Motorcycles, Car2Go, wildlife & more: Fauntleroy Community Association toplines

| Fauntleroy | West Seattle news

Motorcycle noise, car-share parking, and Lincoln Park were among the topics discussed at last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting. Toplines ahead:

From WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, who covered the FCA board’s meeting at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse:

MOTORCYCLE NOISE: Neighbors have been gathering information after recurring complaints about noise from motorcycles coming off the Fauntleroy ferry dock between 5 am and 7 am on weekday mornings. Decibel meters say some are louder than the 70-db limit that is set by city regulations for those hours. But FCA board members acknowledge that not all motorcycles are to blame – just certain types – so they are working on putting together their findings to take to authorities to see if anything can be done.

CAR2GO PARKING IN RESTRICTED ZONES: Streets near the Fauntleroy ferry dock are included in a pocket of Car2Go‘s limited West Seattle service area, and some neighbors have been voicing concern about the spaces the shared cars are using in a restricted-parking (RPZ) zone, where residents have to pay for street-parking permits. FCA board member Gary Dawson went to City Hall earlier in the day to bring it up during the City Council Transportation Committee‘s public-comment period. (He’s in the meeting video starting 5:07 minutes in, followed by a response from committee chair Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who called it an “interesting issue.”) He also stressed this is not an anti-Car2Go campaign; he supports the Car2Go concept but wants to find a middle ground that both allows C2G access and respects the reason for the RPZ – set up years ago to avoid having the limited parking on streets near the dock become entirely park-and-ride.

LINCOLN PARK: Board member Trileigh Tucker is point person to be sure that Fauntleroy community concerns about Lincoln Park remain on the Seattle Parks radar. She noted that the ongoing Legacy Plan discussion is really mostly the push toward the new Parks levy for next year, so she is talking with the city to be sure that concerns about Lincoln Park and its wildlife are included in that consideration.

PUBLIC SAFETY: As also discussed at the board’s June meeting, FCA will convene a community meeting about crime and safety this fall. The date is currently set as September 24th – mark your calendar!

The Fauntleroy Community Association board meets on second Tuesdays at 7 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse – but not in August, so next meeting is in September.

VBD July 10, 2013 (3:09 pm)

Car2Go was clearly opened to the Fauntleroy neighborhood for one reason: to serve the ferry riders. That service, by definition, turns the neighborhood into a “park and ride” for Vashon and Southworth commuters.

The designated parking zone is absurdly small, and nearly half the streets included in the zone do not allow street parking. So even the small size and number of the cars can make a signigicant imapact on residents.

If the cars are there for ferry passengers, the ferry dock should be the location for the parking spots, not the limietd spaces in front of homes. Especially when you consider that the residents are forced to pay for the “priviage” of parking on the street where we live.

SGG July 10, 2013 (6:53 pm)

VBD, parking on the street where you live IS a privilege. It is public right of way and it’s owned as much by you as it is by everyone else. I wish I had my own dedicated street space in my neighborhood of Alki, but I have to compete with all the other people who want to come down here.
As far as Car2go goes, I wish they would just expand the service zone to the entire city limits, which would help alleviate the problem you refer to.

VBD July 11, 2013 (9:06 am)

It’s not a priviage when you are required to purchase a parking permit, which we do.

The the reason the permits are required in the first place is to prevent ferry riders from parking thier cars on the streets near the dock.

Now car2go has provided the riders a way to get around the law, and have a car waiting for them.

planenut July 11, 2013 (10:07 am)

SGG, VBD is right. The reason it is an RPZ here is because at one time we were a parking lot for ferry commuters who could save ferry fares having a car on this side. Car2Go is providing that opportunity again. Right now there are 3 Car2Go Smart cars parked in front of a neighbors house. She couldn’t park there if she had to. Two of them have been there for 3 days. I don’t think Alki residents would like that scenario.

Brian July 11, 2013 (12:31 pm)

I didn’t realize there was any community action being taken regarding the motorcycle noise coming off of the morning ferries.

I live a block off of Fauntleroy just west of Morgan Junction and usually traffic noise is negligible, but when a group of motorcycles unload from the ferry it wakes me right up. Do not like.

fauntleroy fairy July 11, 2013 (1:30 pm)

If people in the city don’t like city noise, I suggest they move. The ferry, and motorcycles for that matter, have been around longer than most of them living near it. These complaints are equivalent to people who move into a flight path next to an airport and then complain about the noise. Or those that move near a ball field and then complain about the bright lights. No one likes their peace and quiet interrupted, but if you live near something where there is the potential for noise, then there is most surely going to be noise.

alkiobserver July 11, 2013 (2:34 pm)

Well said fauntleroy fairy and planenut.

Larry July 11, 2013 (10:08 pm)

Faultleroy fairy, you must be joking. Those bikes are breaking the law. They produce more noise than allowed during those hours. I am a motorcycle rider, but at 5am, that is ridiculous, not to mention illegal. When planes make more noise than allowed by law the airlines are fined, should happen here as well.

M July 15, 2013 (11:33 pm)

This is the same neighborhood association that has tried to get rid of the ferry station altogether. If you don’t like living on a major arterial and near a major transportation hub (ferry dock), then don’t buy a house there! Don’t move there and then try to get rid of it. Incredibly selfish and short sighted given the huge numbers of people that depend on that road and ferry dock.

Sorry, comment time is over.