Updates from June’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting

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No major topics at June’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting, held at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse and online on Tuesday night, but we do have a few toplines from monitoring via Zoom:

FAUNTLEROY FERRY DOCK PROJECT: FCA’s ferry-issues point person Frank Immel said the next Community Advisory Group meeting for the dock-replacement project isn’t expected any sooner than July – the traffic studies they’ve been waiting for aren’t ready yet. (WSF is having systemwide general-info meetings next week, though – info on those is here.) He met recently with Ferries’ new boss Steve Nevey; FCA president Mike Dey says he has a conversation scheduled next week with our area’s State Sen. Joe Nguyễn.

FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER: Last month’s dine-out benefit at Endolyne Joe’s was deemed a success. The annual festival is entirely supported by donations and volunteers, so another dine-out benefit is under consideration, perhaps with Wildwood Market as well as Joe’s.

PLANTERS: FCA maintains the flower planters you might have noticed around the Endolyne mini-business district. They were recently replenished – with 19 volunteers, that took about an hour and a half.

WHAT’S NEXT: The FCA board meets most months on the second Tuesday at 6 pm. Watch fauntleroy.net for updates.

JustSarah June 13, 2024 (11:09 am)

More West Seattleites should be paying attention to the ferry dock replacement project.

With the current dock size, loading is incredibly inefficient because there is minimal room for staging for the two destinations. As a result of the small dock, ferry lines extend north down Fauntleroy, creating hazards for pedestrians and other drivers. Though those cars are not supposed to let their engines idle, many do, because the line starts and stops frequently. The current situation is unsustainable. The dock needs to be replaced no matter what, so we should absolutely be using this opportunity to welcome a larger dock.

Currently, the only direct representation of West Seattle with WSF is coming from members of the Fauntleroy Community Association board members, who have vested interests in blocking a larger dock. The FCA was founded in the ’70s literally to block dock expansion and improvement, and that mission continues in their current board membership, which includes the daughter and son-in-law of those founders.

One of the reasons they cite for opposing a larger dock is protetion of the near-shore habitats and eelgrass under the dock. WSF and others have pointed out that a longer dock is actually better for those flora and fauna, as it would mean boats would moor farther out, in deeper water, yet Mike Dey continues to do everything possible to shut down the larger dock. I could speculate as to his actual motivations for preventing a larger dock, but it would likely mean my comment wouldn’t be posted. I will say that several of the FCA board members own waterfront properties near the ferry dock.

Please email joe.nguyen@leg.wa.gov to voice your opinion on the dock improvement project.

Kyle June 13, 2024 (1:59 pm)

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I agree with most of this. I don’t understand why we would not seize this opportunity to build a bigger dock to get more queueing cars off our streets that cause all sorts of near misses and chaos down there everyday. I’ve heard the argument that a bigger dock will incentive more drivers, newsflash they are already there. Peak times will still likely overflow but let’s at least build it big enough so this is not an all day every day issue. Overhead pedestrian loading would be nice too.
- Ivan Weiss June 14, 2024 (6:08 am)
  
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  I agree with all these points, especially “I’ve heard the argument that a bigger dock will incentive more drivers, newsflash they are already there.” I want to remind people, this is not primarily a Vashon issue. It’s fueled by runaway, unchecked development in Kitsap County, which has led to increased Southworth traffic. That increase shows no sign of slowing.
  
  The anti-dock-expansion voices in the Fauntleroy Community Asociation might as well be the legendary 11th-century monarch King Knut, who, to show his followers he wasn’t as all-powerful as they believed, sat in his throne on the seashore and commanded the tide not to come in.

S June 13, 2024 (11:31 pm)

A bigger dock that will reduce the line of cars along Fauntleroy, improve safety, and reduce nearshore impacts is more important than protecting NIMBY views.