Bird watchers concerned about $1.9 million plan to make a popular park more accessible
A $1.9 million plan to develop the Tacoma DeMolay Sandspit Park has some residents, including local bird watchers, concerned about how the changes could affect the preserve.
Peninsula Metropolitan Parks’ plans include new paved paths and improving existing trails, a new pavilion with restrooms, and upgraded space for kayakers to sleep overnight.
The park is on Fox Island at 53 Bella Bella Dr. The park joined PenMet’s collection in 2010.
PenMet Executive Director Ally Bujacich told the Gateway via email that the new features will “make the park more accessible.”
She also said the park’s neighbors have been asking for a better parking solution.
“We know this is an area of concern for those living and driving on Bella Bella Drive,” she said via email. “The parking area will be more clearly defined, allowing more parking on site instead of street parking.”
Some residents want PenMet to slow the project plans down and reconsider other options. They are concerned the development of the park will “destroy” the Sandspit’s Preserve, Craig McLaughlin told the Gateway.
McLaughlin is the Fox Island Community and Recreation Association (FICRA) representative on a PenMet advisory group made up of representatives from local organizations who are interested in the projects at the park and have offered input along the way.
“Let mother nature do her thing,” McLaughlin said.
Other organizations in the advisory group include Harbor WildWatch, the Pierce Conservation District, Girl Scout Troop 40815, Boy Scout Troop 27, the Peninsula School District, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the Washington Water Trails Association, and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
PenMet’s master plan for the Tacoma DeMolay Sandspit
The project will be led and funded by PenMet, who plans to add picnic areas, upgraded pathways that are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, a paved parking lot, a turn-around drop off area, and more.
Funding for the project will come from PenMet’s capital project fund. The Board of Commissioners approved $1.9 million for the project in 2023.
The park district is developing a master plan for the project. At recent board meetings and open houses, the park district presented four possible project designs.
At the Feb. 20 study session meeting, Derrick Eberle, who is the design team lead for the project, showed the public a fifth and final design, which incorporated feedback from the advisory group and the public.
It’s the design PenMet will move forward with.
The design is divided into three different areas of the site: the upper, mid and lower levels of the property.
Upgrades to the upper level of the property include paving the existing upper parking lot and upgrading paths to be ADA compliant to get to the rest of the property, including near the beach.
Upgrades to the mid level of the property include a new turn-around drop off area for vehicles at the entrance to the park.
The proposed drop off area sits on Pierce County property and that work will need to be approved by Pierce County.
The plan also includes a new pavilion with restrooms. The main lawn area already has an existing building structure on the property but visitors are not allowed to use it because it’s not up to code.
The new building structure would be closer to the water side of the main lawn. There would also be new picnic spaces on the upper main lawn.
The property has septic problems, and right now portable restrooms are outside the building for visitors to use.
When asked about the septic issues, Bujacich told the Gateway via email that the current septic system needs to be replaced.
“PenMet Parks is working with the permitting authorities on what type of septic system the replacement will be,” she said in her email. “The existing systems will be replaced as part of the initial phase of development.”
Upgrades to the lower level of the property include a sand dollar-shaped gathering area with picnic space closer to the beach, and an additional lawn area smaller than the main one.
The kayakers’ campsite area behind the upper parking lot will also get an upgrade. Bujacich said via email that the upgrade includes “minimal enhancements” based on feedback from the advisory group.
Bujacich also said in her email that the area will have two campsites that can host up to five people total and are required to be reserved in advance.
DeMolay is one of four PenMet parks that are part of the Washington Water Trails system. They each offer campgrounds that are only reachable by water, Bujacich said in her email.
With the Cascadia Marine Trailhead in mind, the advisory group wanted the campsite area to be away from the rest of the park.
The Cascadia Marine Trailhead is “a water trail on Puget Sound,” and is “suitable for day or multi-day trips,” according to the Washington Water Trails Association website.
The campsite is along the trail.
The final design for the whole project will go before the PenMet board of commissioners for final approval sometime before the end of fall 2024, according to their website.
PenMet would like to start construction to develop the park in the spring of 2025, with hopes to wrap up work in the fall of 2025, the project website said.
Some Fox Island residents are concerned
McLaughlin would like PenMet to wait until an upcoming shoreline restoration project at the park is complete, then reconsider if developing the park is the right choice, he told the Gateway.
“At a minimum, why don’t they wait until their (Pierce Conservation District) job is done?” he said. “They might like how the park looks after the shoreline restoration is done.”
When asked why PenMet plans to develop this park, Bujacich said in her email, because it will “advance our community’s priorities.”
Based on a 2023 survey PenMet conducted for its 2023 Parks Recreation and Open Space Plan, water access was one of the top amenities residents wanted.
McLaughlin thinks this park is too small for the type of development work PenMet is planning, and that the plans seem premature.
His first concern is that if Pierce County doesn’t approve the drop off zone it could leave PenMet having to change plans for that feature.
His second concern is about the rights of the property’s previous owner, DeMolay International, which is an organization that serves teens.
DeMolay reserved rights in the purchase agreement when they sold to PenMet, McLaughlin told the Gateway.
McLaughlin provided a copy of the purchase agreement to the Gateway. Some of the rights include DeMolay being able to rent the property for desired weekends. They agreed on allowing that to happen eight weekends out of each year, the document said.
