4209 Beach Drive SW

The home once located at 4209 Beach Drive SW was owned by an actress, Nancy Kilgas. Nancy was in several films, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Oklahoma.

The home on Beach Drive has seemed abandoned since we’ve lived here (about 20 years). We used to walk by it and wonder about the stories the old home could have told once upon a time. I know I have more photos of it that I’ve taken…and when/if I find them, I’ll add them to this post.

It has recently been demolished and it appears there will be three homes (townhomes) put in it’s place.


With the recent changes to zoning in Washington state, you can expect more single-unit homes to be demolished for multi-unit homes.

Major Road/Gas Line Project on Beach Drive

A tip of the hat to our neighbors who let us know West Seattle Blog recently uncovered major project on Beach Drive to replace sections of the gas main.

From West Seattle Blog:

Puget Sound Energy will be replacing 5,049 feet of a gas main line on Beach Dr. SW. starting in May with work expected to last about 90 days.

This is part of a project to improve the infrastructure in the area and provide safe and reliable natural gas service.

During the project, about 100 customers will have their gas turned off due to a service replacement of their line or their service lines being reconnected to the new gas main.

When possible, the gas main installation will be directional drilled to limit some of traffic issues on that street.

PSE is working with the Seattle Department of Transportation and will use flaggers to keep traffic moving.

All customers impacted will be notified before their service is interrupted.

On a positive note, maybe this will help detour some of the speeders and traffic we get on Beach Drive.

Fire at Beach Drive Home

UPDATE 2:39 AM: Nobody home at the time of the fire.

This home is the historic “chicken coop” home on Beach Drive, reported to be the oldest home on the street. The home is just north of the duplex that was once Quesnel’s Restuarant.

 

A fire has been put out at 4701 Beach Drive SW. We hope everyone is safe. (Originally reported as 4703 Beach Drive per SFD’s 911 website).

Another Tear Down on Beach Drive

This 107 year old home located at 4022 Beach Drive Southwest will soon be demolished. Two duplexes are scheduled to be built on this lot across the street from Weather Watch Park.

Beach Drive Home to be Demolished

This home on the 4700 block of Beach Drive is set to be demolished early next week to make way for a new single unit dwelling.
We actually sold the home to the current owner knowing it would be torn down. The home has been added on over the years and has some issues that are beyond reasonable repair. While in our ownership, the home was a short-term rental that we named “Beach Drive Bungalow” that enjoyed hosting people from West Seattle to all over the world.

The home was originally built in 1926 and looks completely different from the home it is today. As the story goes, the home was built by a sea captain to live in while building the neighboring home to the north.
The home continued to be modified over the years.
We enjoyed the few years we were able to share the home as a vacation rental with others. If not for the Seattle City Council no longer allowing waterfront homes to be short term rentals (as a way to help affordable housing?) we would probably still have the home as a vacation rental. The home held family reunions, birthday celebrations and even a beautiful wedding ceremony at the bulkhead.

Thanks for the memories, Beach Drive Bungalow!

Another viewpoint on the Beach Drive Stay Healthy Street

Recently we received Councilmember Lisa Herbold’s newsletter addressing the potential permanent closure to the stretch of road along Alki Point. It has been roughly one year since the streets along Alki point have been closed.

From her newsletter:

“The vast majority of people contacting me are very interested in making the Alki Keep it Moving Street a permanent “Stay Healthy Street” which would result in roads being closed to through traffic. Neighbors have surveyed users of the Keep it Moving Street over the last few months. You can see some of their results in the graph below.

Honestly I find it hard to believe that there was zero opposition to the survey that was done by the neighbors who will benefit from the street being closed to traffic. Just check out the comments on West Seattle Blog’s post and you’ll read from people who are not in favor of the permanent closure. There is no viable place for parking should one need or want to drive to visit the park with parking already limited in surrounding neighborhoods. This seems to benefit those who live closest to the closed street along Alki point and is a disadvantage to those who rely on transportation to go to Constellation Park or Alki Light House.

