Will three fewer hours make a difference? City considers Riverview Playfield change

| Highland Park | Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(WSB photo of fire’s aftermath, June 2016)

Seattle Parks is considering changing the hours at Riverview Playfield (7226 12th SW) in hopes of enabling more police enforcement in response to problems there. Next Thursday, the city Board of Park Commissioners‘ meeting will include a public hearing on changing the hours from 4 am-11:30 pm to 6 am-10 pm. Here’s the rationale as listed in the city briefing paper for Thursday’s meeting:

At this site, there have been continuous complaints about illegal behavior occurring at the park. Drinking and vandalism occur in the evening hours and people congregate at all hours. Neighbors and Parks staff cite four specific reasons for requesting the change in hours:

1) Maintenance workers are burdened with cleaning beer cans, broken glass, and laden trash. The park benches were often found damaged.

2) Tagging is pervasive especially late at night and after the park has closed. At sites with similar issues, changing the closing time to 10:00 p.m. enabled SPD to do a sweep through the park and enforce the closure time.

3) Neighbors frequently call 911 because of the late night activities which often include loud and boisterous behavior, in addition to illegal activity.

4) Community members do not feel safe confronting those who loiter in the park after hours and the earlier closure time enables the police to enforce the rules.

Perhaps the biggest incident in recent years – the 2016 arson that left a new restroom/storage building at the park closed for a year (top photo). The Parks Board hearing is during its regular meeting at Parks HQ downtown next Thursday (September 27th), 6:30 pm, 100 Dexter Ave. N.

Jim P. September 21, 2018 (3:41 pm)

People illegally using the park after it is closed are not going to be affected by this in any fashion. It simply gives them more hours to be left alone and denies honest citizens use of publicly paid for resources.This is the reward for Seattle having such a “relaxed” attitude towards vagrants and derelicts and addicts.

T September 21, 2018 (4:15 pm)

You beat me to it.
ltfd September 21, 2018 (5:21 pm)

Sad but true.

WS Guy September 21, 2018 (5:34 pm)

This is worthless without enforcement. The City should try patrolling and enforcement with the existing hours, and if the vagrants wreak havoc between the non-patrol hours of 4-6 AM then yeah, change the times.

TJ September 21, 2018 (5:35 pm)

Graffiti, vandalism, and garbage being dumped aren’t happening during open hours now. Does the city really need people to tell them that? This isn’t a building they lock up at closing. Park on the street and walk in…no matter the hours. And I have a question I have asked the parks department numerous times before without getting an answer: what happened to watering the grass at this and other parks like they used to do? I spent a lot of time on that playfield 30 years ago with a friend who lived right there and they watered that grass all the time. So many memories of the sprinkler heads popping up close to dusk and running off the field. We pay way too much in taxes for our parks to get reduced hours and bone dry grass. The ladt parks levy was supposed to improve many services, yet I have seen no improvement to existing park features.

mok4315 September 21, 2018 (5:52 pm)

I close this park twice a week, at 10pm, which oddly enough is already the posted hour for closure and what I’ve been instructed to do. So I’m not entirely sure where the 1130pm came from. And all that we do is lock the bathrooms and the gates, so no one can drive in and park overnight or sleep in the bathrooms. There’s a lot of street parking though, and obviously people can still get in whether they have ill intent or not.

Goddess Andraste September 22, 2018 (9:48 am)

I get home from work between 10:50 and 11pm, and even though the gates are locked, the bathrooms are lit up and wide open. I have frequently seen people going in and out.
- mok4315 September 27, 2018 (2:34 pm)
  
  That’s very interesting. Do you recal if the bathroom doors have been open recently or if this was a while ago?
  - Goddess Andraste September 28, 2018 (9:54 am)
    
    Most recent was the beginning of last week, maybe Monday or Tuesday. My days kinda blur together sometimes, so I’m not certain of the exact night. I’ll make a note of the day/time if I see it continuing to happen.

rob September 21, 2018 (8:19 pm)

when seattle is loosing cops by 3 every other month they dont have the man power to patrol. Hey Tracey why dont you pin down herzbold and ask her why the seattle cops are leaving and going to other cities that respect them

Bryan September 21, 2018 (9:44 pm)

I walk my dog by here almost daily, and there is a camper that is typically parked in the parking lot. I just don’t understand how parking a RV in multiple spots for weeks on end is okay. It is also parked after hours. Maybe the RV is really a plant for the SPD.It is a nice place but it’s sad that it has to no make people feel unsafe.

Marcia September 21, 2018 (11:58 pm)

The owner of that RV is a very responsible citizen who often cleans up the park. She doesn’t pollute, isn’t noisy, doesn’t park in the designated spaces, and is actually an asset in that she keeps the area clean. I hope people can have enough compassion to allow her to park there. If she were any trouble at all, I would absolutely support your complaint. Of course I understand that there’s always the question “Where do you draw the line? If you allow one…” But until it’s a bigger problem, can we just show some love?

Craig September 22, 2018 (7:34 am)

I hope Parks is willing to go a little further -Specifically that Parks adds signage or changes the parking layout on Webster to stop overnight parking.(I believe the parking spaces on the north side of Webster are on Parks property) and that SPD does it’s part.I live close to where the RV owner parks and I don’t consider the presence of her vehicle to be an asset by any stretch. Her RV has leaked quarts of petroleum onto the street, and the presence of her RV was a signal for others to park there last spring when we had many problems including on RV owner who dumped his holding tank in the street.Marcia, if you’d like to help our long term camper(and I know you are not alone in this) maybe we could help her find local housing or a legal place to park her RV? I have empathy but don’t feel allowing her or anyone else to live on the street is the answer for lots of reasons. Thanks MOK4315 . I too thought the park closed ad 10pm.

Sorry, comment time is over.