City grants temporary ice rink Special Use Permit despite hesitation

A special use permit was put into place for an upcoming winter recreation fixture, Holiday on Ice, a temporary ice rink - only after some concern was voiced, grumbling from concerned residents and even debate amongst council members.
    After Rich Yakkey, Holidays on Ice owner, approached the council on his third visit in February, the council put into motion the development of a special use permit for the project.
    "Mr. Yakkey's company will be providing the necessary equipment to construct, operate and then maintaining 75 foot by 100 foot temporary ice rink," said Joel Walinski, city administrator. "That will be at Lion's Club park. They'll be open some point in early November through January, approximately three months."
    The special use permit is a measure to ensure the city can provide a location and the basic infrastructure needs for the temporary ice rink. The needed equipment from the city will serve future purposes and not just tied to the temporary ice skating rink, according to Walinski.
    "On the city's side, the city will have to provide the space..we'll have to provide the box (for the three phase transformer from the Chelan PUD)," said Walinski. "In terms of trash, access to the bathrooms, plow the snow. We (Public Works) already do those so I don't see an increase in staff time."
    Holidays on Ice will handle the the majority of the elements internally, without the city's aid - maintenance, skate rentals and the concession stand will be the company's responsibility. Once Holiday on Ice reaches $200,000 ticket sales, 50% of ticket sales will be paid back to the city. Once the city reaches $10,000 in payment, the city's ticket sale intake will be reduced to 25%.    
    "I would like to say I'm totally in support of this. It is an opportunity for us to have a skating rink, albeit small. I would love to have a bigger option, but this is now. This gives us a chance to see how many people would use it," said Margaret Neighbors, council member. "I think it will be something that will add to the charm of Leavenworth."
    Council member, Jason Lundgren, seemed hesitate to cast a swift approval and questioned the noise, the parking, the time that the ice rink will close and how the neighborhoods near the future ice rink will react. He rattled off several factors wedged between him and his vote of approval.
    "Have we or will we do any outreach to the neighbors? I noticed that their noise will be permitted to 10 p.m. which is with code, but nonetheless I wonder has anyone spoken with the neighbors who are going to have a new thing in their backyard," asked Lundgren to which Walinski replied, not yet but the city has plans to contact those nearby. "I don't want it to prevent us to have a more full fledged ice rink in the future. I'm a little bit concerned about the exterior look of the ice rink. Where do we expect customers to park?"
    Walinski stated that the city has provided parking behind Lion's Park to the temporary rink and the pool parking lot will be available. The expectation is that there isn't much anticipation for individuals to drive to the rink, but rather walk from downtown.
    One concerned neighbor, Lisa Magee, echoed Lundgren's worry about the noise extending until 10 p.m. seeping into the surrounding neighborhoods.
    "I live a block away from here and we get all kinds of noise in the winter time. So 'oh this is not going to matter after eight or ten at night', it does matter," said Magee.
    Local resident, Marco Aurilio, had a different series of questions to prod the council with. He particularly framed his curiosity around his desire to have a much larger, more community driven ice skating rink.
    "I want a rink desperately. The rink they're providing is too small for programs (such as figure skating, hockey)," said Aurilio. "It's (Holidays on Ice rink) not even going to represent what we could achieve. We are a sporting community. We need something that's going to provide something we can figure skate on, play ice hockey on and not be overcrowded."
    Aurilio then launched into his question as to why this ice rink was approved but a previously proposed ice rink that would be large and safe enough for programs was denied by the city. Walinski leaped in to answer this question.
    "There's nobody that came forward that said they would own, operate and run an ice rink over in that area whereas this gentleman contacted us the last couple of years that he was very interested in doing that. That's probably the number one reason why," said Walinski.
    Lundgren casted his vote in favor of the rink that seemed to be tipping in the middle as he weighed the pros and cons; but first he regarded Aurilio's worries with a consoling prediction as to how it will work out in his favor in the long run.
    "I hope I'm right about this, but I actually think this ice skating rink despite its flaws might actually help you see your vision in the future. Having an ice skating rink that crushes it over there and does really well could help your case," said Lundgren. "As much as this thing makes me a little uncomfortable, I think it could actually help us into a nicer facility for everybody."