POULSBO — Just two years after being added to the city’s park system, Poulsbo’s Fish Park now appears to have a direction for future development.

Which got two fins up from a group of stakeholders last week.

At its July 26 meeting, the Poulsbo Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed the final draft of the Poulsbo’s Fish Park Master Plan. Makers, an architecture and urban design company of Seattle, was hired in October 2003 to create the 13-acre park’s first planning document.

Makers has envisioned three phases of development at Poulsbo’s Fish Park: South end estuary and improvements; North end improvements; and the educational center which would be located in the northwest section of phase two.

John Owen, a partner with Makers said that phasing is recommended because it would be more cost effective and allow Poulsbo to add many different types of interpretive and passive recreation to the site.

“Ultimately, this project is seen as a park but it’s also seen as a part of your city,” Owen said. “What will really draw people here is a series of things.”

Some elements that might be incorporated in the south end, closest to Lindvig Way, include a wildlife viewing blind, amphibian pond, native wildflower garden with bird nesting boxes and a medicinal garden.

Potential pieces in the northern half include a vernal pool, juvenile cutthroat trout and coho salmon rearing ponds in cooperation with the Suquamish Tribe, beaver ponds and a herbaceous interpretive walk. Owen said wetland biologists have determined that it could be possible to create better fish passage at the north end of the site to encourage more wildlife through the estuary.

Parking lots are planned at the north and south ends of the park with no drive through. Connection through the park would be by a 12-foot pedestrian spine, which connects to four loops containing 6-foot trails. Some boardwalks may also be necessary in areas that cross water.

“We tried to keep them away from the most sensitive areas but emphasize the major habitats,” Owen explained of the trail system.

Poulsbo’s Fish Park contains several types of aquatic habitat, including both fresh and salt water, which Owen said he sees as an asset. He said one major goal should be to plant a variety of native plants and trees to accentuate this feature.

“The idea is to get a variety of plant communities that will in turn create a variety of habitats,” he said.

Makers is suggesting that the third phase of an education center possibly be a clustering of 20-foot by 30-foot or 20-foot by 40-foot buildings rather than one large building.

“Clustering the buildings might make sense because you could build them one at a time and then link them,” Owen said.

And while a completed master plan is a step in the right direction, those involved admit that bringing all the pieces of the park into place will take time and money. Poulsbo Parks and Recreation Director Mary McCluskey has applied for $600,000 in grant funding, which, if received, would likely cover the cost of the phase one restoration. There is also $150,000 left from the original grant funds used to purchase the property in 2002 that is earmarked to be used for restoration.

McCluskey said she envisions a good deal of the phase one work being done in the not-too-distant future, however, much of it will depend on volunteer work.

“This is not going to be a project like Nelson Park where a contractor comes in and does the work,” she commented.

Fish Park Steering Committee member Paul Dorn agreed that the community’s support of the master plan will be the biggest asset in moving the park’s development forward. He praised the work of Makers and the steering committee but said volunteers will be needed to make their dreams a reality.

“It’s a team effort and it’s important that there’s a strong community buy in,” Dorn said.

But the good news for the group Monday night was that support among attendees appeared to be running high. Poulsbo Parks and Recreation Commission member Trisha Merrit commented that the lack of criticism of the recommendations from the handful of citizens on hand showed her that Makers’ ideas were on the right track.

“I think they’ve done a wonderful job listening to the input from the community and incorporating it here,” she said.

In fact, the plans appeared to have even garnered at least one convert.

“Years ago, I thought it was very ambitious and audacious that they would try and do this. What they proposed seemed out of the question,” commented Glenn Shock, who owns property near the site. “But they seem to have pulled everything together and are moving it right along and my hat goes off to them.”

The next step will be for the plan to go to the Poulsbo City Council for adoption, which McCluskey said she hopes to have happen in five weeks or less. That final document will include recommended work plans and also cost estimates.