With the city of Bothell having put in an official offer for the front-nine course of the Wayne Golf Course, there are many questions about what it will be in the end.

While the back-nine of the Wayne Golf Course is currently in a purchase and sale agreement with an investment group, the future of the front-nine is not so clear.

OneBothell wants Sammamish-safe park

The option put forth by OneBothell, a non-profit organization created to address the future of Wayne Golf Course, wants to restore the properties as a recreational and natural corridor.

As a salmon spawning river, the Sammamish plays an important part in Bothell, and surrounding communities’ health and safety – both for the public and for the wildlife the river supports.

“OneBothell has never taken a stance on what the land should turn into. Our number one goal has been to have the city purchase the land in perpetuity for the citizens of Bothell,” said Jesse Sears, founding member of OneBothell. “We have a great opportunity here to be able to do the environmental restorations that could benefit the land as a whole, but – the most valuable thing we have as a city – the river that flows through this and to start cleaning that up a little bit.”

For OneBothell proponents, it’s not a matter of saving Wayne as a golf course, but saving the property in perpetuity for the citizens of Bothell and creating a safe and clean waterway for the inhabitants of the Sammamish River.

“If they pass their budget and we get the money, we have $5 million to start the negotiations to buy the properties,” Sears said. From there, he said that organizations would then come in to help restore and conserve. “I don’t want to see any of it go, I think that if we lose the flatland on the back-nine we lose opportunity, the last flat recreational area anywhere in South Bothell.”

To that end, OneBothell has been down in Olympia weekly in order to present their cause to legislators, getting several letters of approval of the park plan and even getting the funding to purchase the Wayne inserted into the upcoming budget.

OneBothell has also received letters of support from King County Council member Rod Dembowski and State Sen. Rosemary McAullife.

While it is unknown if the budget will pass with the money intended to purchase the Wayne Golf Course, there are many other organizations, such as WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council and locally-based conservation, stewardship and community building non-profit Forterra, that have lent their support to the cause and are willing to help find funding to create a salmon-safe park for citizens.

Keeping Wayne as a golf course

Since it is unknown whether or not the Richards family will accept the offer from the city of Bothell for the front-nine, it is still of importance to note what the city plans to do after they have the property.

There are those within the city who would like to see the Wayne Golf Course continue into the future as a golf course.

The city, however, does not have the income to pay for the maintenance, upkeep or management of the golf course.

“The state doesn’t have that money, the city doesn’t have that money, and I imagine a fundraising campaign wouldn’t get there,” said Bothell Mayor Joshua Freed.

There are options to have people, such as the McMenamin’s, come in and manage the golf course in place of the city. While the McMenamins have been approached about this matter, they have yet to give a response to the city of Bothell.

In the event that the city does win the bid for the front-nine at the Wayne Golf Course, it is unclear what they will do with the property from there.

Development of the back-nine

While the front-nine has yet to have a purchase and sale agreement between the city and the Richards family, there is already an agreement on the table for the back-nine between the Richards and the unnamed investment group.

According to Freed, the housing development proposed for the back-nine would not cover the entirety of the 36 acre parcel. The plan, though unconfirmed, would be to develop only 16 acres of the course.

“We can develop the slopes that are there, but I’m trying to do a green PUD [planned unit development] that would pull the development to be down below,” Freed said. “We were successful because we explained to them that we did the first green PUD in Bothell and we are, naturally, the right group to work with in Bothell – I’m local.”

The other 20 acres wouldn’t be impacted by the development.

“I like to do it well because I live here. I want to do a green PUD that would show increased buffers, protect the environment, and allow people to still live there, but enjoy the surroundings that are around them,” Freed said. “At the end of it, turn in 20 acres of 36 for free, so it wouldn’t cost the citizens anything to preserve it.”

Part of the idea in gifting part of the back-nine to the city would also include a park-based corridor connecting Blythe Park to other recreational areas in the city.

While none of the ideas for either the front- or the back-nine of the Wayne Golf Course have been finalized, there are many options on the table for the 80 acres that makes up the Wayne Golf Course.