Fields aren’t only the county’s responsibility

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, December 25, 2005

Let there be soccer fields.

Snohomish County’s announcement last week that it plans to buy about 39 acres west of Monroe for sports fields is welcome news. In this speedily-growing county, the purchase is neither a be-all, nor the end-all, but a good start.

The fields aren’t a net gain because the turf young players currently play on at a site south of Monroe will be converted to wetlands. But it shows the county is aware of the recreational demands that this area faces and will keep facing as the population continues its upward spiral.

The plan is to build a multipurpose sports complex with as many as 10 soccer fields and, if possible, several baseball/softball fields. The county has the $450,000 to make the purchase, but isn’t sure when it will the build the complex. So hundreds of players belonging to the Sky River Soccer Club will have to find other places to play, such as other county fields, private fields and school fields. It’s an inconvenience, but a bearable one.

Meanwhile, in another good move, the county is making legal dozens of baseball and soccer fields built without permits on farmland throughout the county. The complexes will be subject to two laws county Executive Aaron Reardon expects to forward to the County Council in the new year. One ordinance will follow through with a new state law that allows the county the one-time chance to change the legal designation of the land where ball fields were built from agricultural to recreation. The other sets up a framework for bringing the facilities up to code.

This is a sensible solution and deserves applause. And again, it’s only a start. The future will demand more sensible solutions, such as public-private partnerships, to fund, build and maintain more recreation and sports complexes. The county’s goal of building one community park for every 15,000 people is ambitious and right on target. Our towns and our children deserve nothing less. Community involvement will have to be part of the plan and the solution.

Would that we could click our cleats three times and there would be fields. But there is no Wizard of Turf. So we must rely on our ingenuity and smarts to create more parks and ball fields here in our ever-growing home.