Let's take a vote on a new parks levy

Seattle's successful Pro Parks Levy is expiring at the end of this year, but our elected leaders have not yet committed to putting a new parks levy on the ballot. The City Council took a step in the right direction when it appointed a new citizen's committee to study the issue. Still, the committee may recommend waiting until 2009 or beyond, and Mayor Greg Nickels said he prefers a vote no earlier than 2010.

We come bearing a more urgent message: The public wants a new parks levy now.

In fact, a recent poll commissioned by the City Council showed that 65 percent of Seattle voters would support a new parks levy, even if it cost as much as $240 million. According to the poll, this strong majority would hold steady even if packages for Sound Transit and Pike Place Market were also on the ballot. Voters and grass-roots organizations are in sync. More than 25 community groups, including our own, have endorsed the Green Legacy Coalition's position in favor of a new parks levy in 2008.

It's easy to see why the public is clamoring for a new round of investments in green infrastructure. People would use new parks for play and relaxation. They would connect with nature without leaving the city, thanks to creek-restoration projects and other rejuvenated natural areas.

Neighborhoods would also benefit, as new trails connect green spaces, underused city properties are given new life, and available properties transfer to public ownership. More trees, creeks and habitat would be preserved. New swales and rain gardens would naturally purify polluted stormwater runoff that would otherwise poison Puget Sound, the Duwamish River and our lakes. Seattle's carbon footprint would shrink as we invest in community commons that attract people to walkable hubs.

Planning a new levy is the job delegated to the City Council's new Parks and Green Spaces Levy Citizen's Advisory Committee. The committee should not start planning from scratch. The city already has neighborhood plans, the Climate Action Plan, the Bands of Green Report, the Urban Forest Management Plan, Open Space Seattle 2100, and more.

Drawing on these plans, one recent tally showed 352 unfunded green-infrastructure projects within the Parks Department alone. So we already know a new levy could fund new neighborhood parks on the reservoir caps slated for Beacon Hill, West Seattle, Maple Leaf, Roosevelt and elsewhere. Other options include trails along the Duwamish River; pedestrian and bike paths connecting neighborhoods to light-rail stations in the Rainier Valley; and more skateparks, ballfields and trails. Possibilities abound. It's time to start prioritizing, investing and building.

Waiting would forsake the Pro Parks Levy's momentum and its proven track record of action. Since voters approved the Pro Parks Levy in 2000, 40 acres of green spaces have been added to Seattle. Neighborhoods have gained new parks, such as Ballard Commons Park, Greenwood Park, the Central Area's Homer Harris Park and Northgate Park.

Also new are greenbelts such as the West Duwamish and Magnolia's Kiwanis Ravine, where a colony of great blue herons lives. Community centers, youth programs and other park projects were funded.

And the levy's innovative Opportunity Fund allowed the city to act quickly and buy land put up for sale by private parties or other governments, such as King County, and turn the newly acquired land into new parks.

(For a complete list of Pro Parks Levy achievements, visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/proparks.) Let's build on those successes.

Acting now and voting on a new parks levy in 2008 makes practical and economic sense. The city's future growth needs to be preceded by new investments in green infrastructure, and after years of planning, several projects are poised for immediate action. The housing market is stagnating, so now is a prime moment for the city to purchase land. In fact, the city just used the Opportunity Fund to buy a choice private property in Crown Hill, which will become a much-needed neighborhood park.

Though the economy is worsening, a typical family would save only an average of $66 per year if the city does not replace the expiring levy. That's the price of a gasoline tank fill-up or a monthly cable TV package.

The public values a greener Seattle more than a tank of gas. Give us all the chance to vote on a new parks levy.