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First night for early closing time at Alki Beach

May 27, 2022 8:52 pm
|      50 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

We noticed that Seattle Police car at Alki Beach around 6:30 pm, a few hours before officers are supposed to start helping Parks personnel close the park for the night. This is the first night of a second summer for the 10 pm closing time at Alki (and Golden Gardens); we first reported in March that the city planned to do it again this year. The beach wasn’t too busy when we went through, but the below-60 temperature is likely more responsible for that than anticipation of early park closure. Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Martin Rivera told the Alki Community Council last week that Parks is supposed to cover the cost of two officers assisting at closing time. One more change ahead at Alki: The beach fire rings are supposed to officially open starting tomorrow; fires are supposed to be out by 9:30 pm.

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50 Replies to "First night for early closing time at Alki Beach"

  • cheeseWS777 May 27, 2022 (9:54 pm)

    Suns out later, so now its time to send people home sooner. Enjoy your summer folks! Do what they tell you

  • Derek May 27, 2022 (10:10 pm)

    Isn’t this the time of year to be open later?? It’s warm out. I don’t get the early time….beaches are public….

    • My two cents May 28, 2022 (9:38 am)

      Many things are “public” yet still have rules and frameworks to support the overall good and hopefully safety of the citizens. Past history and neighborhood feedback provided guidance for this issue. 

  • vee May 27, 2022 (10:34 pm)

    people who obey who are most, are penailzed by those that dont all mixed up not right, just be on patrol and let others enjoy themselves 

  • Darren May 28, 2022 (3:46 am)

    They are closing these two parks early so there won’t be a lot of noise and partying, which causes all the problems down there. 

    • Mike May 28, 2022 (4:47 pm)

      Lol funny how u can still drive like 80 through harbor Blvd to  just to get to Alki wow such hypocrisy 🙄 

    • cheeseWS777 May 28, 2022 (7:23 pm)

      Ok, where are they suposed to go to have fun??? I thought thats what the beach was for

  • North Admiral Resident May 28, 2022 (4:31 am)

    How to prevent gun violence 

  • Al King May 28, 2022 (6:36 am)

    Derek,Cheese. It’s time to to rebel! It’s our  RIGHT to do anything we want any time anywhere!!  Stand up to the people that say there are law’s and rules!! NOBODY has the right to tell us ANYTHING!!

    • M May 29, 2022 (1:03 pm)

      Assuming you’re making fun of the typical millennial response?

  • Runner May 28, 2022 (6:59 am)

     Hmmmm, just wondering what would happen if the no alcohol on the beach was enforced?  

  • Lucy May 28, 2022 (8:07 am)

    Rather than closing the beaches earlier, I’d like to see enforcement of traffic laws.  Speeding, racing, burning rubber and doing circles in the middle of the road…..   why is this tolerated?   Let the kids have their beach fires until 2am.  They aren’t bothering anyone.   

    • Just wondering May 28, 2022 (11:33 am)

      Since the park opens at 4 am start your beach fires then!!!

    • Dan Keller May 28, 2022 (11:41 pm)

      You also have to remember people like myself, live down there as well.  Just curious, do you live at Alki?

  • Elon b May 28, 2022 (9:37 am)

    Beaches are part of Seattle park’s system . Public but governed by parks board. The trouble that brews there after 10:00 is also public 

  • anonyme May 28, 2022 (10:47 am)

    Beach closure times should align with the noise ordinance and park regulations.  Laws regarding alcohol and fires should be enforced.  Simple common sense, no reason for debate.

    • Lucy May 28, 2022 (11:30 am)

      Apply those laws across the board then.  

      • anonyme May 28, 2022 (5:03 pm)

        Is that a counterpoint or an agreement?  Which laws across what board?

  • Mj May 28, 2022 (11:32 am)

    2200 is too early especially on weekends during the summer, sunset is after 2100!  2330 is more appropriate.

  • Rhonda May 28, 2022 (12:32 pm)

    21:30 for fire pit extinguishing and 22:00 for beach evacuation is far too early. In a couple weeks it’ll still be light at those hours. If SPD won’t/can’t enforce the 23:30 closure, what difference would a 22:00 closure make? Neighbors calling 911 for beach partiers at 1am will get the same non-response they’ve gotten for years.

    • 🔥 May 28, 2022 (1:22 pm)

      ☝️This…

    • ⛾ May 28, 2022 (5:09 pm)

      Perhaps call Lisa Herbold as well and ask her how she plans to make more police available to respond?

  • Mark Schletty May 28, 2022 (1:34 pm)

    Again, this early closing is only necessary because already existing laws and regulations aren’t enforced.  And that is the case because Lisa Herbold and most of the rest of our City Council don’t want them enforced. Get rid of them, restart enforcing the laws, and the parks can again stay open later. 

