Park survey shows Olympia voters support tax increase and more

Olympia residents apparently like their parks enough to pay more taxes and trust the city to spend that park tax money appropriately.

Those are two highlights from survey results released this week as part of Olympia’s ongoing park planning process.

The city invited 4,000 households with registered voters to take an online survey between March 20 and April 5. Conducted by Elway Research, the survey focused on preferences for city parks and related services.

Stuart Elway, president of Elway Research, briefed the Olympia City Council about the survey results Tuesday evening. Among the findings:

The city reports that the survey cost $20,750. The survey is meant to supplement feedback from eight recent neighborhood outreach meetings about future park projects.

Parks director Paul Simmons told the council that staff will return June 9 with a more comprehensive report.

“It definitely demonstrates a lot of passion,” Simmons said of the survey and its role in shaping future park projects. “It’s one component of a larger picture.”

Last July, the city hired a consultant for $60,000 to evaluate five sites for a potential new park with athletic fields, an off-leash dog area and open space. The consultant determined that the Spooner Berry Farm off Yelm Highway was the best candidate.

The evaluation was done at the request of the LBA Woods Park Coalition, a group of citizens that has been lobbying to protect 150 wooded acres from development in southeast Olympia.

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Park survey shows Olympia voters support tax increase and more."