We live on Beach Drive south of the proposed permanent stay healthy street. We’ve walked our dog along that stretch of park for the past 8 years nearly every day. Through the past year, it has been nice to be able to stay 6’ away from others while walking this stretch during the pandemic. But now, vaccinations have put people back onto the several sidewalks that line the stretch. The street appears to have served it’s purpose and is now reaching historical normalcy.

Over the years, we have spoken to several neighbors along that stretch of Constellation Park and sympathize with them over the car clubs that inhabit the parking strip along the park, crank their tunes, leave garbage behind & rev their engines. Being in close proximity to Alki point is a very well known risk to living there.

It’s our opinion that that this Summer phenomenon is not the 100% reason this neighborhood has rallied together in effort close the street off permanently to these street racing enthusiasts. Problem is, we’re starting to inherit these enthusiasts along Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook about a half mile south. The park has just received an overhaul with additional lower sidewalks that mirror the physical layout of the Alki Keep it moving site along Constellation Park. As soon as the temporary fencing is pulled out of the newly constructed seawall section of Emma Schmitz Memorial, the neighbors along this stretch fully expect to have the same issues our neighbors to the north have experienced for the last 5 or so years.

Moving a problem is not a good solution. The vaccination efforts are working to restore the stretch along Constellation Park to it’s prior status as a public thoroughfare near busy Alki Beach. Perhaps consistent traffic/parking enforcement is the answer.

Walking the newly closed Beach Drive for Stay Healthy Streets

This morning, after writing about a portion of Beach Drive being closed, my hubby (aka our intrepid reporter, Scupper) and I decided to check out the newly closed road along Constellation Park. I actually did not expect the closure to include Alki Avenue to 63rd (the intersection by Cactus).


Vehicle traffic was definitely reduced. Gone are the cruisers and car clubs hanging out along the sidewalk.


64th was the only side street that I noticed was blocked.


This stretch of Beach Drive is no stranger to cars peeling out. The City has tried passing noise ordinances for this area but I doubt it’s been successful. Neighbors we talked to are pretty pleased with this stretch being closed.


I don’t know if I’ve ever seen open parking on a warm sunny day along Alki Avenue.
The closure stretches all the way from Alki Avenue at 62nd to Beach Drive and 62nd. There were still a handful of cars (possibly residents), driving along with bicyclists, skateboards (some motorized) and all sorts of wheeled contraptions mixed with people walking or jogging in the street.

It’s a new experience to walk down the street…it’s a bit liberating. It’s also a lot easier to keep the “safe six” feet away from others.  There are a lot of cars from residents along Alki Avenue to Beach Drive where there are condos, apartments and street parking for houses. This stretch is still very popular (and may become even more so) with bicyclist and joggers. If you’re wearing ear-buds, you may need a shoulder-mounted-rear-view-mirror!

It will be interesting to see how this evolves as bicyclist and resident cars, service/delivery vehicles and rule-avoiders are now dealing with people walking in the Mayor’s new “Stay Healthy Street”.

Please stay safe and be kind! This is a new experience for all of us.

Send us your Beach Drive Halloween Pics!

This neighbor’s scary yard captured our dog’s attention on our walk today.

Hitch losing a scary stare down with three black cats!

If you have a spooktacular yard, kiddo or pets (or you!) in costume or a favorite Halloween recipe that you would like to share with your Beach Drive neighbors, give us a howl!

Big Changes for Short Term Rentals along Beach Drive and Alki

If you or someone you know owns or operates a vacation rental along Beach Drive or along Alki, you may want to let them know about regulations that are going into effect January 1, 2019 that will prohibit short term vacation rentals on waterfront homes and potentially including homes within 200 feet of Puget Sound.

We believe this is an unintended consequence from the City of Seattle labeling short term vacation rentals as “commercial lodging” which is not permitted per the shoreline code. This includes detached single family residences, condos, apartments and homes that are within 200 feet of the high water mark of Puget Sound (homes across the street from Puget Sound could be included). Other areas may be included as well if they are within the shoreline management restricted areas.

