By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Two weeks after Seattle Parks announced a two-week “pause” in the Lincoln Park pickleball-court project, opponents took their case to the Fauntleroy Community Association board.
That was one of the topics at the board’s monthly meeting last night. President Mike Dey facilitated the meeting in the conference room at historic Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, and it also was streamed. First, other, somewhat briefer topics:
SEATTLE POLICE: The Southwest Precinct sergeant who attended mentioned the recent crime trends on which we’ve reported here, such as armed robberies committed using stolen cars: “We’ve been getting hit pretty hard. … They wear masks, they have firearms, late teens-early 20s, normally hitting between 3 and 4 in the morning” – possibly the same robbers but they’re using different vehicles. He also noted the crash-and-grab burglary trend, including the multiple hits at Global Smoke and Vape (35th/Roxbury). One attendee says stolen cars are being dumped at Barton P-Patch and urges people to report cars that look like they’ve been broken into. Asked if Kias and Hyundais were still the predominant makes of cars being stolen, he said yes, but “we’re seeing others now.” Another trend he mentioned, many reports of suspected gunfire, but many not verified as it’s “really hard to pinpoint.” Did he think it’s a good idea for the city to buy the ShotSpotter gunfire-detection system that’s under consideration? He said yes.
PUMPKIN SEARCH POSTMORTEM: The event held October 21 was a success, reported coordinator Candace Blue – despite imperfect weather, 200 pumpkins were hidden by 8 volunteers, and the event drew the same amount of attendance as last year (when weather was much better), at least 70 people – lots of fun and gratitude, she reported. “People do love the event a lot.” 11 pumpkins had “special gifts.”
(Line for bunny-petting tent at last month’s festival)
FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL: October 20 will be the date next year. This year was a “massive success,” reported organizer Reed Haggerty – the committee was scheduled to meet today for feedback. People came out despite the not-so-great weather. This was the second year for a new-ish committee and they “clicked,” he said. It brought in donations and money from merch to put toward next year’s expenses. They’re estimating about 2,000 people attended. Haggerty said people descended on the festival site right at the moment it opened, 2 pm. Yes, there was a wait for the bunny petting area, even though they added more bunnies and more volunteers. They had last-minute scratches by The Falconer and Endolyne Children’s Choir and yet it was a huge success anyway. Next year they may add something else on the back side of the schoolhouse to take the pressure off the bunnies, who drew a lengthy line right from the start.
(Reader photo, last month)
LINCOLN PARK PICKLEBALL-COURT PROJECT: The guests were all opponents of the project, but Dey made it clear that FCA is interested in fact-finding around all sides of the issue. (Very short recap if this is new to you – Seattle Parks was going to add pickleball striping to three of the Solstice Park tennis courts, then suddenly announced it had dropped that plan and instead would set up six pickleball courts on a paved Lincoln Park site that had once been used for tennis and more recently had been used for Parks maintenance storage. Opponents launched a petition drive to stop it, citing concerns that pickleball noise – and possible future court lighting – would be disruptive to wildlife.)
First speaker was Bret Barnecut, who said Parks has been calling the site “an abandoned tennis court” but showed a photo of a weathered sign referring to the other uses of the site. He said the pavement on the site has been “massaged” by heavy trucks for years – 12,000 square feet where water doesn’t run off, “it’s that permmeable … there’s no drainage.” He went into background about how the site hasn’t been used for tennis for at least 20 years. He recapped the Parks pickleball study that listed 16 potential sites “and Lincoln Park wasn’t one of them.” He suggested the courts would be unappealing to players because they aren’t in view from the parking area – so you wouldn’t know on arrival if they were in use or not – and they’ll be wet. The “overlay” that Parks is planning won’t be enough, he suggested – the current pavement’s problems will come through. “What they’re building here is a temporary court.”
