Brian Kelly / The Record

The sky over Langley’s fir-filled skyline is aglow at sunrise Wednesday. City officials have been talking about preserving the treeline in Langley, but some are skeptical of the idea.

LANGLEY — Trees and trails — the ones that are there, and the ones that aren’t — dominated the discussion of Langley’s long-range plan for parks at a public hearing earlier this week.

The city’s parks and open space commission has been working for the past 16 months to create a new chapter in Langley’s comprehensive plan that details how parks and open space will grow along with the city for the next two decades.

After 20 meetings devoted to parks and planning, parks commissioners met Monday to present the 36-page piece of the comp plan to the public. While those present said they liked what they saw, some said there was still room for improvement.

“Overall, I’m very pleased,” said Marianne Edain of the Whidbey Environmental Action Network.

Even so, she said that more details were needed. Edain noted that the draft proposal did not include information on how wide trails would be, and if they would be paved or not.

It was also important to talk about preserving native vegetation near trails, Edain said, and she also raised concern about the plan when it mentioned that trails could be built in “critical areas,” which include streams and wetlands.

Edain said she was no fan of trails in such environmentally sensitive spots.

“If I see one more boardwalk, I’m going to…” she said.

The ambitious plan sets a goal of a citywide trail system that connects neighborhoods and the downtown with parks and open space inside and outside Langley.

The city hopes to work with private landowners to get easements for the trail system, and a map in the draft plan shows the location of future trails stretching throughout the city and its urban growth area.

City planner Fred Evander said the routes mapped for trails were not precise.

“The plan lists areas that we’d like to see connected with trails, rather than exact routes,” Evander said.

Joyce Fossek, a property owner at the southern edge of town, asked the city’s parks commission if the new trails would be fenced.

It might be a problem if they aren’t, she added.

“Everybody seems to think if they’re walking on a trail, that if there’s a big piece next to it, that that’s their playground as well,” she said.

Evander said the city wanted to work with willing property owners, and that would include negotiations over stipulations on how easements for trails would be used once they are granted. He also said the city expects to pay for easements.

Others questioned the part of the parks plan that talked about trees. One goal in the plan is to “protect treelines essential to the character of the city of Langley.”

It also says that a “contiguous treeline” should be preserved.

Fred Fossek said that would be a tough target to hit.

“Treelines are a dynamic process,” he said. “And they keep altering, sometimes on their own volition, and sometimes with intent of the owner.

“A prime example is, where I live, I used to see Mount Baker. But I can no longer see Mount Baker because the dynamics of my neighbor’s trees have taken over my view,” Fossek said.

Treelines change over time, Joyce Fossek agreed.

“There is nothing that’s permanent about trees,” she said.

“You could have a hurricane, and all the trees that have been planned have been flattened flatter than a pancake. And I can just visualize the person who has the treeline is going to have to try to stand them up again,” she said.

Evander, however, noted that the city had not set out a specific line of trees that must be preserved.

Fred Fossek said the city should instead consider focusing its efforts on the amount of forested area it wants to protect, rather than the treeline that exists today.

Parks commissioners noted the suggestions, and also briefly set out their priorities for acquiring new areas for parks and open space in the future.

The first priority will be to implement Langley’s “core area and corridor concept,” which has previously been described as the “blobs and belts” approach that would create a ring of open space around the city.

Agricultural lands larger than 15 acres would top the list of places to be protected and conserved, followed by land next to streams and wetlands, and then areas that could fill the gaps between parks and critical areas. Protecting “priority forests” is fourth on the list.

The city’s next priority would be to enhance existing parks and open space areas — management plans would be created for city-owned parks and natural areas — followed by the development of a trail system.

The parks commission will continue to take testimony on the draft plan next week. The public hearing will continue at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30 at city hall.

After the parks commission completes its review, the plan will go to the city council for adoption in December.

Brian Kelly can be reached at 221-5300 or bkelly@southwhidbeyrecord.com.