I recently read the letter of Chloe Swain in your paper, regarding Lake Burien.

I, too, have been wondering for many years about this lake. I moved to Burien in 1974, and at that time, there was a tiny corner of the lake that was visible. You could park a car there and look over a fence at the lake, but that was all.

That area disappeared over the years.

I always thought that lakes were not private lakes, but that part of a lake always had to have public access to a lake-- here in this state and other states. Isn't there some kind of law that would prohibit citizens living around a lake to have exclusive rights to this lake?

When you drive down 152nd street to the old post office, or St. Francis church, you can not see the lake on the south side of the street, as people have huge hedges or bushes that seem to be "hiding" the lake!

How can people--mostly wealthy people who can afford homes right on the lake--keep this lake only to themselves?? Do they own the lake?

I remember seeing old newspaper stories about how a train came to this area and people from Seattle had access to the lake, and there was even some kind of viewing tower there.

Could you please dig up some history of this lake, and also how can this happen--a total private takeover of a lake?

Rita Krueger
Burien