Dear Editor:
As a small businessman along with Chow Foods (Endolyne Joe’s Restaurant), Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant, Tuxedo & Tennis Shoes, and others located in the Fauntleroy area we need ingress for our business and egress to call on our customers, When I heard about the proposed changes to the existing plans for the Lowman Beach project, I attended the King County Water Sewer presentation at the Hall of Fauntleroy on 11/1/2010 to learn more. The Lowman Beach Project deals with the EPA rules on sewer overflow into the Puget Sound. At present, there are approximately 5 overflows into the Puget Sound annually as the existing holding tank is too small to contain the waste water. The new rules require King County to have in place an upgrade to the existing system that will only have one (1) overflow annually.

The original plan was to install the overflow under Lowman Beach Park at the north end of Lincoln Park, however the residents there formed a group to protest this installation, even though it was the most logical, cost effective, and had the least impact on traffic, local citizens, and commerce.

The Lowman Beach Community Advisory Group [CAG] wants to move the project from their neighborhood; “Not in my back yard” seems to be their credo, even though the Lowman Beach location appears to be the best solution.

Attending the meeting and listening to the comments from both sides, my ‘take away’ from the meeting was:
CAG:

• We don’t want it in our back yard;
• We have to save our 100 year old sycamore tree (because, as one person said, “I kissed my first girl friend under that tree”);
• We want to keep our “beloved” park;
• We’re afraid of the odor.

The Fauntleroy Community:

• There are presently two [2] projects scheduled to start simultaneously within 200 years of the south parking lot of Lincoln Park: The new pump station at Cove Park (a neighborhood pocket park, not unlike Lowman Beach Park, use of which will be lost for two [2] years) and Rapid-Ride reconstruction at the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock;
• Adding another construction project at the South Parking Lot at Lincoln Park would stymy the already incredible traffic congestion around the Ferry Dock and the 90 degree turn east on Wildwood;
• Fauntleroy Way is the major arterial south of Morgan Junction and east of 35th Avenue. With the effective closing of this arterial, businesses may close or at the very least, layoff employees;
• The traffic flow around the Ferry Dock will come to a virtual standstill during the construction as it is, but adding a third project will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and put the area in gridlock;
• The added pollution with virtual standstill traffic, cars waiting in the ferry line, concrete trucks waiting to load and unload, the ferry, heavy equipment and buses (there are two major bus routes on Fauntleroy) with their diesel engines combined with normal ship traffic burning bunker fuel will create an extremely unhealthy environment for the neighborhood;
• From the Spring through the early Fall, ferry lines back up to the Kenny Home (and sometimes almost to California Avenue SW at Morgan Junction. One can only imagine what it would be like even with two [2] projects, much less three [3];
• The hampering of emergency vehicles (fire, police, ambulance, etc.) that travel on the Fauntleroy arterial, thus endangering the citizens in the area;
• There are over 2800 vehicles (excluding those getting on the Fauntleroy Ferries) that travel through the Ferry Stop at rush hour (two hours in the AM and two hours in the PM);
• Many of the side streets likely to be chosen as alternative routes i.e. ‘short cuts’ around the construction are 18 feet wide and many without sidewalks. These routes will be even more congested with the increased traffic flow to circumvent the construction project;
• The plan to close the only ingress and egress for disabled persons access to the beach is in violation of ADA (American Disabilities Act). And by closing the only access, they have precluded fire, police, maintenance, ambulance, etc., not to mention the caretaker’s access to the beach area in Lincoln Park;
• The elimination of the 71 parking spaces in the south parking lot will cause overflow parking to the already limited parking on the side streets in the neighborhood. It should be remembered that under Mayor Nickels, density was increased in the city and in several areas of the Fauntleroy Community around 45th Avenue SW in the area of the Ferry Dock and Endolyne.
• Lincoln Park is one of the most used parks in Seattle. It is the host to many tournaments such as soccer, cross country, baseball, swimming, etc. for children of all ages while Lowman Beach Park is one of the least used by groups with organized activities, large picnics, etc. It’s a small pocket park.

In closing, I would like to add that the philosophy of John Stuart Mill, which was best summed up by Gene Roddenberry, the well known screenwriter of the Star Trek series, – “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”.

Mill’s philosophy is found throughout the US Constitution and U.S. case law.

So, I implore King County Utilities to understand the needs of the many in Fauntleroy Community and Seattle clearly outweigh the needs of the few in Lowman Beach.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Callard, Principal
Robert Callard & Associates, LLC