Back in 2022, King County voters approved a levy for bringing the Conservation Futures program back to its original rate. This week, County Executive Dow Constantine announced some of the land purchases that will lead to, and they include a bit of land in South Delridge. First, from the countywide announcement:
King County Executive Dow Constantine announced $107 million in land conservation awards – approved by the King County Council – that will protect more than 3,000 acres of open space to advance climate resilience, farmland access, environmental justice, recreation access, and habitat restoration.
A few of the 53 projects include helping the City of Auburn build its first downtown park and public space, permanently protecting the lowland forests of Camp Sealth on Vashon Island, creating more greenspace near affordable housing in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, and helping a community-based organization create an urban farm near Sound Transit’s Rainier Beach Station.
The funding package continues the accelerated pace of land conservation in recent years, which is the result of several actions: Voters’ approval in 2022 of Executive Constantine’s initiative to restore the local Conservation Futures Program to its historic funding rate, bonding against future revenues to protect natural areas before they are no longer affordable, and cutting in half the amount of matching funds cities and other partners are required to provide.
The South Delridge purchase is described in the announcement as:
Seattle’s Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village acquisition: Combining new open space with future acquisition of repurposed properties owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation to secure a full acre in a rapidly developing neighborhood and provide more park access near White Center.
So we asked for specifics. County spokesperson Doug Williams replied:
Specifically, the land we’re talking about is to the southeast of the Delridge Way / Southwest Barton Street intersection: maps.app.goo.gl/8S2FkL1hpshqJa6V6
The grant funding will be used to reimburse Seattle for their recent purchase of the vacant square of land you see just to the southeast of the treed triangular land. The idea is to combine the treed triangular land with that vacant land and a street closure (that little chunk of 18th Avenue Southwest on the eastern border of the treed triangular portion) to create a nearly one-acre piece of public open space.
Community advocates had long worked for a park in that area, though their effort has gone dormant. We’re checking on next steps for the site’s future.
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