In partnership with SOZO Sports of Central Washington, the City entered into an agreement to cooperatively purchase 60 acres of property south of the Yakima Air Terminal for the development of a premier soccer and mixed use sports facility.  Included in this partnership agreement, the City Council also approved the City’s investment in additional property adjacent to the SOZO sports complex to be developed by SOZO as a City public park and recreation facility.

On July 11, 2017 the City Council entered a Public Park and Recreation Facility Development and Maintenance Agreement with SOZO to define the expectations and obligations of the City and SOZO in the cooperative public park development and operation.  In order to provide SOZO the right of possession and use over the subject property that is necessary to permit them to develop and maintain it as a public park under the terms of the Development Agreement, the attached Public Park and Recreation Facility Lease Agreement between the City of Yakima and SOZO Sports of Central Washington is necessary to complete the terms of the previous agreements entered by the parties.

SOZO has previously agreed, by the terms of the underlying Public Park and Recreational Facility Development and Maintenance Agreement, to construct, operate, and maintain a Public Park and Recreation Facility on property the City purchased adjacent to and immediately north of the SOZO sports complex.  The attached Lease Agreement provides the property to SOZO by which to accomplish those conditions.

The City entered into a separate partnership with the YMCA to allow the use of a portion of the City’s Chesterley Park property for the construction of a publicly available aquatic facility and fitness center.  To allow this use of the park property previously acquired with Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and National Park Service funds, the City is required to provide matching property as replacement for the Chesterley Park property displaced by the YMCA development.

In addition to satisfying the agreement with SOZO, this park facility will also be proposed as an equal exchange replacement property as required by the RCO terms for the use of Chesterley Park property.