By LYNN STEINBERG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Despite the lingering animosity, residents on both sides of the "String of Pearls" project share many of the same concerns about quality-of-life issues -- things such as traffic, public safety and noise pollution. And for decades, the Leschi Community Council has been instrumental in addressing those concerns, though not always successfully.

Consider the "Lakeside at Leschi" project, a four-story, mixed-use development now under construction.

Community activists argued that the building, on the site of an old Shell gas station, would not blend with the surrounding area on Lakeside Avenue. It will be too bulky, they said, too big. And, perhaps more importantly, it will block the view of residents to the west.

But they lost the fight.

The project is expected to be completed in April. There will be 19 two- and three-bedroom condominiums on the upper floors, ranging from 1,300 to 2,000 square feet and priced from about $350,000 to more than $700,000. The ground floor will mix office and retail space.

The development sits on the west side of Lakeside Avenue, in the heart of Leschi's small commercial district -- an area that consists of a few restaurants, a grocery, a video store and a bike shop that taps the scores of cyclists who regularly use this waterfront route.

The area also appeals to boaters, many of whom keep their vessels at Leschi Moorage.

On the south side of town is Leschi Park, with its Victorian-style grounds and 200-foot sequoia and tulip trees, which this time of year turn a rich shade of scarlet. Perched just above Leschi Park is Frink Park, which has natural trails, huge maples and a 7-foot waterfall.

"It's a good place to walk," says resident John Barber. "That's one of the real treasures of living here. You can lose yourself going through the woods."

Lynn and Art Mink, both 78, moved to Leschi in 1956. They live on a hill two blocks up from the lake. She volunteers at the school; he edits the Leschi News, the community council's 16-page monthly newspaper.

A few years back, their advancing age and Lynn's knee problems prompted them to look for another home, something on level ground without stairs. But they wouldn't look anywhere but Leschi. When they couldn't find anything suitable, they decided to stay put and installed an automated chair lift so they wouldn't have to climb the steps.

"We didn't want to leave the community," Lynn Mink says. "This is the place we live. We care about the people here. It feels like home."

That sentiment drives residents to dig in their heels and fight what they see as threats to their community.

And that's why Thurston Muskelly led the charge against plans for a drug treatment center near his home at 29th and Jackson.

"We have borne our share," Muskelly says of facilities such as the one proposed. "We are not going to have it."

Muskelly, who co-chairs the community council's land-use committee, has lived in his home for 37 years and, with his neighbors, has worked hard to make the community a safer place.

"Kids can play in the parks, jog, ride their bicycles," he says. "It's a beautiful place, a peaceful place. It has a cross-section of culture, and people respect each other. We don't need any criminal activity in the neighborhood."

Community opposition has so far halted plans for the treatment center.

Continued:

• It's a shore thing: Area rich in its past and people
• People, not places, give area its distinct flavor