SEQUIM — Copies of a petition with more than 300 signatures from those objecting to a proposed disc golf course at Robin Hill Farm Park were taken to the Clallam County Courthouse on Thursday, said two Sequim woman.
Roxine Oak and Sharron Fogel said they delivered the paperwork to the county parks office.
Disc golf, in which participants throw Frisbees, or flying discs, around various natural obstacles into baskets, would “damage the pristine value of the park,” the petition said.
The proposed 18-hole course would turn about 20 acres of Robin Hill into a play space for disc golfers.
E. Michael McAleer, a Sequim real estate agent and devoted disc golfer, last year urged the county parks department to explore a course at Robin Hill, a 195-acre swath beloved by runners, walkers, cyclists and equestrians.
County commissioners have gone no further than to place the proposed disc golf course in the county’s Park and Recreation Master Plan.
They would have to approve the estimated $40,000 to build the course — provided that it passes a State Environmental Policy Act checklist and receives a conditional use permit.
Oak and Fogel said that most of the signatures on the petition were from people who use the park to walk or walk their dogs.
Horseback riders who also use the park already have raised loud objections to the proposal.
“The park was deeded to Clallam County for the purpose of hiking, biking and equestrian activities,” the petition reads.
Disabled people, including persons in motorized wheelchairs and carts, use Robin Hill, Oak and Fogel said.
“There’s far more people” than equestrians, Fogel said.
The two said that some disc golf opponents feel shut out of the planning process.
“This is a grassroots, seat-of-your-pants thing that we’ve got going,” Oak said.
McAleer has said, “there are way more people, way more families in Clallam County, who are for the course than against it.”
Parks supervisor Bruce Giddens has said that his department has been inundated with comments from both proponents and opponents since a public comment period began.
County residents have until Thursday to comment on the issue
E-mail should be addressed to the county parks department at parks@co.clallam.wa.us, while letters should be sent to Clallam County Parks, 223 E. Fourth St., Suite 7, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
