5. Parks and Open Space

Finn Hill includes 389 acres of parks and open space (38 percent of the city’s park land). Finn Hill contains parks owned by several different public agencies (Figure FH-5.1). These include a portion of St. Edward State Park, Big Finn Hill Park, and O.O. Denny Park. Other neighborhood recreational facilities that are not always publicly accessible include school facilities with outdoor sports fields and indoor gymnasiums.

Finn Hill residents place a high value on parks and preserving natural areas (discussed in Section 4, Natural Environment). Priorities discussed in this chapter are open space conservation, desired improvements to existing parks, expansion of park land, creating a Green Loop Corridor, pedestrian and bike trails, and improved access to Lake Washington.

Green Loop Corridor

Goal FH-5: Establish a Green Loop Corridor that circles the neighborhood connecting parks, open spaces, pedestrian trails, wildlife corridors and natural areas, as shown in Figure FH-5.1.

The neighborhood desires a Green Loop Corridor that could link current parks, open spaces, forested areas, natural areas, and pedestrian trail and street systems to promote active recreation and environmental preservation in Finn Hill. Figure FH-5.2 shows the location for the priority segments of the Corridor that should be established first.

Figure FH-5.1: Finn Hill Parks and Open Space

Figure FH-5.2: Green Loop Corridor and Development Priorities

The Green Loop Corridor concept promotes policies in the Kirkland Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan (PROS Plan) of creating a Finn Hill Connection greenway and connections to the Lakes to Locks Water Trail.

Policy FH-5.1: Develop a Master Plan for the Green Loop Corridor using a public review process under the direction of the Park Board that:

●    Includes the location, design and functions for the different segments.

●    Promotes uses that meet the diverse needs of people for recreation, including walking, hiking, wildlife viewing, dog walking, and other forms of recreation.

●    Prioritizes the segment of the loop connecting the Lake Washington shoreline to the top of Finn Hill, Juanita Beach Park to Juanita Heights, Juanita Woodlands and Big Finn Hill Park (see Figure FH-5.2 for priority locations).

●    Maintains and promotes retention of native vegetation and trees in natural areas, wildlife protection, stream and fish protection.

●    Encourages public and private restoration efforts to remove invasive plant species and plant native herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees.

Policy FH-5.2: Through the development review process, secure public easements or greenbelt easements to provide public access and preserve natural areas within the Corridor.

It will be necessary to obtain public access easements over private property to connect the Corridor together with public parks, open space and public rights-of-way. One way to do this would be to obtain public access easements as part of the development review and approval process of a short plat or subdivision application in order to link pedestrian connections within the Corridor.

Funding mechanisms could also be explored for acquisition of land, trails or easements needed to create improvements within the Green Loop Corridor such as through the Capital Improvement Program, grants or donations from nonprofit organizations. For example, development impact fees could be set aside for the acquisition of green space needed to create the Green Loop Corridor.

Parks

Residents of Finn Hill desire improvements to the existing parks, acquisition of land for parks, new or improved signage, new activities, maintenance and preservation. The Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) plan identifies some of the same desired improvements requested during the public outreach for this neighborhood plan. As not all parks in Finn Hill are owned by the City of Kirkland, the City and the neighborhood should engage King County and the State in a public planning process for the development and improvement of all the parks in Finn Hill.

Goal FH-6: Improve existing parks and open spaces, strengthen local connections with nature and promote neighborhood parks.

Policy FH-6.1: Consider and implement facility improvements to existing City owned parks and help facilitate improvements to non-City owned parks in coordination with other agencies.

The neighborhood has identified desired improvements to the following parks:

○    At Big Finn Hill Park: community gardens or P-patches, dog parks, and addressing conflicts between biking and walking user groups.

○    At Juanita Heights Park: provide improved signage and wayfinding for public access, and move the park entrance to NE 124th Street.

○    At O.O. Denny Park: new picnic and BBQ facilities, swimming facilities, and improved connectivity to Big Finn Hill Park. Shoreline and forest restoration plan, pest management strategy.

