'It’s never been about the nudity’: Seattle has 14 days to address Denny Blaine Park concerns
Judge weighs in on Seattle's nude beach concerns
A judge is now calling on the city to take action regarding indecent conduct at Seattle?s nude beach, Denny Blaine Park.
SEATTLE - It’s known as Seattle’s nude beach, and after years of back-and-forth between nudists and neighbors, the court is now calling on the city of Seattle to take action.
A judge has granted an injunction which now gives the city two weeks to come up with a plan addressing indecent conduct at Denny Blaine Park.
"Nudity is legal, it’s never been about the nudity," said Lee Keller, spokesperson for Denny Blaine Park for All, the group made up of community members and people who live near the park. "Legal nudity is okay, when it crosses the line and turns into illegal activities which is what we’ve been seeing there multiple times a day that’s not okay and the judge clearly agreed with that."
The injunction states, "While the city has indeed taken action to alleviate parking problems, it has elected not to reduce or eliminate nudity and sexual problems at the park."
"There’s public sex happening multiple times a day, there’s masturbation, there’s all kinds of things happening which makes it a scary place for women, families and children so they just stay away," Keller said.
FOX 13 reached out to Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s Office, and his press secretary sent the following statement:
"Our office will review the judge’s ruling regarding an abatement plan, and we are exploring our legal options with the City Attorney's Office. We have consistently said that we will not tolerate lewd and illegal activities at the park including masturbation, leering, or public sex.
"Creating clean, safe, and welcoming parks has been a top priority for Mayor Harrell from day one, and we’ve acted with urgency to enforce park rules and address unwanted behaviors. Efforts at Denny Blaine Park have included SPD enforcement of lewd conduct laws, deployment of park rangers, clearer parking regulations and enhanced parking enforcement, more frequent litter pickup, installation of portable toilets, and signage restoration."
Community to discuss plan to separate nudists from neighbors at Denny Blaine Park
A proposal that would separate a controversial Seattle park into two zones has neighbors and nudists both giving input over what should be allowed at the park.
The other side:
Friends of Denny Blaine Park also sent FOX 13 this statement:
"Friends of Denny Blaine are disappointed in Judge Samuel Chung's order for an abatement of nudity at Denny Blaine Beach Park. Judge Chung's order asserting that mainstream nudity ‘as constituted at Denny Blaine’ is a nuisance erroneously links sex acts and misconduct to general nude usage of the park. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Seattle Police Department records show that incidents happen at times when general nude users are not there: weekday mornings in the cold season. A handful of bad actors have caused enormous amounts of problems for the thousands of people who love Denny Blaine Park as a gathering place for the LGBT and nudist communities, and we condemn them strongly.
"For the last two years, we have worked diligently with the Seattle Parks Department, City of Seattle, and Seattle Police Department. While solving complicated problems takes time, we have begun by:
- Creating and distributing maps of legal parking in the area to address neighbor concerns about summer overflow parking
- Reducing an appearance of neglect or lawlessness at the park through volunteer garden parties, increasing trash pick up, and working with the city to implement basic improvements like adding handrails and evaluating for a bathroom
- Educating beachgoers on appropriate behavior at a nude beach, offering community trainings on exhibitionism intervention and reporting, and distributing hundreds of cards with de-escalation resources for beachgoers who spot inappropriate behavior.
- Supporting regular park ranger patrols and working with the SPD on informed responses to public sex that address current problems and prevent future ones.
"Friends of Denny Blaine looks forward to working with the City of Seattle and all other willing collaborators as the Seattle Park Department's official community partner group for Denny Blaine on further solutions for a peaceful and dignified park for all. We look forward to making sure that the thousands of beachgoers who love Denny Blaine as a treasured LGBT and nudist community hub will be able to visit for decades to come."
The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Mayor's Office, Denny Blaine Park for All, Friends of Denny Blaine and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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