METRO FILE PHOTO
This field in unincorporated Clackamas County will become a park after work from community advocates and a Metro Nature in Neighborhoods grant.
From their new home in Clackamas County, Adam and Jill Brittle would have to walk a mile to take their toddler to the nearest park – but not for long.
The Hawthorne Park development is getting a new neighborhood natural area, thanks in part to a Metro Nature in Neighborhoods capital grant. The neighborhood's namesake park will feature native trees and shrubs, a walking path, picnic tables, a stormwater pond and bridge, and a nature-based play area with logs and climbing boulders.
"It's going to be great," said Adam Brittle, president of the Hawthorne Park Condomiums Association. "It's not a private park, but it's right there across the street. That was one of the real selling points."
Nestled along Southeast King Road, just west of 82nd Avenue, Hawthorne Park provides easy access to shopping and transportation. It falls in an urban renewal district intended to revitalize part of northern Clackamas County, which allowed Portland-based HP Development to enhance the project by teaming up with the Clackamas County Development Agency.
For one thing, the 29-home development includes 10 units that will always be affordable to families who earn less than 120 percent of the area's median income. For another, the county purchased an acre of land for a neighborhood park and secured a $140,000 Nature in Neighborhoods grant to help create it, along with a $50,000 local government grant from the state parks department.
"Initially, our interest was piqued with the housing part of the project," said Ken Itel, project manager for the development agency. "When we realized there was going to be this leftover open space, we recognized that was an opportunity to provide some additional park space for the community. The entire neighborhood is really deficient in parks and open space."
Leftover land was no accident, said Kirby Gibson, HP Development's real estate agent. Rather than build a traditional neighborhood with large yards, she said, the developer decided to squeeze lots and make room for a communal outdoor area.
This approach paid off, with the promise of a future park attracting home buyers with dogs and children. Residents paid $185,000 to $235,000 for the three- and four-bedroom homes, trickling into the new neighborhood in 2010 and 2011.
The Brittles were among the first to move in, getting settled just a few days before their daughter, Ella, was born. Their new addition heightened their interest in park space, Adam said, because "we wanted somewhere for her to play." He served on a committee that helped design the park, which is slated to open in summer 2012.
Participants said Metro's involvement helped steer the park toward a greener future. They chose a nature-based play area instead of traditional slides and jungle gyms, and opted for native plantings.
Natural materials take fewer resources to maintain – a bonus for the homeowners association, which is responsible for park upkeep. They also make the park more appealing, participants said.
"Metro's grant was great," Gibson said, "because it adds to the greenness of the community."
Approved by voters across the region as part of a 2006 natural areas bond measure, the Nature in Neighborhoods capital grants program funds land acquisition, restoration, neighborhood livability and urban transformation projects with a focus on helping nature thrive in urban areas.