○    At Juanita Triangle Park and Juanita Woodlands Park: improved signage and wayfinding.

○    Finn Hill Middle School: Potential City-School Wetland Partnership (PROS Plan).

Policy FH-6.2: Preserve significant natural areas for recreation, for residents to connect with nature, and for habitat protection at all parks, including:

○    At Juanita Heights Park: Explore potential expansion to preserve and protect existing forest and provide trail connectivity, explore land acquisition and/or public easements to ensure connectivity to Juanita Beach, and explore purchase of vacant lots on steep slopes (see Figure FH-5.3).

○    At O.O. Denny Park: Enhance shoreline natural areas by removing hard shoreline structures and creating soft vegetated shorelines to improve ecological functions.

○    Explore options for preservation at other parks.

Policy FH-6.3: Promote a variety of uses in parks, including walking trails, children’s playgrounds, social gathering areas, off-leash dog areas and natural preservation.

As master plans are developed for the various parks and open spaces within Finn Hill, the activities and improvements listed above should be considered.

Policy FH-6.4: Pursue acquisition of land and improvements for parks and open space as opportunities become available.

As property becomes available, the City and other organizations should look for new park opportunities and expansion of existing parks and open space. Areas acquired for public parks and open space preservation could also support the Finn Hill Neighborhood’s desire to protect native tree canopy (see Natural Environment Policies FH-4.2, streams and wetlands, FH-4.3 wildlife preservation, FH-4.5 for hiking trails).

Figure FH-5.3: Finn Hill Trail System

Policy FH-6.5: Create smaller active neighborhood parks in the northeastern quadrant of Finn Hill.

The Kirkland PROS Plan indicates a level of service guideline of a park within a quarter mile of each household. Finn Hill residents desire new neighborhood parks in the northeast part of Finn Hill, where small parks within walkable distance are missing (see Figure FH-5.1).

Trails for Bikes and Pedestrians

Pedestrian and bicycle pathways provide an important transportation function within the parks and open space system. While there is an extensive pedestrian trail system in Finn Hill, it is generally limited to parks. As reflected in the Vision Statement, Transportation and Mobility section and Green Corridor section above, Finn Hill residents would like to create and/or enhance trail connections within the neighborhood.

Goal FH-7: Expand the walking, hiking, and cycling trail system and connect detached parts of the neighborhood and parks.

Figure FH-5.3 shows the existing trail system and desired extensions that could be developed for recreational use in addition to nonmotorized pedestrian and bike systems.

Policy FH-7.1: Create and enhance pedestrian trail connections:

●    Between Juanita Beach, Juanita Heights, O.O. Denny and Big Finn Hill Parks and Saint Edward State Park.

●    Between areas of the neighborhood that are isolated or disconnected, including Hermosa Vista and Goat Hill.

●    Connect with trail systems outside of the neighborhood.

Policy FH-7.2: Partner with local utilities, public agencies, and private landowners to secure trail easements and access for trail connections.

As discussed in Policy FH-5.2, public access easements will need to be acquired for both the Green Corridor Loop system and for trail connections.

Lake Washington Shoreline Access

There is a strong community desire for more publicly accessible waterfront areas, including for small nonmotorized watercraft. Existing public shoreline access is limited to O.O. Denny Park. Street ends with potential for public access could be improved.

Policy FH-7.3: Improve public street ends to provide lake viewing and public access to Lake Washington in compliance with the Shoreline Master Plan.

Consistent with other shoreline areas of the city, public right-of-way street ends in Finn Hill should be improved to allow public pedestrian and nonmotorized access to Lake Washington.

Policy FH-7.4: Restore public shorelines on Lake Washington to improve habitat, hydrology, and recreational opportunities.

Public parks and open space located along the shoreline should be restored with soft armoring techniques and native plants consistent with the policies contained in the Shoreline Area Element of the Comprehensive Plan.

Figure FH-6.1: Finn Hill Land Use Map