Alki Community Council: 59th/Admiral; beach signage; more…

Toplines from last night’s Alki Community Council meeting:

(WSB photo, December 2017)

59TH/ADMIRAL: The ACC discussed the intersection as a followup to recent changes made by SDOT as part of the ongoing Admiral Way Safety Project, as well as advocacy by the Traffic Safety Task Force set up by parents at nearby Alki Elementary. A key point of discussion was getting a full traffic signal – which the parents want – versus keeping the pedestrian-activated light on Admiral and stop signs on 59th. ACC president Tony Fragada will ask that the SDOT project manager come to their next meeting; he’s also hoping to talk with West Seattle-residing at-large City Councilmember Lorena González, who chairs the committee that oversees safety.

NOISE ENFORCEMENT: Jesse Robbins, who initiated the project that eventually led to Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s survey showing a high level of vehicle-noise concerns in the area, was back to visit (backstory is in our coverage of November’s ACC meeting). As previously reported, he and colleagues are working on a potential technology solution to the challenges that police say get in the way of enforcing noise laws (needing to hear/record/prove the violation, for example). He said they’ll be testing at an Eastside park twice in the next two weeks. Meantime, as previously reported, SPD is under orders to report to the City Council in March about enforcement-related issues; Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said those contributing to the report include the City Attorney’s Office, regarding the state of noise laws and how they could be amended, and financially focused personnel to look at how the issue might be addressed in the SPD budget. Robbins says they would like to run a test at Alki this summer, but that depends on how the SPD report turns out.

CRIME TRENDS: Nothing of note to report so far since the start of the year, Lt. Smith said, but 2017 did bring a bigger reduction in crime in the Southwest Precinct than other precincts in the city, he said. (You can crunch crime numbers from neighborhood level to citywide level any time by going here.)

MORE ALKI SIGNAGE? This was a community-member-led discussion on whether Alki might benefit from more signs, whether to remind people about the laws prohibiting dogs on the beach or to educate people about birds in the area (similar to The Whale Trail and Seal Sitters signage about marine mammals). Department of Neighborhoods rep Yun Pitre suggested this could be proposed for funding via the Your Voice, Your Choice process that’s under way now. The ACC will look into having a Seattle Parks rep come to a future meeting to discuss not only signage but also chronic issues with trash pickup at the beach.

The Alki Community Council meets on the third Thursday most months, 7 pm at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds).

11 Replies to "Alki Community Council: 59th/Admiral; beach signage; more..."

  • T January 19, 2018 (1:36 pm)

    Signs may help but not as much as ticketing dog owners who bring dogs to the beach, let them run off leash in parks, school playgrounds, etc. Signs have not helped in this regard. Owners act as if there are no consequences. Very brazen behavior discussed here for years.
    Animal control needs to spend every day at the beach for 3 months straight until everyone gets the message but I know that won’t/can’t happen. An increase in the fine is probably a good thing too.

    • Guy Olson January 19, 2018 (1:47 pm)

      Well put, a lot of dog owners bring their dogs out late at night to run on the beach as well. Which disturbs the Heron and other animals.

    • John January 19, 2018 (4:40 pm)

      Good luck with that, there are literally 2 animal enforcement officers that are employed by the city and they work as a pair.  They get to “enforce” pet laws at all 300+ parks on the area.

  • GeneseeNative January 19, 2018 (3:44 pm)

    See lots of dogs at Admiral Safeway. Went to the manager once who told me “nothing they can do about it” and walked away from me. A lot of off leash dogs on the beach in the morning’s also.  Dog owners DO NOT care what the law is. I also see them walk past the no dogs allowed sign at Genesee Hill elementary. I watched a couple bring their dog in, which promptly peed and pooped on the grass. The funniest part was the fact that they had their daughter with them who looked to be a 1st grader and probably went to school there. Guess the figured it was fine for her and the other kids to be running around in that. Would not like to see what THEIR property looked like!! 

  • Lola January 19, 2018 (4:27 pm)

    What does the blue mean?  I saw this down there but did not know what it was for?

    • HappyOnAlki January 19, 2018 (5:22 pm)

      The blue basically means “don’t drive here.” It’s a way of narrowing the lanes with paint instead of concrete curbing.

  • SLS January 19, 2018 (5:09 pm)

    I wish there were more people to enforce the dog rules.  On a nice day they could make a lot of money in fines and if they kept that up on weekends, it would go a long way towards the salary for another person.

  • Leelee January 20, 2018 (2:35 am)

    Wow. People don’t like dogs around here! 

    I think humans disturb the wildlife just a SMIDGE more than pet dogs. Just saying.

    • KBear January 20, 2018 (4:30 pm)

      No, Leelee, people LOVE dogs around here. Unfortunately, some of these dogs belong to ignorant or thoughtless people who allow them to do serious damage to the natural environment. Dogs on the beach or running off-leash in a park can destroy fragile plants or animals in a few seconds, before anyone can do anything to stop them. By the way, disturbing marine mammals is a federal offense that carries some serious penalties. It would be great if we had more off-leash areas in West Seattle, but there are still plenty of ways to exercise your pets safely and legally.

  • Lola January 20, 2018 (11:44 am)

    Is there going to be sign’s where the blue paint is?  I guess if I did not know what it means will anybody else?  I have never seen this before.  I even showed the picture to my husband and he thought maybe it was for walkers to walk on. Can bicycles ride on the blue?

  • Really January 20, 2018 (3:29 pm)

    LEELEE. People do like dog’s. We DON’T like dog owners who think they’re special and don’t have to follow the law! Keep your dog’s leashed at ALL times, keep them out of stores and pick up after them. 

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