Despite some restiveness over a new sidewalk plan for the Alki Point Place area, many of the 70 Alki area residents at a recent meeting seemed to accept the city's changes and modifications.

A man whom other media said was going to sue, made it clear he only wanted the city to follow its own procedures.

Responding to prior strong complaints from Dick Warren and others living on Alki Avenue and Beach Drive, project manager Sam Woods said her department went to great lengths to preserve as many street parking spaces as possible with the plan. About 10 spots would be eliminated from the plan of installing about a half mile of sidewalk on the waterside of those streets. The sidewalk on the opposite side would remain.

Woods discussed the possible addition of raised speed bumps and new signs, which helped to assuage the plan's dissenters in the audience. She projected a crude illustration of a "sidewalk calming" crosswalk at Beach Drive and 63rd Avenue Southwest that seemed to calm the audience as it would the traffic. It includes an island of plantings.

Some worried that new sidewalks would attract new skateboarders, pedestrians, and, yes, droves of bicyclists causing more hazard potential. The department says its studies prove new sidewalks and better markings would increase safety.

As the meeting wrapped up, real estate developer Charles Turbak, who lives south of the proposed sidewalk, called out loudly that the plan was news to him, and that it would attract more pedestrians and traffic to the sharp bend at the point, a dangerous combination in his view. He asked people to come to the back of the room to sign a list to help get a lawyer to look at the ethics of how the new plan was decided. About three people did, he said.

Reached the following day, he said he wanted to clarify that he had no intention of "suing the city" but was interested in the possibility of hiring a lawyer to see if the procedure for implementing the sidewalk "was being followed correctly."

"My comments at the meeting may have been misinterpreted," Turbak said. "I'm not the type who goes around threatening to sue everybody. I was not informed of the plan in advance and it was difficult to hear and see the slide show.

"The plan sounds great on paper, bringing more people in to see the beauty of Alki Point and the lighthouse, but I think inviting more people could be a disaster, and could increase the chances of pedestrians getting hit by a car. For me, this isn't about 'NIMBY' (Not in my backyard) but about safety. If the city can prove otherwise I am all ears."

"This project has opened a real can of worms," said Gary Ogden nearly a week following the meeting. "When I was on the community council I was the first guy to submit the concept of the finished sidewalk to the district council. We'd all meet annually. This plan was on our wish list every year for 12 years.

"Do you realize that with the new sidewalk people could walk on the waterside all the way around from Harbor Avenue near the West Seattle Bridge to Lincoln Park? Alki is written up in travel magazines, and our city is touted all over the world as being safe and pedestrian oriented. But some residents on the water are used to the privilege of using public land privately."

Ogden said that recent surveys prove that some residents use a swath of city property as their own front boundary for their yard and parking.

"There were five public meetings to decide on 600 proposals, and this one was voted number 17 out of all of them citywide."

Richard Sheridan is communications manager, Seattle Department of Transportation, and agrees with Ogden.

"There are encroachments in the (Alki) neighborhood," Sheridan said. "Sam (Woods) has been working really hard with a solution that works for everyone. She has gone above and beyond to save parking spaces and to consider safety and the unique needs of the neighborhood."

Steve Shay may be reached at steves@robinsonnews.com