Local Developer Donates Land, Money For City Park

Officials from the officials, employees of Harbor Hill LLC, and residents of the area celebrated the addition of land for a future city park on Wednesday in front of a wooded area next to the .

Harbor Hill is part of the Olympic Property Group (OPG), a local developer of the Gig Harbor North properties that has been working with the city since 1988. Two OPG representatives were on hand to present a $50,000 check, in addition to the seven-acre parcel of land.

"As much as we like seeing just the sign over there and declaring that it will be a park, we wanted to also help keep the momentum alive," OPG's John Rose said.

"It's a great day for Gig Harbor," the city's mayor, Chuck Hunter, said. According to Hunter, the city and OPG began negotiating a 20-year development agreement two years ago.

During the , city officials and Rose and John Chadwell from OPG all credited their success thanks to trust and an "ideal" partnership.

"This has been a real opportunity for us to see a blending of private enterprise and city government," said City Parks Commission Chair Nick Tarabochia. "It's wonderful to see that type of action and to see results of that and ultimately to have something come together this cohesive." 

The lighthearted gathering included jokes from several speakers.

"And no politician had to expose themselves to get this done," Tarabochia said, referring to New York congressman Anthony Weiner's recent scandal.

Over the next two decades, the master plan calls for about 800 units of housing and apartments and an extensive trail system in Gig Harbor North, according to Hunter. The agreement, negotiated by councilmen Steve Ekberg, Paul Conan and Tim Payne, also includes the seven-acre parcel that will house the new Gig Harbor city park.

Starting this fall, the city staff will use the money to construct a preliminary conceptual design for the park, Hunter said.

Despite the $50,000, the issue of funding will still be an obstacle for the city. According to Payne, one of the agreements reached with OPG was that the residents of the new housing units will not have to pay for the park-impact fee in lieu of the seven acres, which also means the city has to look elsewhere to pay for the property development.

In the meantime, Payne said the city is pursuing possible partnerships with the Little League, PenMet Parks and the Y. 

While the sound of gunshots echoed from the Gig Harbor Sportsman Club, located about 500 feet from the park entrance, Conan said the noise "comes with the territory," and the shooting range shouldn't be a safety concern for the park-goers.

Conan also said the land will most likely become an active park, in contrast to the current trail that exists across the street. 

"I  have a desire to see a park that's going to be useful to the homes that are going to be built," said Payne, who hopes for a "pedestrian-friendly" area, filled with convenient amenities. 

"We don't know what those fields will look like, what the design will look like," Conan said. "That's part of that $50,000."