  • Eric May 28, 2022 (5:48 pm)

    People put out their fires and then return once the cops leave, happened last night, all night, with fireworks too! Seems unfair to close the beach early only if you have nothing to lose, people who live on Alki are all in favor of this reasonable closing time.

  • Resident May 28, 2022 (7:09 pm)

    Ooo Here’s an idea. Why don’t parents take more responsibility for their kids? Why don’t ADULTS act like ADULTS instead of 5 yr olds? Why leave the beach open late for fights, guns and drugs? It’s the few who ruin it for the many. Suck it up Buttercup. Until humans actually act like humans this is what youre going to have to deal with. 

  • Alki Resident May 28, 2022 (11:14 pm)

    I can sympathize with most posts here but unfortunately it’s the few that ruin it for many. Unless you actually live down here you won’t get it. The beach fire smoke (many bring truck loads of smoky wet wood and branches) permeates inside our homes for hours where we can’t even keep a window open. Music, loud cars and motor cycle revving engines that shatter eardrums, and then parting all night vibrates through our walls and windows. God forbid should you venture onto your deck to try and hear the waves crash, only to retreat quickly when you hear gun fire less than a block away….unless you live this everyday….you have no idea what you are talking about.  Build a fire (respectfully), keep the smoke to a minimum.  Gather as friends with respect to the neighboring group(s) beside you, take you garbage with you when you leave, and keep your music to ‘your ear level’, be kind to others and if, IF that can be achieved….I’d say let everyone party! I LOVE seeing a bonfire from my deck and hearing distant laughing and faint music drifting my way.  Unfortunately that’s not the case anymore. 😢 We NEED that curfew….whether we like it or not.

    • rocket May 29, 2022 (1:50 am)

      This is the most entitled whiny privileged  nonsense I have read maybe ever.  People have been partying on Alki beach in the summer time for literal centuries.  You chose to move there, did you not notice that its a little busy there in the summer time?  Get over yourself.  It must be so tough being trapped in the hellhole that is being a homeowner on Alki point, SMH.

      • Al King May 29, 2022 (6:24 am)

        Rocket. I’m betting you don’t live on Alki.  I’m doubling my bet if the late-night antics were happening in YOUR neighborhood you wouldn’t be “getting over yourself”

      • Resident May 29, 2022 (10:09 am)

        The hypocrisy of calling someone entitled when people can’t act like decent human beings and act up at all hours and then escalates into schootings ruining it for all those responsible ones, including residents that ARE entitled to live in a beautiful area and be able to enjoy a safe environment. Those crowds down by Alki beach have now moved on to the car park on Harbor Avenue, doing donuts in the wee hours of the night, racing up and down Alki and Harbor, drinking and leaving garbage behind including broken bottles, and last night, an active shooting at 1:35 AM at the car park.It’s been getting worse and worse for us residents and entitled is hardly a word I’d used for residents that have had put up with the increasing noise and now illegal activities. Entitled is what I call those who think that public areas are at their disposal at all hours of the night and feeling like they have the right to ruin it for everyone.

      • M May 29, 2022 (1:07 pm)

        So weird to hear an entitled response calling someone else’s reasonable points “entitled.”Sorry GenZ and millennials… If you can’t be responsible on your own someone will step in to make you responsible. 

    • AG May 29, 2022 (12:21 pm)

      Precisely this, from another Alki Ave resident. Anyone whining that we’re “entitled” is cordially invited to host the mayhem on their own front lawn. 

      • Rocket May 29, 2022 (5:43 pm)

        You poor babies, stuck in a very popular neighborhood and wondering why so many people are there.  Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and take some responsibility for your lives and take action rather than wait for someone else to be responsible.   Don’t like living in a popular neighborhood because everyone wants to be there just like you?  Even a boomer can figure out what to do about that.

  • Runner May 29, 2022 (7:02 am)

    Well said Alki Resident.  The comments that try to support the rude, I don’t care about anyone else behavior are boring and worn out dribble.  Everyone has a right to expect to live in a safe, law abiding, neighborhood.  The folks that say it’s always been that way, my mommy and daddy did it so I should be able too, don’t get it and I doubt ever will. If you want to party outside and play loud music, then do it in your own backyard, if you have one.  See how your neighbors like it.  If you want to come visit Alki then do it with respect and courtesy to others, obey the law, and enjoy yourself, no problem.

    • WS Res May 29, 2022 (9:13 pm)

      The beach is not your front yard. It belongs to everyone. If you didn’t want to live across from a public good, you shouldn’t have moved there.  I once lived across from a community park/sports field. In the summer, the practices began early and went on all day. It would have been wrong for me to complain about it and try to get it stopped, though, because that space belonged to everyone and was for the purpose of recreation.  So is Alki Beach.

