How do I share my thoughts or get involved with the Lord Hill Regional Park Preferred Plan Process?

SURVEY: There are many ways to get involved! We collected 1,800 responses about the future of our park system in 2021 through a survey. You can continue to submit comments about Lord Hill Regional Park by email to: Emily.griffith@snoco.org. We are planning to open another ongoing survey to collect feedback about the Preferred Plan process in November 2021. This will be posted on this project webpage.

PUBLIC MEETING: We will be hosting a public meeting about the Preferred Plan proecess on November 16, 2021 from 6:00-8:00 pm. See information in the "Public Meeting 11/16/21" tab above.

NEWSLETTER: You can sign up for our monthly “Updates from Snohomish County Parks” public newsletter for regular updates on parks and the Lord Hill Regional Park process here.

Project Contact: Emily Griffith, Snohomish County Senior Park Planner

Email: emily.griffith@snoco.org Phone: 425-388-6620

Where can I learn the history of this project and what has already been done?

Lord Hill Regional Park (LHRP) is a gem within the Snohomish County Parks system, one that we are looking ahead to preserve in light of our changing climate and growing population within the county and the region. As a regional park, LHRP is shared between many different recreational uses and we recognize there are opportunities to optimize the trail system to improve user experience and safety. LHRP is mostly a natural area, and the Parks & Recreation Division is committed to preserving critical areas and habitat throughout the park.

Building from the Master Plan originally published in 1988 and updated in 1996, the Snohomish County Parks & Recreation Division is updating the Preferred Plan for the park which includes an official trail plan, wayfinding signs and posts, detailed maps and expanded parking solutions. Working with a study group of stakeholders representing the various local user groups, a shared-use conceptual plan will be refined through this process and will serve as the basis for the official trail plan. Parks will continue to work with the study group on establishing the trail system designations and placing signage and maps throughout the park.

Who primarily uses LHRP and who does it serve?

As one of the largest parks in our county parks system at nearly 1,500 acres, LHRP is an important regional park for not only the county, but the region. LHRP serves recreational needs for all of Snohomish County’s 800,000 residents and the many visitors who enjoy Snohomish County’s beautiful recreation areas. Regional parks and trails contain features that draw users from across the county and are highly valued by Snohomish County residents. The service area for regional parks and trails such as LHRP is county-wide. The park serves a wide range of user groups including wildlife watchers, hikers, equestrian riders, mountain bikers, nature enthusiasts, educators and more. We know that with increasing use we need to adapt our trail system to create a safe and enjoyable experience for all users, whether you prefer to walk or ride.

If the Proposed Plan is still in draft, why have there been changes over the last five years?

There has been ongoing maintenance by staff and volunteers to keep our trails in good condition. Some trails were reclassified as bike only trails and modifications were made to those trails, although the final plan won’t be officially adopted until the Preferred Plan is complete. A lot of these changes were in response to safety concerns expressed by users in response to conflicts between user groups. Bikes were shifted onto alternate trails to try to alleviate these concerns. We understand that there has been confusion around this in the community as it was not clearly communicated why these changes were made. As part of restarting the preferred plan process in 2021, we have created an internal team to better coordinate on what is happening in the park, as well as prioritizing clear and consistent communication to the community and stakeholders. The preferred plan is currently being vetted with the community.

Will you honor promises made in the 1996 Master Plan?

The 1996 Master Plan was never officially adopted by Snohomish County Council, but was suggested as an addendum to the 1988 plan. The Preferred Plan will build from both the Master Plan originally published in 1988 and the 1996 updates. The Preferred Plan for the park will include an official trail plan, wayfinding signs and posts, detailed maps and expanded parking solutions. Working with a study group of stakeholders representing the various local user groups, a shared-use conceptual plan will be refined through this process and will serve as the basis for the official trail plan. Parks will continue to work with the study group on establishing the trail system designations and placing signage and maps throughout the park.

How have you collected and incorporated public feedback on the process?

