Planning Board Balks, But Hazel Miller Foundation Firm on Name for Courtyard

Why doesn’t the Edmonds Planning Board want to name the new courtyard at Old Milltown the Hazel Miller Plaza?

The seven-member board could not come to an agreement with representatives from the Hazel Miller Foundation this week to submit a preferred name to the City Council.

Instead, the naming will be brought up again in the new year.

“The Planning Board had an extensive conversation and wants more time to deliberate,” said Carrie Hite, director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services. “They were thankful for the Hazel Miller Plaza offer, but were requesting a bit more flexibility in the name. The Hazel Miller Foundation was present and stated that they just want the Hazel Miller Plaza, with nothing else added in or changed.”

Some background: The Hazel Miller Foundation has told the city that it will provide a $88,000 grant award, which covers more than half the project's costs, contingent on the courtyard being named after the late benefactor. The foundations specified the name that it wants: “Hazel Miller Plaza.”

The construction of the courtyard is going on now.

According to City of Edmonds’ park naming policy, one of the criteria for the naming of park is met when there is “an individual or organization that contributed significantly to the acquisition or development of the facility to be named.” It further states that it can include “either a deed or substantial monetary contribution, or contribution toward acquisition and/or development of the park or park facility (typically not less than 50 percent of the value of the property or improvements)."

In the case of the Old Milltown courtyard, which the City of Edmonds owns, the Hazel Miller Foundation’s grant of $88,000 far exceeds the 50 percent of total cost of $118,00.

In accordance with the park naming policy, the Planning Board (Phil Lovell, John Reed, Kristiana Johnson, Neil Tibbott, Kevin Clarke, Valerie Stewart, Todd Cloutier, William Ellis) was required to conduct a public hearing and make a formal recommendation to the City Council for adoption. The Planning Board also solicited names from the public, and the one receiving the most votes was “Hazel Miller Plaza.”

(. Thirteen votes were  cast, with 10 of them choosing “Hazel Miller Plaza.”)

“The board feels that it is pretty important to stick with what we had suggested: Hazel Miller Plaza,” said Hazel Miller Foundation board member Leigh Bennett, an Edmonds native and former attorney for Hazel Miller, who died in 2009 at age 93. “We feel that it’s too important to modify the name.”

Added Bennett: “We didn’t ask for this. The City of Edmonds made a grant application and were the ones who actually said that if we give more than 50 percent, as the guidelines say, they will help us shepherd through the name. They’re the ones who asked us to do this.”