The mission to eventually redevelop the Burke Gilman Trail has been laying low the past few months, but the Lake Forest Park City Council’s latest assignment is to define the word pervious.
And yes, they can consult a dictionary.
The challenge to define this word— which is included in Ordinance 907— is essentially to clarify the ordinance, which requires trails in stream buffers to be built with porous materials that allow water to pass through.
By defining pervious materials, the Council hopes to address any future issues about what types of surfaces can be used on the trail. This will allow for greater flexibility when the trail is redeveloped, while still focusing on an environmentally sensitive approach, they say.
The ordinance, adopted in May, was a cause of controversy among county officials, who thought it would prohibit trail redevelopment, and council members, who desired to address environmental issues they say the county is not considering with plans to upgrade the two-mile stretch of trail that extends through Lake Forest Park.
Mayor Dave Hutchinson ended up vetoing the ordinance, but was overridden by the Council members, therefore enacting the regulation.
The definition of pervious that the Council will likely adopt at the Sept. 23 meeting, after this edition of The Enterprise went to press, is “Any material that permits full or partial absorption of storm water into land.”
Council member Nate Herzog said when the Council overrode the mayor’s veto, they drafted a motion to direct the administration to come back with a revised definition of pervious.
“Essentially the purpose was to allow the county on the Burke Gilman to come up with some creative ideas in terms of materials that could be used that would not exacerbate the problem of runoff if they expand the footing of the trail,” Herzog said.
Previously, there was a very rigid definition of pervious materials, said Herzog, that would not allow for crushed rock or anything other than wood chips or soil to be used on trails.
Herzog said county staff will ultimately determine what type of material will be used for redevelopment, but the new regulation could support a variety of alternatives. Most likely, Herzog said it would be a hard surface that is asphalt-like, but porous. He doubts if the county would decide to put gravel down.
“It would allow for some degree of precipitation or runoff to filter through and would address concerns for sensitive areas, and at the same time address concerns of users,” Herzog said.
Council member Dwight Thompson said that by defining pervious surfaces, materials made of modern substances will be able to be used on the trail.
“I don’t see that the bike riders or wheelchair users will see any change,” Thompson said. “In fact, it will often reduce the puddling aspects of the surface and would ultimately be safer.”
Thompson said it is necessary to perfect the ordinance in order to advance on the issue of trail redevelopment.
Herzog also said that he anticipates the definition would be adopted by the Council, as the majority is inclined to approve it.
King County officials eventually plan to update and redevelop the segment of the trail from NE 145th Street to Tracy Owen Station at Logboom Park in Kenmore. The portion of the trail targeted for redevelopment is 30-years-old and the two-mile stretch is narrow in many areas. The county, not the city, owns the portion of the trail that extends through Lake Forest Park.
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