Come Plan Bakerview Park with your Neighbors!

What is Bakerview Park, you ask?

Keep reading. The KMNA PROS subcommittee members have your back.

Join the Bellingham Parks Department and your King Mountain Neighborhood Association representatives on July 17th, from 5:30-7:30pm at Bellingham Covenant Church on E. Bakerview Rd. for the first community planning meeting for Bakerview Park.

East Bakerview Neighborhood Park as of July, 2025

The City of Bellingham’s Parks and Recreation Department is developing a masterplan for the property designated as the East Bakerview Neighborhood Park. This is a brief background on the park and discussion of some of the considerations for its development as prepared by the King Mountain Neighborhood Association PROS Subcommittee members.

Background

In April 2020, the city purchased the 29-acre property on East Bakerview Road between Deemer Road and James Street. The park boundaries extend south to Telegraph Road. Many know the location as the hayfield adjacent to the My Garden Nursery at 929 East Bakerview Road.

The property contains 9-acres of cleared hayfields and 20 acres of forest and wetlands. The wooded portion is generally the eastern two-thirds of the park. Wetlands are associated with Cammack Creek along the northern portion of the park and Baker Creek along the very southern portion of the park. There is a storm drain easement designated for Baker Creek.

“Neighborhood” parks are intended to provide recreational opportunities close to residential areas, generally within a half mile or 10-minute walk. The new park falls within the King Mountain neighborhood area but is adjacent to the Meridian Neighborhood, directly to the west. Generally, the land to the north, east, and south of the park are more sparsely populated but are considered as “new residential growth areas” in city planning documents. Land to the west in Meridian Neighborhood is more densely populated.

            King Mountain Neighborhood       2,918  total population (March 2025)

            Meridian Neighborhood      4,874  total population (March 2025)

                                          (source: COB.org/resources)

Planning

The city is engaging the public in the planning process through in person and virtual means.

Here is a link to the overview of the city’s current planning process: 

https://cob.org/project/east-bakerview-park-planning-and-feasibility-study

Design considerations will be given to public recreational interests such as playgrounds, sport fields/courts, trails, open spaces, and opportunities to connect with nature. Designs will also address environmental issues such as a culvert replacement and daylighting an underground creek. The city has contracted design services with the firm Board and Vellum.

Interestingly, there is a housing component as well. Funds from the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) were used for the purchase, along with Bellingham Greenways Levy funds. As a result, a portion of the site will be used to build housing, which will also be addressed in the overall planning efforts.  In past conversation between KMNA representatives and Parks Department Representatives, it was explained that the housing is required by the funding source to be affordable and is a required component of the Park's development.

Logical access points to the park include Bakerview Road on the north side, Telegraph Road on the south side, and Woodbury Way on the west side.

Trails

As with other Bellingham parks, Bakerview Park holds potential for a variety of walking paths and trails in both open and wooded areas. Additionally, the park is expected to be a key hub for multimodal trails connecting residential and commercial ares as well as other nearby parks. Bellingham’s 6-year Parks Recreation and Open Space plan (PRO plan) highlights proposed trails (see below) connecting through Bakerview Park.

Bellingham's current PROS Plan recommends at least five connections to the park. None are currently developed. They include the following access points in the Bakerview Park property:

1) along the west side to the residential street of Woodbury Way

2) at the north side on East Bakerview Road

3) near the northeast corner of the park

4) at the southeast corner of the park near Belltown Court, and

5) at the south end of the park crossing the earthen dam over Baker Creek by Telegraph Road.

Together, these planned trails all intersect within the park, adding to the park’s value as a hub and creating a variety of multimodal access routes to other city parks, open spaces, and residential areas in the Meridian and King Mountain neighborhoods.

Discussion

There are three city owned properties adjacent to the park: a small parcel on the west side behind two houses on Woodbury Way and two wedge-shaped parcels on the south side along Telegraph Road, one of which is significant for offering trail access to Telegraph Road and on to the Primrose Lane Trail (currently under development) leading to East McLeod Road and eventually to the Squalicum Creek trail corridor.

Additionally, there are two conservation easements that are adjacent to the western boundary of the park. More than half of the park’s eastern boundary lies along the Emerald Cottages conservation easement, which links to a trail easement near Todd Lane by the Kulshan Community Land Trust housing. About 500 feet further east of the park is Baker Creek Open Space, the 5.7-acre parcel acquired by the city in 2023.

Questions:

Housing

What portion of the park should be appropriated for the “housing” purposes, and which portion?

How can access for this be designed to maximize compatibility with recreational uses of the park and trail functionality?

What are the steps needed to implement an “exchange” such that the housing could be switched to the Baker Creek Open Space some 500 feet to the east, given the potentially better road access and opportunity to maximize the functional area of the park itself?

Trail connections 

To what extent will planning for trails within the park link with proposed trails in the updated citywide PROS Plan and with nearby trail easements?

Access

Is it possible to bookmark a future easement to connect the eastern portion of the park to East Bakerview Road?

Park facilities

What facilities best meet the needs of residents in the general close-by area, given the neighborhood park intent? Are there other facilities to consider which complement those available in community parks?

Other?

Come prepared with your questions, ideas and enthusiasm! We look forward to dreaming with you soon.

Can't make it? Don't worry. The Parks Department promises to run another planning session in the fall.

Sincerely,

Your KMNA Board

Ps. If you are reading this line, you care about your neighborhood. Want to get involved? The KMNA Board is recruiting board members at large. Reach out to us at info@kmna.org

for more info.