This process has entailed collecting an immense amount of feedback from the public, spanning 2016-present. This includes:

• Public meetings, study groups and addressing public concerns 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
• Pilchuck Audubon Bird Blitz 2017
• Washington Native Plant Society Plant Survey August + October 2017
• Public input from the 2021 Parks & Recreation Visioning Survey. While this was a survey asking about broad recreation interests, 800 comments were made specific to Lord Hill Regional Park. We have included that public input in this process
• Stakeholder meeting planned for October 2021
• Public Meeting planned for November 16, 2021 via Zoom

We have consulted with community stakeholders representing diverse user groups including: 

1. Executive Horse Council of Snohomish County
2. Backcountry Horsemen of America 
3. Washington Trails Association
4. Friends of Lord Hill Regional Park
5. Lord Hill Advocates 
6. Lord Hill Homeowners Association 
7. Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance 
8. Local mountain bike teams 
9. Pilchuck Audubon Society 
10. Washington Native Plant Society 
11. Snohomish County Parks Advisory Board
12. Everett Mountaineers 
13. Lord Hill Hikers
14. 4-H Horses of Snohomish County
15. Hannus Horse Group
16. BuDu Racing
17. Snohomish Student Cycling League
18. Pilchuck Mountain Bike Club
19. Cascade Orienteering
20. Snohomish County Search and Rescue
21. Snohomish and Monroe School Districts
22. Trail Running groups
23. Fishing enthusiasts
24. Paddle craft enthusiasts
25. Local community members

Are you using national trail-building standards during this process?

Yes. We are designing all trails to match U.S. Forest Service standards and biking trails are meeting International Mountain Bike Association standards. Both of these trail classification systems are national guidelines for the type of trails in use and meet user safety and environmental standards.

What is the difference between a Preferred Plan and a Master Plan? Why are you not doing a Master Plan process?

The Preferred Plan process is a public process and includes robust public involvement but does not require going through County Council. However, we regularly update and work with County Council on all park projects, park updates and park Preferred Plan processes to keep them informed of how we are serving the community and their districts. When compared to a Master Plan process, the Preferred Plan leaves us much more flexibility for updating, adapting, or changing a park use in the future. Any future changes still require public input. It is a more flexible process to accommodate community and park needs in the future. See Table 1 below for comparison.

Table 1. Preferred Plan vs. Master Plan

Who is leading this process?

Snohomish County Park staff are leading the Preferred Plan process. J.A. Brennan Associates PLLC is supporting the project by developing the Preferred Plan report, and determining the best routes for proposed or modified trails. They will be doing environmental studies for new trail alignments, evaluating concerns over critical areas, looking at parking lot maintenance and potential expansion as well as drafting these alignments, maps and providing design expertise and technical support for the trail system.

Why are you doing this process? Why now?  

 Lord Hill Regional Park (LHRP) has always been a gem within our county parks system. The park has many more users since the park officially opened almost 30 years ago in 1995. We are updating the Preferred Plan to optimize the park for more users, diverse users and to fulfill the recreation needs of the county which have significantly changed since then. We want to respond to the current needs of LHRP and plan for future anticipated park needs to best serve the park users, the community and the county. With an increase in recreation in our region and across the country, now is the opportune time to consider how the current trail system is meeting our population’s needs for recreation and to work with stakeholders and the community to create a LHRP for everyone. The planning process to update the Preferred Plan was started in 2016. The process paused in 2020 due to COVID-19 and since the lead park planner in charge of this process changed jobs. Their vacancy was filled in 2021 and the process has now restarted.

Who has the “right” to determine the future of the park?

As the land managers of LHRP, Snohomish County is responsible for the present and future of the park. We make design and planning decisions based on best practices, our experience and expertise, goals created from public input in the Parks & Recreation Visioning Plan every six years, input from public meetings and comments, Snohomish County code, comprehensive plans, data, national best practices, innovation, climate resiliency and environmental stewardship. The guidance documents we use to inform our decisions are approved by County Council and the Executive. We use park planning experts, consultants, county staff, specialists, and the public input in every park project and for the LHRP Preferred Plan process.

Have you developed or are you promoting “high speed” trails for mountain bikers?

No. Lord Hill Regional Park (LHRP) does not have steep terrain for downhill style mountain biking like Stevens Pass. We are not turning Lord Hill Regional Park into a downhill mountain bike park. There will be some directional bike-only trails, but none of the trails in LHRP are rated above intermediate level in terms of speed and difficulty (there are two short optional difficult trail sections that have a higher difficulty that people can choose to challenge themselves on). The mountain bike trails in LHRP are mainly for beginner and intermediate level riders. We cannot put a speed limit on these soft-surface trails. There is no county code addressing non-motorized trail speed limits, and non-motorized speed limits are not a soft-surface trail standard and are not enforceable, as feet, horses and mountain bikes do not have speedometers. We are designing trails to ensure trail intersections are clearly signed and traffic is alerted to slow down. We ask that all trail users share the trails with respect. See the "Education" tab for trail etiquette education resources.

