Kenmore residents upset about new park

KENMORE, Wash. — Residents in Kenmore say a new park’s design is forcing water into their backyards.

Northshore Summit Park opened on Saturday with a slide, swings, trails, and a price tag of $659,000.

“I think it's great,” Nicole Suarez said as she watched her three children play. “[It’s] great for the neighborhood, great for the community.”

But the park has been a problem for at least three of its neighbors.

Kyle Tate said in late February, water started pouring into his yard after rainstorms.

The city permanently closed off the storm drain in the southwest corner of the park as it constructed a new drainage system for the site.

“We've lived here for eight years, never had an issue like this,” Tate said. “We can’t bring our dogs out here, we can’t bring our kids out here.”

For months, he said, he couldn’t get the city’s attention.

“They told us — oh, it’s just groundwater,” he said.

Just recently, he said, city officials seemed to come around.

“We're taking their complaints seriously,” city manager Rob Karlinsey said. “|We want to be as helpful as we can.”

Karlinsey showed KIRO 7 where the city now plans to install a new drain for several thousand dollars extra.

“How did you not predict there would be drainage issues?” KIRO 7 asked.

“Well, we hire engineering firms to look at that and we rely on their expertise,” Karlinsey said.

“And they never raised any issues?” KIRO 7 asked.

Tate is optimistic.

“If it works, great,” he said. “If that's a solution, I’m happy. If it doesn't, we're going to have another conversation.”

Karlinsey said he hopes to have the drain installed by the end of June.

KIRO