Ten Trails developer Oakpointe has put forth a proposal to the city of Black Diamond that could put millions into its Parks department.

But with an Oct. 2025 planning deadline looming, Oakpointe CEO Brian Ross says elected officials have to take action soon before these opportunities fall through the cracks.

Here’s the gist of the issue: Oakpointe, through a Master Plan Development (MPD) agreement with the city, is required to build certain amenities as the population of the Ten Trails neighborhood grows. The current $10 million roundabout project on state Route 169 is one such requirement, but others include new parks and recreation facilities.

But the MPD was created nearly 15 years ago and Ross believes some of the wants and needs of the Black Diamond community have changed since then.

“There really wasn’t a lot of resident input back then and right now, with Ten Trails being almost half the population of Black Diamond already… we need to make sure we’re addressing the current and growing population,” he said in an interview.

And that means figuring out what Black Diamond wants in terms of parks.

On the table right now are two ballfields and a tennis court.

Currently, Oakpointe is required to build these facilities off SR 169, north of the aforementioned roundabouts, as per the MPD agreement.

However, it’s “… absolutely the worst spot to put ballfields,” Master Development Review Team/Economic Development Director Andy Williamson said during an Oct. 10 City Council work session about these fields and what to do with them. Williamson noted that the Washington State Department of Transportation could require major improvements to the highway in order to account for extra traffic in the area.

Ross agrees with that assessment, which is why he’s offering a “fee in lieu” for these particular sports facilities, meaning Oakpointe would pay a fee to the city the amount those facilities are worth in order to not build them.

That fee — which would be earmarked specifically for the city’s Parks department — comes out to $1.8 million. This is not an insignificant amount, as that is roughly equal to 10% of the city’s 2024 budgeted revenue and vastly grows the Parks department’s budget, which is $75,000 this year, according to city documents.

This offer isn’t limited to these specific ballfields and tennis court, as Ross believes there are others plans that no longer make sense to go through with.

For example, the MPD requires Oakpointe to build a football field in the city, but that was back when the Enumclaw School District was planning in building a high school in the area. At this time, ESD has pulled back its student growth projections and there are no current plans to build a high school.

This is just a sample of the numerous parks and rec facilities Oakpointe is required to provide the Black Diamond community. By the time 75% of Ten Trails (and the nearby Lawson Hills neighborhood) are constructed, Oakpointe is required to deliver five basketball, tennis, soccer, and youth baseball fields each, plus one adult baseball field, one youth football field, and one community center.

Does Black Diamond, with a nearly-built-out Ten Trails, need all these amenities? Or would the community be better served with a payout? Those are the questions Ross hopes elected officials can soon answer.

“Let’s decide what you want, what you don’t want, and what you don’t want, let’s set up a system where we can pay you a fee in lieu of building that,” Ross said.

Some city council members, though, are pushing back against the fee in lieu plan.

Council member Tamie Deady said, both to council and in an email interview, that she and Council member Kristiana de Leon believe Oakpointe’s proposal to pay the city $1.8 million in lieu of building the ballfields and tennis court off SR 169 does not fully address some concerns.

“… CM de Leon and I recommended that Oakpointe adhere to the MPD development agreement, situating the fields within [Oakpointe’s land] as previously designated,” Deady said, adding that the Ten Trails Homeowners Association would have to maintain the facilities, and not the city, which could be costly to the Parks department’s small budget. “Oakpointe has proposed a $1.8 million cash payment in lieu of constructing the playing fields. However, this alternative fails to address the ongoing operational costs associated with a full-time parks department. Furthermore, deferring the use of these funds until the City’s finances permit for the operation and maintenance of additional parks and staffing will only further delay the recreational facilities promised to Black Diamond residents.”

Oakpointe has already reached the Ten Trails population threshold, meaning that building these sports fields off SR 169 is imminent, barring deadline extensions provided by the city to continue negotiating a possible fee in lieu amendment to the MPD.

A six-month extension is already in place, and elected officials could extend it further if they wish.

However, Oakpointe’s MPD with Black Diamond ends Oct. 31, 2025, and the developer and the city needs to come up with plans for not just the SR 169 sports facilities, but all of the proposed sports fields across Black Diamond and a possible expansion of Lake Sawyer Park by the spring if the developer is going to meet that fall deadline.

LAKE SAWYER REGIONAL PARK DEVELOPMENT?

While Oakpointe and Black Diamond have to deal with what to do with the SR 169 ballparks and tennis court first, the big picture is possibly expanding the Lake Sawyer Regional Park as a centralized destination point.

This idea has been mulled over for at least a few years, as Black Diamond’s 2021 Parks, Recreation, & Open Space Plan proposes improving and expanding the park’s accessibility, trail system, and various facilities like restrooms and athletic fields.

Ross has said that Oakpointe would cover the cost of construction, but as it stands, Black Diamond’s $75,000 Parks budget doesn’t come close to covering maintenance and operations for such a space.

That’s where the fees that the city collects from Oakpointe comes in — those fees could be used to jumpstart maintenance and operations until revenue from field rentals and the like allows the department to become self-sustaining or even bring in more revenue to the city’s general fund.

Ross said that most people Oakpointe has had discussionS with (elected officials, city staff, and residents) are in favor of expanding the Lake Sawyer park, but have questions about how much the park should be further developed. He added that Oakpointe is cognizant of those concerns, and hopes to ride the fine line between creating a destination point that improves the city’s tourism and economy (as well as improve Ten Trails’ attractiveness to potential home buyers) and not tread on the vibe of the park or the city.

For example, Ross said that any expansion of the park would not intrude on the vast majority of Lake Sawyer’s trail land and open space.

Additionally, Ross doesn’t want the park to become so big that Lake Sawyer Road would require costly improvements to handle an increase in traffic.

“There’s going to need to be some analysis,” he said. “… If we make it too big and too intense, it would not fit the neighborhood.”

While Council member Deady opposes the city collecting $1.8 million from Oakpointe instead of building the SR 169 sports fields, she also said that she’s open to continuing to discuss plans to expand the Lake Sawyer park in the future.

Oakpointe is currently required to build two ballfields and a tennis court off SR 169, north of the city. The company has proposed paying the city of Black Diamond a fee of $1.8 million to not build these facilities, as it does not believe this area is a good place to build these sports fields. Image courtesy Oakpointe