Washington State Parks has a small section of Fort Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island pegged as one of 11 sites open to “recreation business activity” development, the Port Townsend Leader reported. Public comment on the proposal is due by Jan. 31.
The proposal for Fort Flagler is to allow construction of cabins, an RV park or other recreational attractions on 100 acres of forested land.
In March 2015, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission approved guidelines for privately financed development on state park land. In response to the agency’s need to generate revenue for operations, the commission’s options are to provide appropriate opportunities for privately financed development of recreational facilities in existing developed state parks; lease undeveloped surplus lands for revenue-generating purposes; and transfer selected lands to other government or tribal jurisdictions.
The designation of recreation business activity (RBA) is given to privately financed recreational facilities on land leased within state parks. These facilities are intended to provide additional amenities for park visitors while also generating revenue to support the state park system, according to the state. RBAs are to be conditional activities in commission-approved Recreation Areas, Resource Recreation Areas and Heritage Areas.
A business consultant working with the agency advised that four kinds of RBAs are most likely to generate revenue for the state park system: moorage facilities, RV parks, groupings of vacation cottages and food services.
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