As Bainbridge Island’s park district decides what to focus on in the next 25 years, an assessment of its current performance by a consultant shows that it’s already serving the public well.
At the Nov. 20 board meeting of the BI Metro Parks and Recreation District, commissioners heard from planning consultants Hope Freije and Sarah Lukins about the district’s “Level of Service” (LOS) and where it might seek improvement, given the needs shared by park users.
LOS measures what programs, services or amenities an agency provides, how much it is providing, and how that may change in the future, the consultants explained.
“A well-designed level of service tells you what your priorities are moving forward and influences funding strategies and capital projects. Increasing or even maintaining a level of service will mean needing to secure the necessary funding,” said Freije. “[We are asking] the board to reflect on if the assessment presented accurately reflects what the community has and needs, as well as whether there is a desire to increase level of service, and if so, for what specific components.”
Freije and Lukins said that while many agencies or organizations base their LOS on specific numerical thresholds — the ratio of students to teachers in a classroom, for example — there isn’t a one-size-fits-all equivalent benchmark for park districts.
Their solution was to compare BIMPRD’s amenities to several “peer cities” around Puget Sound. The Mercer Island, Kenmore and Issaquah Park Districts, as well as the PenMet Metro Park District in Gig Harbor, all proved to be comparable to BIMPRD in population density, median age and median income.
The consultants reviewed four categories of park district services — natural areas, developed parks, indoor facilities and trails — at each agency, and ranked each from 1-5. Compared to its peer agencies, BIMPRD scored very highly in quantity of services at 5 out of 5 points, but scored at or below average for quality of services.
“The assessment reflects that the parks are more or less meeting their intended use, but there is room to improve,” said Freije.
Most BIMPRD categories scored at around a 3 in level of service for quality, with developed parkland scoring highest at 3.07 and natural areas scoring lowest at 2.47.
“For context, the state Recreation and Conservation Office would give the district an A for this level of quality,” Freije added.
The draft of the Comprehensive Plan for BIMPRD is now available to view online, as district leaders approach the end of the process in December. Public input is encouraged; the needs of parkgoers have been a guiding force in designing the plan throughout the process.
In 2024, the park district offered over 2,000 programs, in the form of skill-building classes, camps for youth, meetups and “expeditions” like trips off-island to hike, snowshoe, mountain bike or kayak. In the same year, the number of adaptive programs catering to individuals with disabilities increased by 42%, from 102 to 145 programs.
There are also 2,009 acres of natural areas in the parks system, 98 acres of recreational shoreline, 239 acres of developed parkland, 49,400 square feet of indoor recreation area and 42 miles of trails.
In public feedback gathered over the summer, the main priorities for the Comp Plan that bubbled to the top of the district’s list are: the maintenance of existing land, programs, and facilities, increasing trail connections, stewarding existing natural areas, and increasing access to recreational shoreline.
Expanding the trail system on the island and adding amenities like parking or ADA accessibility were identified as the top ways to encourage park use by respondents.
