Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District

Facilities - Natural Resources - Plans & Projects - Camille Park Master Plan

Introduction
Executive Summary
Site Description
Planning Process
The Master Plan

Approved Map
Approved Examples

Appendix I
Appendix II

Master Plan - PDF Format

Site Description

Park Type
The Park District's Comprehensive Plan has designated Camille Park as a Community Park. A Community Park is a larger park that provides active and passive recreational opportunities for all Park District residents within a three-mile radius of neighborhoods around it. They may accommodate large group activities, including facilities for organized recreation activities and on-site parking.

Neighborhood Context

Camille Park is surrounded on two sides by a low-density residential neighborhood and on the other sides by a middle school and wetland forests that are both publicly and privately owned. A four-lane highway is a few hundred feet west of the park and can be heard by park Patrons. There are three Park District maintained access points to the park and several unofficial entrances from the forest south of the park. Access to the middle school grounds can be made through the southeast corner of the park.

Existing Facilities And Trails
Camille Park currently provides passive recreation opportunities such as picnicking, walking and bird watching, as well as facilities for active pursuits including tennis courts, a basketball court, and play equipment. Because the basketball court is in a low, wet location, water and sediment often make it unusable. A paved trail cuts diagonally across the park. It is accessible year round, although water sometimes flows across it. Many walkers and students on their way to school use the trail. Much of the un-paved area of the park is inaccessible during the rainy season due to high water levels. Amenities include a basketball court, four fenced tennis courts, horseshoe pits, a play structure, and swing set. Picnic tables are grouped in several places in the park, and there are two raised barbecue stands. A 1,830-foot long paved walking path runs through the center of the park from north to south, providing access from surrounding areas. A small parking lot with 10 parking spaces is located off SW Marjorie Lane. The park is heavily used by the neighborhood for strolling and picnics; children often ride bikes on the path and play near the stream. The Denney-Whitford Neighborhood Association is very interested in how the park is maintained and used. They have been an advocate for park improvements and have made offers to help fundraise for improvements.

Natural Resources
Although parts of Camille Park have been graded, grubbed, and ditched, significant natural resources still exist on the site. In fact, the District's Natural Resources Management Plan ranks Camille Park as one of the Park District's top twenty priority sites. The park is part of the Fanno Creek watershed and has an unnamed tributary stream that drains into it. Camille Park is at the bottom of a watershed sub-basin, hence it receives a considerable amount of water. The water supports wetland habitats which include mixed Oregon ash � Oregon white oak forest (classified as palustrine forest) and uncommon herbaceous plants including camas and Indian hellebore.

Much of the site is classified as wetland, although not all areas of the park have been maintained as such. The park has heavy clay soils that retain standing water from winter through spring, and sometimes into early summer. These areas usually remain too soggy to mow until well into April. The west side of the park contains a dense population of great camas lily, Camassia leichtlinii, which are wetland plants with several bright blue flowers on each stalk. These areas are designated as a camas preservation site, and are not mowed from March until the camas seeds are ripe and drop from the plants, usually in early to mid-July. As habitat has been developed or farmed, camas has become increasingly rare across its historic range in the Willamette Valley.

Beyond the camas preservation area, the west side of the park consists of a narrow strip of natural area containing many native shrubs and a variety of native ground covers. This strip is currently not maintained, and is the only non-maintained area in the park. It is difficult to distinguish the park boundary here since undisturbed forested areas with a native shrub understory are on neighboring properties. A small stream lies in a gully that runs east to west near the north side of the park, providing drainage for city stormwater and habitat for small animals.

The rest of Camille Park consists of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) and Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia) trees although it is highly managed and regularly mowed underneath. There are no understory shrubs, and the herbaceous layer is essentially turf and low-growing weedy species. In the camas preserve area, the herbaceous layer consists mostly of camas lily.

Currently, no areas of Camille Park have restricted access and few places remain undisturbed. The natural resource value of Camille lies first in the canopy of Oregon white oak trees, and second in the wetland habitat in the southern half and western edge of the park. Oregon white oak trees are a conservation target in the Willamette Valley and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Due to an absence of natural processes such as wildfire, mature oak trees in the Park are threatened to be shaded and out-competed by faster growing Oregon ash. The Natural Resources Maintenance-Management Plan for Camille Park calls for ash to be selectively removed to maintain the Oregon white oak community.

Natural Resources Maintenance-Management Plan A natural resources inventory and wetland determination of Camille Park has been completed. Based on the information gathered, a Natural Resources Maintenance-Management Plan (MMP) has been created. The intention of the plan is to provide a vision and guidelines for maintaining and improving the ecological health of Camille Park in the short and long term. Its recommendations are integrated in the Park's Master Plan. There are several site challenges mentioned in the MMP that should be considered as development activities occur in the park:

Wetland Areas

Although parts of the park appear to be developed, much of it is a legally delineated wetland. Therefore, the siting of new amenities including trails will need to be carefully considered. In some cases, wetland mitigation may be required to compensate for impacts. If this is the case, areas within the park (such as the proposed enhanced meadow/wetland in the NE corner) should be considered as possible on-site mitigation sites well in advance of construction.
Drainage on the site has long been an issue. Creating new drainage (French drains, drain tiles, etc.) could dewater or inundate existing wetlands.

Oregon White Oaks

Although oak trees are long lived, they are sensitive to root damage. Development and construction activities should take place outside of oak root zones. Recreation activity should also be planned outside of the root zones of existing trees.
Under natural circumstances, oaks do not receive much water during the summer. Oaks should not be irrigated during the summer months; manipulation of irrigation in lawn and active space areas should be considered.

Stream Buffer

The drainage running through the NW section of the park is considered a perennial stream by Clean Water Services' definition. The stream feeds directly into Fanno Creek (a salmon bearing stream).
A fifty foot vegetated buffer is required on either side of the stream. The buffer provides shade, which keeps the water cool for salmon and other forms of aquatic life.
Periodic channel work by the City of Beaverton may be required to meet their drainage requirements. Future access for large equipment in the area should be considered as trails and other site enhancements are installed.