Redmond City Council to Hear Appeal on Bike Park Plans

A Redmond resident has appealed a December ruling by a hearing examiner that decided in favor of the city concerning project plans for the Redmond Bike Park, a two-acre facility that would sit on vacant city-owned land within .

Carolyn Hope, a senior park planner for the City of Redmond, confirmed Tuesday that one appeal had been filed to the city regarding a hearing examiner's 2011 decision and that a second appeal was expected. Today is the deadline for residents to appeal the hearing examiner's decision.

The Redmond City Council will next make a decision either in support of or against the hearing examiner's recommendations using only evidence that has already been submitted. A date for that closed-record proceeding has yet to be set, Hope said.

The city council's decision may be appealed to the Washington State Superior Court. 

prompted the city to cancel a work party last June that would have marked the beginning of construction on the new park. Residents told Redmond Patch at the time that they objected to the park because it would lead to trees being cut down and bring in children and teenagers from outside the immediate neighborhood.

City officials, meanwhile, , and that involvement from those who already use the space will translate into a high level of responsibility toward the park.

The Redmond City Council approved the bike park proposal in early 2010, but the city still had to file for a site plan entitlement because the project would change the space's use. That plan, along with project's State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) plan, was appealed by residents in late June.

After a hearing examiner decided in favor of the city last December, residents Harold Zeitz and Rob Katz asked for a reconsideration of their original appeal, but that request was denied by the hearing examiner on Jan. 3.