By Marianne Lincoln

Over the past several months, I have been working on grant writing, proposals, and resource outreach for our watershed. Clover Creek is the most prominent feature in our portion of this watershed along with Spanaway and Tule Lakes.

The grants led me to zero in on properties Pierce County had purchased due to flooding in the Brookdale area. Three parcels together at 133rd and A Street stood out. The Clover Creek Council had done some tree planting along the Clover Creek at the site in 1993, but nothing much had been done since.

In the past 4 years, Pierce County has removed invasive Japanese knotweed and blackberry and worked to keep random homeless encampments from taking over the site.

Here is a rough sketch of the proposal that Clover Creek Restoration Alliance gave to Pierce County today.

This is an aerial of the tree parcels that are involved. You can see how they are situated near Pacific Avenue with the new crosswalk at 134th Street South. Clover Creek flows through the middle of the largest lot. Together there is about 3.2 acres to make useful to the community in the summertime when it is dry. In the winter, this property can flood, so it is not usable for developments of other types.

Regarding the design:

This is what happens when someone put a blank piece of paper in front of me during a meeting… lol
This is my rough sketch of the Clover Creek Community Park proposal at 133rd and A Street.
•Wildflowers and prairie grass on the west side of the creek.
•Clover Creek though the middle, has a 50 ft buffer boundary fence for the natural area. It will be planted with trees and native vegetation.
•The circle on the west is my favorite part, a wild strawberry patch.
•There is a path on the west for walking dogs, on leash.
•On the east side, there will be a gravel sand mix set up as spoked trails with a central court area. This is for use as a community market – 10×10 pop up tents, artists, veggies, fruit, and other wares.
•The central circle could have featured artists, dancers, or musicians.
•There will be grassy sections between the spokes and in those, mini native plant garden patches (raingarden style) to add color and beauty to the site.
•No motorized vehicles will be allowed on the site. There is an exception for electric golf carts for packing items around.
•Across the street, there is a FEMA purchased lot that the county will allow to have vehicles, such as food trucks.
•A Street, for this block only, will be closed during major events.
133rd Street is on the north, A Street on the east, 134th Street on the south. Pacific Avenue is a block away. There is a signalized crosswalk at 134th on Pacific Avenue.

Currently, CCRA is asking groups who support the concept, to write us letters of support. We are also working on grants and donations to get the ball rolling this Spring. You can donate through the link above to the Spanaway Community Association and also through the link on CCRA’s website. We will also be looking for sand & gravel (no impervious surface) and a fence company who wants to advertise themselves with a donation of some split rail.

I have great hope that this will become a central location for the community to gather in the very near future.

Below are some current photos of the site.