City councilors are following a staff recommendation not to pursue a Metropolitan Park District to create a new taxing district to help build up and repair city parks.

Mayor Brandon Janisse made the request at an April meeting for staff to make a pros and cons list of a parks district after councilors chose a design for Centennial Park at the corner of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street.

Sequim public works director Paul Bucich told councilors on Aug. 13 that it would be a significant lift without “a great certainty of success if we move forward with it.”

“This may be something we revisit in the future, but as it stands right now this does not seem to be advantageous with any high degree of success for the city of Sequim,” he said in a video presentation for the meeting.

Councilors did not take a formal vote on the issue.

Bucich shared the pros and cons of a a Metropolitan Park District (MPD) in person and in the video, saying it could create guaranteed funding for parks and recreation facilities and activities, create new jobs and reduce the city’s reliance on the general fund for parks.

However, if the district went outside of the city, it would be governed by an independent board, and the city would not have control of operational and financial decisions in its parks.

The city would also likely relinquish ownership of its parks and recreation to the district, he said.

This would included spaces like Carrie Blake Community Park, and events such as the Sunshine Festival.

City manager Matt Huish said of city staff’s internal conversations, they felt the parks are the heart of the city.

“To give that up would need to be a very thoughtful thing,” he said. “It didn’t feel right at all.”

If an MPD extended beyond city limits there’d also need to be interlocal agreements with Clallam County and Clallam County Park & Recreation District No. 1 (Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center), and then a vote among residents requiring a simple majority (50% plus one) to pass.

Bucich said it’d also require the city to hire a marketing consultant to outreach to the community for support, again without a certainty of success.

“It’s questionable if county residents will see the value of additional taxation to improve facilities that primarily appear to be limited within the city of Sequim boundaries,” he said.

“With the demographics in the community and surrounding communities, it’s going be challenging to convince them to impose a new tax on themselves (and) to take care of what some people already feel is being taken care of within the city of Sequim.”

Bucich said councilors could consider MPD boundaries within city limits, the Sequim School District boundaries, from Miller Peninsula to East Port Angeles, or some other configuration.

Councilors in 2015 considered an MPD too, but decided against it.

Bucich said he agrees with their conclusion as it “doesn’t make a lot of sense at this time.”

“I don’t know when it will, but not at this time,” he said.

Outcome

Janisse said the recommendation was not the outcome he would have liked, but “losing control (of parks) is something I would not like.”

He said he wanted to look at funding alternatives away from being so grant dependent for park development, especially with many park projects coming online and needing funding.

The city most recently finalized a $2.45 million purchase of 16.52 acres of farmland in the spring for a future park on the 800 block of West Hendrickson Road.

“To me and staff, it’s not looking like a viable way to look at things, at least at this time,” Janisse said.

Huish said the city is done purchasing park space as it has “the right square footage for our residents and our surrounding communities.”

“Now everything will go into development,” he said. “We’re really excited about ramping up and accelerating the development of what we have.”