Jenny Durkan and City Council members:

Attached are just a few examples of the problems many residents are complaining about regarding Harbor Avenue SW in West Seattle. They are examples of illegally parked vehicles, garbage, forged temporary license permits, unlicensed vehicles, and some of the RV's that have set up camp and have been continually living along Harbor Avenue. 

Harbor Avenue to Alki Avenue is a Seattle Scenic Drive. It is part of the Alki Trail and is heavily used by families, children, walkers, joggers, bicyclists and traffic of all kinds.

What is now commonly referred to as "The RV Park on Harbor Avenue SW in West Seattle" is a dangerous eyesore that has become the talk of our local community. Harbor Avenue in West Seattle is not a Recreational Vehicle Park and should not continue to be allowed to be used as one.

Allowing vehicles and RV’s to park and their occupants to live on Harbor Avenue poses serious public health and safety concerns. There has been a significant amount of litter, garbage, drug paraphernalia, needles and human waste on our parking strips around the vehicles and RV’s. Many occupants have been seen urinating and dumping human waste on our public property. They are also taking away parking for those trying to find a place to park to use the water taxi or enjoy the Alki Trail. This situation is getting completely out of control.   

Many of the RV’s are dangerously parked sticking out into the roadway. Some have already been hit. Some who have set up camp have even put orange cones around their vehicles. This is just an accident waiting to happen. Is the City of Seattle waiting for a serious accident or incident to act?

Ignoring these issues or turning a blind eye is just not right. If The City of Seattle officials and officers continue to do nothing and allow this to continue, it will only get worse. It will simply attract more RV’s and vehicles that are told or will assume its okay to park here just like they use to do under the Spokane Street Bridge. How was that problem solved?  There are no RV's parked there any longer. I was told that the owner of one of the RV’s took his out of storage to avoid paying the storage fee to park his RV on Harbor Avenue for free. Great!

We, as law abiding tax paying citizens, expect our City Government Agencies to enforce our laws and to protect us. What is the point of having laws and talking about public safety when issues like this are simply being ignored? Enforce the 72 hour rule at a minimum. Stop allowing the use of our parking strips as the vehicle and RV’s personal camp sites. They put their lounge chairs, ice chests, BBQ’s, generators, bicycles, motor cycles and other personal belongings on the parking strips and around their vehicles. They treat the area around them as their personal campsites. It is just not right.

It seems today there are two sets of laws: The ones we have to abide by, and the ones those who live in their vehicles on Harbor Avenue have to abide by. It seems to be okay for them not to license their vehicles, illegally park, litter, dispose of their garbage on public parking strips, urinate and defecate on public property, set up campsites on the parking strips of our scenic drives, on our city streets and to create hazards to the public’s health and safety. Enough is enough!

The Police officers and Parking Enforcement Officers are trying and making an effort. I’m told they just don’t get any support from the Mayor’s Office or our elected City Officials. I recently read an article in The Seattle Times that Nick Licata, who served for 18 years on the Seattle Council, and ran the public safety committee for four years, spent a lot of time with beat officers. He said “that when officers feel they can’t enforce laws, they often engage in reverse passing the buck.” “Often, I think, the supervisors say, ‘Well, it’s coming from higher up’,” Licata said. “A lot of instances, they’ll blame the mayor, the mayor will blame the council, and it’s a circle.” That is exactly what I and others are being told about this situation. It’s past time to quit passing the buck, playing the blame game and to address this issue and problem.

It is time to get more aggressive at enforcing our laws that continue to be violated. We need to be as good if not better at the cat and mouse game as the vehicle violator’s.  We need to change our parking laws on certain streets. Especially streets like Harbor Avenue where families and children come to enjoy.

Please come up with a solution to remove the vehicles and RV’s off Harbor Avenue SW. Please enforce our laws. Is that too much to ask or to expect? How about the rights of us tax paying citizens.

I am available to meet and come up with a simple solution to this problem on Harbor Avenue in West Seattle. It is a very solvable problem that needs to be resolved. It can no longer simply be ignored.

Thank you,

Mike Gain

A Lifelong West Seattle Resident.

NOTE: The attachments referred to appear in the print edition of Westside Seattle