From the City of Seattle – one of their many pages regarding Short Term Rentals (aka “STR”s):

“Floating on-water residences, waterfront residences, and other areas where lodging activities are prohibited by the Shoreline Code

We have owned and operated a short term vacation rental on Beach Drive for a couple of years. We are saddened that it looks like we will no longer be able to offer Beach Drive Bungalow as a vacation rental. Many of our guests over the years have been from neighbors and other Seattle-ites with visiting families.

Many who have owned and operated vacation rentals near the shoreline in Seattle may not know about this snafu. To our knowledge, there has been no notifications from the vacation rental platforms, like VRBO/Homeaway or AirbNb nor from the City of Seattle (unless you visit their website and try to make sense of the shoreline code).

I reached out weeks ago to our City Council. Today, I received my first response from a representative for O’Brien who stated:

“Thanks so much for reaching out to Councilmember O’Brien on this issue.  I am sorry for the complicated and confusing nature of our code and that your property is no longer eligible as a STR.  After looking into it a bit, my understanding is that this is due to the shoreline code – lodging activities are prohibited in Floating on-water residences, waterfront residences, and in specific shoreline environments.  This was not a policy choice about waterfront locations specifically but rather just making it explicit that defining short-term rentals as a lodging use (and not a residential use) means prohibiting STRs where lodging uses are prohibited by the shoreline code.   To modify this would require amending the shoreline code which typically requires working with and approval by the Department of Ecology.

Sorry to not have a more hopeful response for you.  Have you considered renting the property as a long-term rental?”

No response yet from our West Seattle rep, Lisa Herbold.

We do plan on reaching out to the Department of Ecology.

If you have questions, you can email: str@seattle.gov.

Seawall project starting sooner than expected

Construction of the Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook Seawall Project was projected to begin this Fall according to BDB sources from the Army Corp of Engineers. Yet, it appears that construction, ahem, “design” work will commence within a week. This info sign was just installed at the park….


Anticipated impact to neighbors and the public will include drilling/boring equipment taking soil samples from numerous locations along the 450′ stretch of seawall. Constructing the actual wall has been updated to “TBD”.

Sooner the better is my opinion for getting this done. Fall might be too late for the tattered original structure.

From the City of Seattle’s press release:

Soil borings and sampling at Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the City of Seattle, and Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) are collaborating on the Emma Schmitz seawall repair. Together we are ensuring a successful cost-sharing program to restore shoreline protection at Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook in West Seattle. SPR entered into a Project Partnership Agreement with the Corps for the replacement of the seawall. The Corps is responsible for the design of the seawall, and one of the steps in the design process is to take soil borings to inform the final design. Drill equipment will be on site for several days starting the week of June 4.

Built circa 1927, the 450-foot stretch of seawall supports important City and County infrastructure, including a 54-inch sewer main, various Seattle Public Utilities drainage and wastewater lines, and Beach Drive Southwest road. The seawall is badly deteriorated, with a 30 percent chance of failure in the event of severe storm or tidal conditions. The new seawall will be built approximately 2 feet seaward and 2 feet higher than the existing wall, thus significantly improving the grade of this scenic viewpoint for the enjoyment of park users as well as ensuring long-term stability.

The implementation cost of the recommended plan is estimated to be more than $2 million, and will be cost-shared with 65 percent federal funds and 35 percent non-federal funds. The non-federal sponsor, SPR, is responsible for all lands, easements, right-of-ways, relocations, and/or disposal areas which are controlled by the sponsor.

The Corps is designing the seawall, and SPR will be designing the park amenities on top of the wall area. SPR will be holding a public meeting to provide information and gather input on these park amenities.

For more information on the boring and soil collection please visit http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Programs-and-Projects/Projects/Alki-Erosion-Control-Project-Seattle-WA/  or SPR Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook page: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/emma-schmitz-memorial-overlook

 

Scupper, reporting for Beach Drive Blog