The document states that if DeMolay does not use the property for “a period of five consecutive years, or the Tacoma DeMolay Chapter advises that it does not intend to use the Property, this right of use shall terminate.”
DeMolay officials also said in the documents that if funds become available “PenMet Parks agrees to improve or replace the ‘Blockhouse’ also known historically to the Tacoma DeMolay Chapter as ‘Callaghan’s Castle’ and to provide an indoor area for showers, changing, sleeping, cooking, and meeting space all as allowed by Federal, State, and/or local law and land use provisions.”
McLaughlin said DeMolay has not participated in any advisory meetings, although they were invited. The Gateway reached out to DeMolay for comment and did not receive a response.
When asked if there are any rights reserved by the DeMolay organization that could prohibit this project in any way, or if there are certain aspects of the project that PenMet would need to get consent for from DeMolay before doing, Bujacich said via email no, and that DeMolay was invited to all the advisory meetings.
McLaughlin’s third concern is whether or not this project fits the criteria of the $1.2 million in grant money that the state provided at the time PenMet purchased the property.
“The receipt and use of those funds came with restrictions,” McLaughlin said.
When asked if there are aspects of the project that require consent from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, which provided the grant, Bujacich said in her email that they will adhere to all the grant regulations.
Local bird survey group worries project could disrupt wildlife
When asked if PenMet plans to complete any type of environmental study, Bujacich said via email: “Yes, the permitting process involves extensive review due to the sensitive environment involved.”
Phillip Craven is a Fox Island resident who visits the park every month as a trained volunteer birdwatcher with Puget Sound Sea Bird Survey.
There are three birdwatchers from the group designated to survey Fox Island, Craven being one of them. The three of them are part of a larger group of surveyors “up the Pacific coast and down the Salish Sea to Olympia,” he said.
The survey group, while at DeMolay, conducts 15 to 30 minute sessions where they count how many birds touch the water within a certain radius.
They see many diving birds while surveying DeMolay. Some include buffleheads, loons and cormorants, Craven said.
Craven has a theory that the birds like DeMolay because “the way the current runs north, almost all the time, makes the deep water and there’s food there for them,” he said.
Craven and his fellow surveyors see eagles fly over the park nearly every visit, he said.
He added that it’s likely there are eagle nests “in or very near the preserve.”
“We’ve noticed when we’re just quietly counting birds, that if there’s a little family that comes down to watch, the birds start moving away,” Craven said. “They will come back if that’s all that happened.”
Craven added it’s not that he doesn’t want people in the park, but he worries that more development of the park may impact wildlife in the area.
“I can easily imagine that if people were here more of the time and there is more activities that they (the birds) will stay away and the uniqueness (of the Sandspit Preserve) will be lost.”
He’s advocating for the Sandspit Preserve to remain as it is.
“Feelings are very high among islanders and off-islanders visiting with whom I’ve spoken that the preserve be left alone,” he said. “Families find this is an excellent way to introduce their young kids to nature. Also, many solo visitors find the solitude satisfying.”
Craven hopes PenMet will consider what Fox Island residents and visitors have to say, instead of “pushing a plan forward” and “pleasing the developers, engineers, builders,” he said.
How many trees will need to come down?
The property is a heavily wooded area.
When asked if they’ve determined how many trees need to come down for the project, Bujacich said in her email they’ve identified 26 potential trees to remove.
“PenMet Parks will prioritize trees and native vegetation to minimize the number of trees removed,” she wrote. “Additional native planting will be performed, resulting in a net positive number of trees.
PenMet, its partners and their advisory group are talking about ways “to preserve, and enhance the ecosystem and natural features of the park,” Bujacich said in her email.
Shoreline restoration planned for the park
A shoreline restoration project by the Pierce Conservation District (PCD) will remove the concrete sea wall that has broken and split in multiple areas along the Sandspit Preserve.
“Removal of this failing shoreline armor would reconnect marine riparian vegetation and restore sediment processes that support the sandspit,” according to the PCD website. “This restoration would enhance habitat for critical species including forage fish, Puget Sound Chinook, and eelgrass beds, while improving beach access for recreation.”
PCD is “working closely with PenMet Parks staff to identify funding,” according to the project website.
Mary Krauszer, Shorelines Program Manager for PCD, told the Gateway that PCD worked with PenMet and applied for grants that funded all the planning, final design, and permitting for the project.
She said all of that cost about $280,000.
Funding for the construction has not been identified yet, she said. PCD and PenMet are applying for grants for the construction costs right now. Krauszer said they estimate the construction phase will cost $820,000.
The concrete wall has blocked off the water from the hillside. The idea is to return that area of the preserve to its natural state.
“The hillside is designed to feed the beach, bring down soil, sand and other stuff off the hill down to the beach,” McLaughlin told the Gateway.
The concrete wall “has stopped things from getting to the beach and now you’ll see that there’s a difference in elevation between the slope and the beach because those natural elements never made it to the beach,” McLaughlin said.
Krauszer said that the final design should be finished by December.
When asked when construction for the shoreline restoration project would start, Krauszer said “that is permit and funding dependent.”
She added that “If everything went absolutely perfectly and according to plan, it could happen potentially in the fall of 2025 or the fall of 2026.”
