To the editor:

Words fly, pro and con, regarding the park district request to approve a levy to purchase and make the Sakai property into a park. Now, words must become action.

Please join me in voting for the bond levy. Here’s what a yes vote means:

The community gets 23 acres of parkland, usable by everyone: stroller-pushers, trike riders, school-age sports fans, mature trail hikers, birdwatchers and more. Moreover, that park will be uniquely attractive because it will be quickly and easily accessible from surrounding neighborhoods.

Winslow, where our Comprehensive Plan places much of the Bainbridge future population growth, is woefully short on park space. Where development occurs without parks, a community becomes less attractive to developers and residents alike. Realize that full development of Sakai — as many as 105 houses(at least 200 or 300 people) — would add to the present heavy demand for multipurpose recreational space.

Development of Sakai for residential purposes would in all likelihood end up offering housing in a price range beyond affordability for the type of residents we say we value. This isn’t an outcome that appeals to most Bainbridge residents.

Fostering residential/commercial development of Sakai, as some propose, will also bring increased demand for water commensurate with such uses. That sort of outcome bodes ill for our policies to protect our sole-source aquifer, which may already be approaching its limits of productivity.

The levy threatens no net increase in the amounts that taxpayers pay for park district bonds, contrary to arguments by levy opponents who raise the cry that taxes will go up. Other park bonds will already be paid off.

Let’s not fail to seize this opportunity. Vote for Sakai!

DWIGHT SUTTON

Bainbridge Island