Who enforces rules and regulations at Lord Hill Regional Park?

Our Snohomish County Park Rangers patrol Lord Hill Regional Park regularly, along with the other facilities they patrol. We encourage park users to follow all rules and regulations, respect other park and trail users and follow right-of-way etiquette on the multi-use trails. If you would like to report an issue, please call: 425-388-6600 or email: contact.parks@snoco.org. Read park rules here. Learn more about education on the "Education" tab.

How will Lord Hill Regional Park change with the Preferred Plan process?

With feedback from community members, there will be some changes to dedicated trail types. There will be various types of trails:

• General shared-use/multi-use (all forms on non-motorized recreation)
• Hiker only trails
• Hiker/equestrian trails
• Biker only trails
• Biker/hiker trails

For specific trail changes, please attend the public meeting for a detailed presentation 11/16/21 6:00-8:00 pm via Zoom (information for this meeting is at the top of this webpage and notes/presentation will be posted afterwards as well). Park users will not change, and there will continue to be trails available for nature enthusiasts, walkers, hikers, equestrian riders, birders, mountain bikers etc.

Other planned updates include: 

• Improved wayfinding signage and plan
• Addressing parking issues

The park is free now. Will you start charging for use? Will Lord Hill Regional Park be turned into a “national bike-only attraction” to fund the Parks & Recreation Division?

No. Lord Hill Regional Park (LHRP) is planned to remain free for the public to use and is not being turned into a monetized bike-only park. County officials and park staff are continuing the Preferred Plan process to preserve LHRP as a multi-use public park for present and future generations.

What will happen when the plan is completed?

Once the planning phase is complete, park planners will then create a list of potential projects to be completed within the park which we will work to implement in the coming years. These could include:

• New trails
• Realigning existing trails to meet safety and recreation needs identified in the plan
• Projects responding to parking capacity concerns
• Continuing routine maintenance projects that happen within the park

If larger projects are identified that will need additional funding, we could identify projects that might need dedicated funding or grants and apply for funding opportunities for these.

How will you maintain the safety of the trails for all users?

Ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience in the park is our priority. We are improving safety throughout the park in many ways including through the design of our trails and improved wayfinding. Following the example of many other successful trail systems that accommodate multiple types of recreation, we will be reclassifying many of the trails to create a system where shared-use trails connect users to trails designated for specific recreational use such as hiking, riding horses, or mountain biking. This allows visitors to experience the park as a whole, but also helps minimize conflict on trails not designed to support multiple types of recreation. Trail intersections are another area of focus to improve sightlines and signage. A comprehensive wayfinding and signage plan with updated trail maps and better indicators throughout the park of trail names, type of trail, and distance to points of interest will also help park users and emergency services to better navigate the park.

Why will there be some bike-only trails and not equestrian-only and/or hiker-only trails?

There will be some bike-only trails in the park. In consultation with the mountain biking community and trail designers, there are some intermediate trails where safety is improved by having the trail designated solely for bike use. In consultation with the equestrian community and trail designers, there have not been safety concerns expressed having hikers share the equestrian trails. If concerns do arise, we will update the plan to accommodate them.

How will you enhance protections for the environment and wildlife?

Of Lord Hill’s nearly1,500 acres, over 75% are undeveloped natural areas and that will not change with the new plan. There are many ponds, streams, wetlands and other critical areas throughout the park, and we strive to protect them now and into the future. As new trails are proposed and existing trails are evaluated over the years, we will do our best to route trails away from sensitive habitat. Where the community has expressed a recreation priority and we need to have a trail cross a stream, for example, critical area studies are done and mitigation is provided. Parks also works with our Surface Water Management division and the Snohomish County Healthy Forest Project to continue habitat improvements along the Snohomish River.

Will hikers/equestrian/bikers be allowed on every trail?

Not every user will be allowed on every trail, but there will be trails available for all user types. There will be various types of trails:

• General shared-use/multi-use (all forms of non-motorized recreation)
• Hiker-only trails
• Equestrian/hiker
• Biker-only trails
• Biker/hiker trails

 Do you have more questions about LHRP and the PPP? We want to hear from you! Please email them to Emily Griffith.