## Meeting Overview The Bellingham Planning Commission convened on April 23, 2026, at 6:00 PM for a special meeting focused on reviewing the draft 2026 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan. This presentation-style meeting was designed specifically for the Planning Commission to provide feedback on the plan before it proceeds to City Council consideration on May 11, 2026. Planning staff Elizabeth and Parks Department coordinator Peter Gil, along with Parks Director Nicole Oliver participating virtually, led the presentation of what represents a significant rewrite of Bellingham's parks planning document. The meeting was part of the broader process of implementing functional plans under the new Bellingham comprehensive plan framework adopted in December 2025. Unlike previous years, this plan update did not include a formal public hearing before the Planning Commission, as the department had conducted extensive public engagement throughout the planning process. The plan had already received approval from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on April 8, 2026. ## The Parks and Recreation System Today Peter Gil opened with a historical perspective that underscored Bellingham's long-standing commitment to parks and recreation. "Bellingham has long taken pride in its parks. As far back as 1935, the Bellingham Herald wrote that no city of its size in the Northwest had a finer system of public playgrounds, and that legacy has only grown since," Gil noted, tracing the system's evolution from the 1884 donation of Elizabeth Park by the Rotor family through the transformative greenways levies that began in 1990. The data Gil presented painted a picture of a system in significant expansion. The city now maintains 3,180 acres across 57 parks and open space properties, with particularly dramatic growth in recent years. "Really in the last five years we've done quite a bit of growth," Gil explained. "We've added four new parks from Storybrook, Cordata Park. We've added Little Squallicum Pier. We've enhanced existing parks like Sunset Pond Trail Loop was just put in. New trails at 100 Acre Wood. We've done restoration projects, 100 acre wood as well as Boulevard Park beach enhancement. Staffing has also grown especially on th…