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AN ORDINANCE establishing the King County active sports and youth recreation commission; and adding a new chapter to K.C.C. Title 2.
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PREAMBLE:
King County manages a large and diverse system of parks, recreation facilities, open space and paved regional trails on nearly twenty thousand acres of land.
Throughout King County, dozens of cities, school districts, and private associations join with the King County parks department to provide sports and recreation opportunities to the roughly four hundred two thousand youths living in King County. The King County executive and the King County council recognize the need for King County to establish a commission to advise the county on ways to promote, provide and enhance opportunities for adult and youth recreation, active sports and community playfields.
The King County Park, Recreation and Open Space Plan, adopted in 1996, supports establishment of an active sports and youth recreation commission, recognizing the regional need to "provide park programs and activities consistent with the urban level of service by developing partnerships and coordinating with cities, school districts, and community groups to help meet program demands."
Further, the plan recommends that King County "work with cities, communities and other providers to maximize program offerings and services to provide a variety of local recreation programs that respond to the interests of the communities."
Recreation professionals, youth sports league leaders, and community leaders throughout King County recognize the role sports play in providing positive development opportunities for young people. They also recognize the lack of basic research on the sports and recreational needs of youth, and the lack of a countywide strategy to meet that need.
King County recognizes that meeting the recreational needs of its youth requires an understanding of the recreational needs of adults, and that planning future recreation facilities shou...

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