It may take another 20 years for the North Kitsap Heritage Park to fully take shape and cost over $37 million to develop but in return a legacy for future generations will be created.

Kitsap County’s Facilities, Parks and Recreation Department has refined the Heritage Park Master Plan based on public input and come up with cost estimates for five phases of development encompassing 830 acres.

The park is made up of 426-acres purchased in May 2004 from Olympic Property Group, a Pope Resources subsidiary, plus another nearly 20 acres purchased in November 2005 off Miller Bay Road that will serve as the main entrance into the park. Added to that will likely be 380 acres the county is in negotiations with OPG to purchase.

Though the sale of the 380-acre option hasn’t gone through yet, said Joseph Coppo, Open Space Coordinator for the parks department who is the county’s leader on the project, they are now including it in the master plan. He expects the 380 acres will be acquired later this year.

It may take “20 years out or more for a full build out,” Coppo said at the public meeting held May 1 at the Kingston Community Center. Cost estimates totaling over $37 million are preliminary, he emphasized, and will most likely be offset by grant monies, support from community groups and the possible sale of naming rights to the park. Cost-recovery methods may also include the sale of timber and gravel from the site that the county can’t use in the park or elsewhere.

“We wanted to give you the shock value now and make deals later. This is the outer range of what it could cost,” Coppo said.

The major expense will be bringing power to the site, creating roads and opening up the areas that will become ball fields. The OPG option acreage will probably be only lightly developed since much of it is forested wetlands that include much older and larger trees, said Jonathan Morley of the Berger Partnership, a landscape architect firm hired by the county to create the master plan scheduled to be completed this month.

“Some areas are wet enough that they’ve never been touched (by logging). It’s the type of condition that we want to be sensitive of. We do have a larger system here that is at work,” Morley said, including the headwaters of Grover’s Creek. In that area, dubbed Grover’s Creek Preserve, non-motorized trails will likely be the extent of development with smaller loops and spurs off main trails and the option for a boardwalk over wetlands to provide access through the property without creating a barrier for wildlife and water flow.

Coppo said the firm Sheldon & Associates is doing an analysis to determine the age of cedar, fir and maple stands and the general health of the forest. As further analysis of the soils, topography and geographical features takes place, “we’re fine tuning things to try and tie them into reality,” Morley said.

The parkway of about two miles that will cross through the park connecting South Kingston and Miller Bay roads has settled into a course that skirts the active recreation area instead of bisecting it as a previous option had shown. At the public meeting in March, residents “leaned towards a separation of the active areas and natural trails,” Morley noted. From the entryway off Miller Bay Road, the parkway will travel south then snake in a wide u-turn along the west side of the ball fields and parking areas heading south again before making an elbow west and meandering along the south border of the option area to connect with South Kingston Road. The road may get even closer to the park border if engineers are able to route it along the power line corridor that already exists. In some areas, the road may be split, separated by trees and the natural grade of hills.

Stormwater runoff from the road will mostly get absorbed into the larger wetlands, which will provide enough biofiltration to keep a concentration of water from overwhelming the system.

“Our approach is to treat things as sustainably as much as possible,” Morley said.

Non-motorized trails will eventually connect to the Port Gamble, White Horse and Mosquito Fleet trails. Planners are working to keep pedestrian, bike and equestrian trails away from the road as much as possible. Some of the trails will be paved, others gravel, and “all trails will be non-motorized as in all county parks,” Coppo said.

There are a total of 10 soccer/multi-use fields, four softball and four baseball fields planned in three phases with 50 to 75 parking stalls per field, the general rule of thumb for parks, according to Morley. Other features of the topography will be highlighted such as a high-point lookout in the interior of the park providing glimpses of the Olympic Mountains and territorial views.

Coppo met with the Miller Bay Estates Homeowners Association May 16 to discuss how residents there can access the park via a pedestrian entrance. The southernmost panhandle, or “dog leg” as Morley calls it, borders the neighborhood. According to MBE association president Tracy Harrison, they are working with the county to find a pathway into the park either between two homes or through property owned by MBE where water towers stand along the property line of the White Horse housing development.

The Heritage Park Master Plan will be submitted to the parks department board for input then head to the county commissioners for approval.

“As a community we have lacked this kind of facility,” said Indianola resident and Kingston realtor Sonny Woodward who attended the May meeting. “It’s unbelievably cool for this to happen for our community. I only wish the 20-year plan could get pushed to 10. I think the synergy of this will catch the community.”

For more information on the North Kitsap Heritage Park, go to www.kitsapgov.com/parks/. To submit suggestions, contact Joseph Coppo at Kitsap County Facilities, Parks and Recreation Department, (360) 307-4222 or wa.us” jcoppo@co.kitsap.wa.us.

North Kitsap Heritage Park development phases and costs

Phase 1: Tentatively set to begin in October, the entryway off Miller Bay Road into the park will be developed, coordinated with the ongoing project by the county’s Public Works Department to improve Miller Bay Road. Parking and trailheads will be established.

Cost estimate: $433,100

Phase 2: Development of northwest fields is set to begin next year, including four baseball fields and six soccer fields with turf surfaces and lighting, restrooms, side roads, parking, power supplies, and bike, horse and pedestrian trails.

Cost estimate: $5,871,200

Phase 3: Development of northeast fields will include four softball fields, four multi-use fields, lighting, restrooms, concession stands and a children’s play area.

Cost estimate: $5,330,000

Phase 4: Development of south fields will include additional loop access roads, parking, a paved regional bike trail, dog off-leash and disc golf areas and boardwalk.

Cost estimate: $12,115,700

Phase 5: Though it’s unknown when the county’s Public Works Department will be able to fund it, a connector road will eventually get built, connecting Miller Bay and South Kingston roads, designed as a winding, tree-lined parkway with extensive “traffic-calming measures” installed.

Cost estimate: $1,914,000