Beach residents find plenty of issues to confront

By Lynn Steinberg
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

For a community of just a little more than 4,000 people, there is no shortage of issues or activists working to further their causes.

In many ways, Richmond Beach is more suited to cars than pedestrians. There are no sidewalks and no town center in which to gather. And several of the issues -- parks vs. libraries, parks vs. transit, trails vs. privacy -- seem to reflect it.

But people make do. They walk along the road and trade gossip over coffee at Richmond Beach Foods, which houses the contract post office where Joyce Acker, a former teacher with an ever-present smile, works.

The store -- a former meat market now owned by Alan Gross -- carries an unusual combination of groceries and gift items.

"A little bit of this," Gross says, "and little bit of that."

Whatever captures his fancy: There are children's tea sets, jewelry, candles, books, magazines and greeting cards.There's a good selection of wine, freshly made sandwiches and pastries baked on the premises each morning.

A couple of chrome and formica tables sit by the front window, and patrons often linger there over a cup of espresso.

"People come in here and actually talk," Acker says. "They visit. They have a latte and a cookie and they shop and talk about their jobs or their grandchildren or things going on in the community."

• Just down the street from the store is Richmond Beach Park, a play area and picnic space often used for T-ball and soccer games. It sits on a grassy knoll with views of the Sound and is currently the focus of a dispute over whether the local library should move onto the grounds.
  The existing Richmond Beach Library, one of the oldest in King County, is squeezed into cramped quarters nearby, and a proposal to build a new and larger library at the park received broad support.

  But the project ground to a halt when a group of residents objected to building on parkland, believing the area should remain open space. An environmental impact statement, which will outline the pros and cons of several sites, is due out shortly.

• Though many commuters to Seattle would benefit from rapid transit, there is concern over proposals to place a transit station in the community, at either Point Wells or Saltwater Park, a beachfront oasis and the only public access to the shoreline in Richmond Beach. The community council has formed a committee to study the issue.

• Should another waste-water treatment plant be built to serve King and Snohomish counties, residents fear it could be constructed too close to home. Discussions, however, are all preliminary.

• Then there is the matter of the bluff trail at Saltwater Park. The trail, improved by the county parks department about five years ago, winds out to a point above the park, affording visitors a spectacular view. But it abuts the property of several Innis Arden residents, who worry about safety and complain about lack of privacy. They want the trail eliminated or lowered so they can't see people walking there, and people can't see them.
  Members of a group called Friends of the Richmond Beach Bluff Trail believe the trail should remain as it is. "It's a public park," argues George Mauer, president of the Richmond Beach Community Council. "Modifications should be driven by the needs of the public, and not homeowners."
  The issue is scheduled to come before the Shoreline City Council later this month and is one of the few to put some residents of these two communities at odds.