If the Lorax spoke for the trees in Oak Harbor, he might have had plenty to say last week.

City council members offered both praise and skepticism during a workshop as they reviewed a new Parks, Recreation and Open Space master plan — a roadmap for the city’s parks, recreational facilities and green spaces through 2032.

Council members were generally favorable towards the idea but not without some doubts.

It will address a diverse umbrella of topics, including providing development regulations, improving recreation amenities, protecting conservation areas and outlining funding strategies to support these initiatives.

Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith explained that while it is a modified plan, it will still draw from goals and policies previously adopted, dating back to the original plan created in 1989.

With $80,000 set aside for the plan from the general fund, the cost of working with a consultant to complete the project is estimated to be between $100,000 to $165,000, Smith said, which is a comparable price tag to other cities of a similar size in Washington. The city can take some of that work in-house to reduce costs, he added.

Mayor Pro Tempore Tara Hizon was in support of posting a “request for proposal” and evaluating the plan from there.

“It may end up being something we need to tweak or combine,” she said. “I don’t think it hurts to do that. “

Though not opposed to putting out an RFP, Councilmember Bryan Stucky wasn’t as keen on the master plan idea. After doing some research into the prior plan that ran from 2019 through 2024, he noted that the population hasn’t changed substantially since then and, outside of Freedom Park, the city hasn’t added more parks.

“Looking at it, it almost feels like as if you took that same plan and presented it today, what, six years later. I don’t see a whole lot of difference,” Stucky said.

The goals outlined in the plan, Smith said, will allow the city to more easily apply for grants. The updated version of the plan will be needed especially for state Recreation and Conservation Office grants, Grants Administrator Wendy Horn said in a text message to Mayor Ronnie Wright.

Though Stucky noted he understood the purpose of the plan for the grant opportunity, he wondered whether they should be spending the money on a new plan that is mostly the same despite “little differences.”

“Had there not been a grant piece, this would be a pretty tough one for me to swallow,” Stucky said.

Smith also noted that they could look into combining the Parks, Recreation and Open Space plan with the recreation center feasibility study. It is intended to be incorporated into the comp plan as well.

Councilmember Eric Marshall stated he wasn’t keen on merging it with the feasibility study for the recreation center. With so many plans, he is hesitant to have them all coincide.

Still, Marshall noted his support for the new plan as it would analyze the programs the city has already implemented and address future needs. He claimed a 2026 fall time frame for implementation would be ideal, as it would be around when other studies are completed.

A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed some quotes. We regret the error.