    • Joe Chevicjk May 29, 2022 (10:22 pm)

      Well said. 

  • Eye Roll May 29, 2022 (7:22 am)

    Seattle: Where the fun never starts. 

    • Scubafrog May 30, 2022 (11:29 am)

      I’m sure you’d enjoy lawless Texas.  Seattle’s always been fun, for responsible adults.  Instead of whining, I’m sure your likely amazon job will transfer you.  And I’m sure musk’s always hiring. Ciao!  

  • Pessoa May 29, 2022 (10:59 am)

    As someone who spent a lot of time at the chaotic circus that is Venice Beach in LA,  I saw far less fragileness and far more acceptance from everyone, even despite the well-known problems such as encampments on the beach.  What doesn’t help is being terrified to mingle with those who don’t look or act like you because you’ve assumed they aren’t there for the same purposes as you are – to enjoy the beach.  Time for Seattle to move beyond it’s reputation for being the most fussy, sour, uptight and xenophobic city in the country.   

  • Jason May 29, 2022 (11:46 am)

    Pessoa, I so rarely laugh out loud. Your post was an immediate response. I had the unfortunate experience of living in every single state in the southeastern US as a kid and you called Seattle the “…most xenophobic”.Hilarious. 

    • Pessoa May 29, 2022 (1:17 pm)

      Yes, Seattle is frightfully provincial and xenophobic though it is artfully disguised, like most other things in this city.  You might need to fine tune your antenna’s. 

      • Al King May 29, 2022 (1:24 pm)

        Pessoa. Reading your and Rockets comments give me the distinct impression you don’t live on or near Alki. My bet is you would be singing a different tune if all the shenanigans were going on in YOUR neighborhood. Easy to bloviate from your safe vantage point.  

        • Pessoa May 29, 2022 (4:33 pm)

          So, the solution is to shut down a public beach at the absurd time of 10:00 pm, bunker down until the police give you the okay to venture out on your terms?  This is not solved by the police, nor measures to reduce access, but ordinary people coming out in greater numbers to enjoy the beach, unafraid, and model good behavior.  What has been a shock for me coming to Seattle, is how terrified and uncomfortable people are interacting with one another.   

          • Scubafrog May 30, 2022 (11:37 am)

            If you want Venice, Whittier, and Watts, be my guest mon frer (in LA).  This is Seattle. Naturally, we’re simply trying to restore order to a beloved piece of Seattle that families can enjoy, a beloved landmark that won’t become a victim of constant crime.  That goes for all of Seattle.  If that means early curfews for Seattle at large, so be it.  Our politicians have played a huge part in this crime wave via their anti-law/-anti-police culture.  And now, they WILL rectify the situation.

  • Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness May 29, 2022 (12:31 pm)

    I can appreciate comments and perspectives of both those who live on Alki, and those who would like to enjoy the unique amenities of the park, and who feel disappointed in reduced availability. However, there is the important matter of violent crime, and specifically shootings, and it seems not a bad idea for a short term solution to deter the later night activity, when things are more likely to escalate, due to alcohol, etc. Hopefully better enforcement and other deterents can be figured out for the longer term and  the hours can be restored.

    An idea regarding guns and preventing gun violence. What if guns had real-time tracking devices on them, and a tracking history? So that if one was picked up, moved more than a foot, or fired, it would register with the police and they could have alerts and perhaps a small team that keeps an eye on gun activity in the community. Perhaps this could be a meet in the middle between the 2nd amendment folks and the anti-gun folks, who share in wanting gun violence reduced? If people with guns knew that their gun activity and location was tracked, maybe it would make people think twice about committing gun crimes, and also, available police could even be dispatched to follow a ‘hot gun.’ Of course if someone was in a position to defend themselves and their home and they fired it they would be within their rights of the law. But if any gun was fired it could require am explanation to the law? There is the issue of many guns already out there without this kind of technology, but perhaps gun makers could be required to include this technology in the future, and law abiding gun owners would be willing to swap out their guns for these if they were provided, to help be a part of the solution. Hopefullythis wouldnt infringe on anyone’s right to carry and use their fun in a justified situation to protect themselves, so I truly hope this doesn’t inflame anyone. Genuinely trying to think of solutions to prevent gun crimes.

    • Math Teacher May 29, 2022 (3:14 pm)

      The Supreme Court has ruled that warrantless GPS tracking violates the 4th Amendment. 

      • Life, Liberty... May 29, 2022 (11:14 pm)

        Maybe for use on weapons (specifically guns), this could be an exception for consideration? Ideas are needed to solve the gun violence issue, would be great to hear other ideas too.

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