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Oct. 28, 2005
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King County, the Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association and Lake Washington Technical College are parties to the agreement, which essentially ends a 12-year debate over use of agricultural-zoned property in the Sammamish Valley for soccer fields.
"This is an excellent and elegant agreement that gets us out of court and to positive outcomes for recreation, agriculture and education," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "This should end the tension between the need to preserve agriculture lands and provide much-needed athletic fields, and we’ve done it without new costs to King County."
Under the agreement, the county will surplus 35 acres of park property known as 60 Acres South for $1.1 million to the soccer association, which will then sell two of three nearby parcels known as the Muller Farm to King County and the Lake Washington Technical College for $1.6 million. The technical college — which intends to use the Muller Farm to teach horticulture and hands-on organic farming practices to its students — will pay about $500,000 toward the transaction, meaning there will be no King County costs incurred.
The soccer association had originally purchased the 112-acre Muller Farm in 1993 with the hope of transforming the land to athletic fields, but land-use restrictions have prevented anything but agriculture use for the property. Legal challenges on the use of these lands went all the way to the State Supreme Court which determined agricultural designated lands must be preserved for farming and not used for recreation.
Sims said the agreement will return the Muller Farm to agricultural uses consistent with state law and the King County Farmland Preservation Program and the Parks Division’s Business Plan. Additionally, the agreement provides expanded horticulture and organic farming opportunities for Lake Washington Technical College’s agricultural program, and provides up to nine new athletic fields on the Eastside at no cost to King County.
The agreement will lead to construction of new fields for the 6,800 members of Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association as well as thousands of other adult and youth sports field users such as adult soccer, lacrosse, Frisbee, and others. It is expected the new 60 Acres South fields will be used by a quarter-million people a year.
Informal neighborhood use will continue a majority of the year during non-scheduled use, and Sims said King County will work with groups such as the Seattle Area Soaring Society to ensure that they have an appropriate location for their activities.
More information on King County Parks is available on the Web at www.metrokc.gov/parks.
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Updated: Oct. 28, 2005
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