FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: Ferry dock, police updates, 2 big spring events

| Fauntleroy | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Among the community groups that had monthly meetings this past week was the Fauntleroy Community Association. Here are the toplines:

FERRY ISSUES: While paying close attention to the ongoing planning for the Fauntleroy ferry terminal/dock replacement, FCA is also watchdogging current operational issues. Line-cutting is a major concern. Signage has been added, but FCA doesn’t feel that’s enough. They’re hoping to organize a meeting with WSF, SPD, WSP, and SDOT to discuss what more can be done. Regarding the dock project, FCA’s point person Frank Immel – who’s on the project’s Community Advisory Group – presented updates. The dock rebuild (as reported in our coverage of the most-recent meeting) might expand the its vehicle capacity. FCA is skeptical that would do much for alleviating traffic on Fauntleroy Way. He stressed that at this stage, all possibilities are on the table. The prevailing FCA sentiment so far leans toward support of rebuilding the dock in its current location with the same foot print. Meantime, FCA president Mike Dey is meeting with local elected officials including State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. FCA’s Bruce Butterfield is facilitating next month’s District 1 Community Network meeting and hopes to have the ferry project on the agenda. Meantime, the CAG meets again this Wednesday.

POLICE UPDATES: Fauntleroy’s crime rate is among the lowest in the city, Southwest Precinct Lt. Dave Terry told the FCA board. He was asked how the “emphasis patrols” at nearby Westwood Village are going. They’ve been working as a deterrent when the officers are there, he said. He also warned that those extra patrols will shift to Alki Beach when warmer weather launches the busy season there. Asked for a status report on the staffing challenges, he talked about the time it takes to train new officers, and said that while new hires are in the pipeline, there’s no guarantee any will be assigned to the precinct here.

ANNUAL MEETING: FCA has set May 3rd as the date for the return of the in-person annual membership meeting, known as the Food Fest because it usually includes samples from neighborhood restaurants, More details soon.

EGG HUNT: FCA also continues planning the community Egg Hunt for the week of April 11th.

The Fauntleroy Community Association board meets second Tuesdays, 7 am – watch for announcements at fauntleroy.net.

S March 14, 2022 (3:43 am)

Can we get some transparency please? Can the people behind this push to minimize the ferry terminal at least state whether they have waterfront views that will be impacted by the terminal expansion? There is a small handful of people seeking to protect their waterfront views, at the expense of thousands of commuters and recreational ferry users. At least be forthright about your motives. It’s insane that we have to deal with this selfishness and lack of candor.

WSB March 14, 2022 (9:37 am)

The FCA’s meetings are fully open to the public, even the board meetings, which is more transparent than many community groups. They also, more than many community groups, go out of their way to literally survey the greater community looking for input from people who otherwise don’t show up to participate. They’re also the last local group still publishing a printed newsletter (available electronically as well). Here’s their page about the ferry project so far.
FCA March 14, 2022 (1:03 pm)

Hello S,The FCA is a fairly open book. All of our business meetings are open to the public. You should come to one if you are concerned about transparency. (https://fauntleroy.net/meetings) Additionally you can find the minutes to most of our meetings dating back to 2011. (Older minutes have been lost to time.) While you are correct that some of the folks concerned have views of the water, not everybody on our board does, and most of our community survey respondents do not have a view that would be affected by the ferry terminal. The most recent survey was completed in 2020 the tabulated results of which can be found here: https://www.fauntleroy.net/survey. Please, do some research on our website. Come to a meeting, find out what we are all about before lobbing such comments in our direction.

CarDriver March 14, 2022 (2:38 pm)

S. NOBODY owes you a personal briefing. Sorry, you’re not that special. As FCA stated it’s all out in the open. All that’s required for you-and everyone else to get educated is come out from behind your keyboard and actually attend a meeting.

Fairy Doc March 14, 2022 (3:51 pm)

I too, see no issue in full disclosure of those who do have obvious water front views that would be impacted. This information is fairly open to find through King County web sites, so how about factual disclosure served with the fact that not all FCA board or FCA members do have waterfront/ferry dock views.

Buzz March 15, 2022 (6:28 pm)

Expansion of the dock is essentially an expansion of a state highway creating more traffic congestion throughout West Seattle, impacting many more people than those with views in Fauntleroy.

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