Making Sunset School Park a Bit Greener!

Over the past year, the City of Shoreline’s Surface Water Utility has worked with community to design new green features for Sunset School Park. These design plans propose transforming some of the asphalt and lawn at Sunset School Park into vibrant green spaces. See the illustrated site plan below for a preview!

Planned Green Features Include:

• Blueberry Patch. Blueberry bushes for parkgoers to enjoy. Leftover berries can be collected by community garden volunteers that grow crops in support of local food banks.
• Shade Trees and Rain Gardens. Two garden areas around existing low points with storm drains will be transformed into rain gardens that allow rainwater to soak in. Storm drains will be left in place as emergency overflows, if needed during large storms. Surrounding gardens will be planted with shade trees, and native shrubs and groundcovers.
• Nature Discovery Area. Open gardens, intended for exploration. Features include picnic table, sensory plantings, sand pit, logs and boulders. 12' wide asphalt pathway will be kept for access into park. Smaller pathways will be compacted gravel.
• Shaded grove. Tree plantings and seating in this area will create a shady seating area in the park.
• Miyawaki Forest. Small "pocket forest" that includes dense plantings of native trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. This will add large trees to the park, providing environmental benefits and creating shade.
• Parking Lot Rain Gardens. Two parking lot rain gardens will collect rainwater flows from the road and parking lot. They will filter out pollution created by cars, including oils, brake dust, tire wear particles.
• Natural Border. Drought-tolerant evergreens and boulders will create a natural border that prevents vehicles from entering the field and protects the plantings. Small pathways will still allows people to walk through natural border into the field.

What's next - Thank you to everyone who shared feedback in our surveys! Phase 1 of this project set out to create design plans for the park. We are currently applying for grants to fund Phase 2 of this project: construction.

We will continue to share updates on this project on the website and share updates with our email list. To receive updates, email Christie Lovelace at clovelace@shorelinewa.gov.

About this project: This is a planning project led by the City's Surface Water Utility in partnership with the City's Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department. This design planning project will create a detailed design for new green features at Sunset School Park that will help soak up rainwater and protect our streams, lakes, and Puget Sound. This is a design project only, meaning that construction of any new green features is currently unfunded. The Surface Water Utility plans to use the final designs to apply for grant funding to install the selected green features. Any final design plan will only affect the most western half of the park, potentially removing some lawn and asphalt at the park. The majority of the park will stay the same for all the same current uses such sports, walking, biking, and playing. This project is funded through a King County Waterworks Grant.