Kersti Muul spoke next, focusing on the wildlife. She stressed her Fauntleroy ties and involvement, including managing the trees on the Fauntleroy Church property and also working with the Fauntleroy Watershed Council for many years. She spoke about the effects of “sensory pollutants” on wildlife – noise and lights. She talked about the variety of birds in Lincoln Park and showed some photos. “Birds see can hear way better than humans do.” 160+ species of birds in Lincoln Park, she said, 64% of all the bird species documented in Seattle. She says that Parks has not done the wildlife study they promised to do during the “two-week pause” – though she mentioned later that she would be meeting with Parks today – and she said the heavy equipment hasn’t been moved from the site. She says it’s difficult to study how noise impacts birds, but it “reduces diversity, disrupts communication … causes delayed nesting,” also “light pollution causes early nesting .. .” She said a study on owls exposed to noise showed their hunting success going down when decibels went up. She said this all “interferes with birds’ ability to ‘just live’.”
She also brought up bats, saying that Lincoln Park has a great bat population – but lights (corrected) repel bats and attract insects, which she said are in a “catastrophic decline” already. She said these wildlife are already “stressed out” and we’re asking them to do more. She showed photos of herself rescuing birds in Lincoln Park – “all of these raptors nest and use this particular area. … Why are we risking this for pickleball?”
Kathy Heffernan then spoke, with more on “the noise of pickleball.” She lives about five blocks from the park and is a hospital chaplain. “Because of the work I do, Lincoln Park has been a refuge and a quiet sanctuary for me for 20 years.” She spoke of being healed by the “deep comfort” of Lincoln Park’s quiet. She says pickleball will jeopardize relaxation for many park users. She talked about the nationwide complaints about pickleball noise. She cited various concerns about pickleball noise and its “high pitch” plus comparisons to the sound of a trash truck backing up. She said the annoying sound happens every two seconds and that it’s similar to sounds inducing hypervigilance in humans. “Unless they are 977 feet away the noise will be intolerable. … There are pickleball courts all over Seattle but there’s only one Lincoln Park.”
FCA questions: What about lights? It was noted that Parks hasn’t committed one way or another, though Parks stated two weeks ago that they “will not pursue lighting at this time”; they’ve told us that lights would require funding that doesn’t currently exist. How does it compare to the sound of kids playing baseball? They weren’t sure. Muul pointed out that baseball is a seasonal game and it’s not a sustained sound. Dey reiterated that he wanted to have “the facts.” If it’s a daytime sport it’s hard to argue that it’s going to be a bigger problem, “I’m trying to understand.” The project opponents pointed out the problem is that pickleball-hitting is “incessant.” FCA’s Bill Wellington said he’d want to hear it in person to make up his mind. FCA’s Alan Grainger, who said he’d once had a pickleball court, talked about the exuberance of players shouting, whooping, “having a great time … very different from the mood of playing tennis.”
In the end, Dey declared that they’d need to fact-find further, including hearing from Parks, before deciding whether to take a stand on the project. (Side note: We asked Parks again today about the project’s status, and the reply was, “Currently we are still meeting with bird advocates to develop a study on the impact of pickleball.”)
FAUNTLEROY SURVEY: About 3,000 cards were mailed out; so far 416 people have responded. The survey (take it here if you live/work in Fauntleroy) is open through December 4th. FCA will publish the results and take them under consideration for their focus in the next two years. (Traffic issues were big in the last survey, for example.)
(The seven size/shape options that represent the nine alternatives)
FERRY MEETING: FCA’s ferry-issues point person Frank Immel recapped last month’s Community Advisory Group meeting (WSB coverage here), at which Washington State Ferries presented nine variations of the dock rebuild. Board members were interested in the length and width of the dock concept options and how Cove Park, north of the dock, might be affected, and WSF’s sudden suggestion of possibly cutting into the Captain’s Park bluff to add a traffic light and lane. Immel is reaching out to Vashon to explain the Fauntleroy issues – “we’re not against them, we’re trying to help them.” He’s also asking WSF for facts such as loads and ridership. Dey noted that City Councilmember-elect Rob Saka has expressed support for FCA’s position on the dock. Immel said WSF’s Hadley Rodero has offered to come to an FCA meetings and all agreed they should accept that offer.
NO MEETING IN DECEMBER: Next FCA meeting will be January 9. Watch fauntleroy.net for updates.
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