. No night lighting is planned, but it is not strictly ruled out at this point, either.
Mr. Kapisan seems to be willing to spend upwards of $1mil to put these fields in. He said he just likes to help kids.
The nearby neighbors were very vocal about not wanting anything like this in the neighborhood. Their concerns ranged from noise, congestion and security to personal liability issues, especially from those folks who have homes along the river. There were also concerns about impact on property values, particularly from folks whose homes are immediately next to the proposed fields.
However, there were a significant number of other area residents who were strongly in favor of having a “park” for the local kids to play in. Many of the folks did not seem to understand or possibly care that their kids would not have very much access to these fields unless they were members of an organized soccer league.
A large majority of people on both sides of the issue were pretty much against the idea of the School District selling the land outright. They wanted the option of later reclaiming it for future expansion, and they did not like the idea that it could fall into private hands outside of the control of the community.
It is unclear if the District can legally lease the land. However, if this happened, it could allow the project to start ASAP with very little outside review. This means no bidding process for the land and no need to sub-plat the property, with the attendant Chelan County land use reviews. That would result in the property being quickly developed for this single use purpose, with Kapisan having the first right of refusal should the District want to sell. It may leave the District with “liability issues” as a landlord that could force them to eventually sell the already developed property to Kapisan anyway. Clark has repeatedly stated that he does not believe that the District should be a landlord.
Clark said he would report the results of this session at this month’s Board meeting, and the board will schedule further discussions “later this spring”. So, I’m not clear if this is still going to be on the agenda of the next, April 28th, meeting, as currently published. That meeting will also be at Beaver Valley School.
Although this is not an issue with immediate impact on folks at Lake Wenatchee, the long-term effects of this type of “sports business” on the overall area could be significant. It will bring in many more people who would otherwise not come here, and whose primary interests are not focused on the natural recreational possibilities of a mountain environment. Among those will inevitably be people who will notice the large number of vacation home that are unoccupied during weekdays…
If you wish to contact Rob Clark or the School Board, you can find info at:
http://www.cascade.wednet.edu/
Don Bottoms