A beach in Seattle that faced the risk of being shut down due to frequent public indecency incidents has been granted permission to remain open, provided that a fence is installed to separate the clothing-optional section.
But just a day after city officials installed the massive green eyesore at Denny Blaine Park, it was vandalized.
Denny Blaine Park has been a nudist hot spot for over 50 years and is particularly popular among the LGBTQ community.
But the waterfront area is not specifically designated by Seattle Parks and Recreation as a clothing-optional park, it only became so unofficially.
In recent years, people living near Denny Blaine area have noticed an unsettling rise in inappropriate public behavior.
Concerned locals formed a group called Denny Blaine Park for All to address the problem and even pursued legal action against the city to seek resolution.
Last month, a judge from King County Superior Court, Samuel Chung, issued an ultimatum for the city to curb the alarming activities within two weeks or face the park’s complete closure.
The Denny Blaine Park group stated that Judge Chung’s ruling highlighted the city’s failure to tackle the persistent illegal activities at the park, such as public indecency and other lewd behaviors.
Denny Blaine Park (pictured) has been a nudist hot spot for over 50 years and is particularly popular among the LGBTQ community
A sign was also added with rules for the park, with one bullet point reading: ‘Clothing required west of fence’ (pictured)
On Wednesday, the City of Seattle attempted to fulfill Chung’s orders by building a four-foot-tall chain-linked fence covered in a dark green tarp.
The fence was installed following a court-mandated strategy to address the nuisance issues at Denny Blaine Park, according to Rachel Schulkin, a spokesperson for Seattle Parks and Recreation, as reported by The Chronicle.
Schulkin explained the opaque fence was designed to segment the area into three distinctive sections.
The beach and lawn sections are the designated ‘clothing-optional areas,’ while the rest of the park is not.
A sign was also added with rules for the park, with one bullet point reading: ‘Clothing required west of fence.’
It also states that drugs, alcohol and smoking are outlawed on the premise.
While the city thought this would be an ideal solution to the indecent dilemma, the quick fix was proven unsuccessful by the next morning.
Seattle police reported that around 11am on Thursday, a man had ripped off portions of the privacy tarp meant to block the view into the beach.
Over the last few years, residents in the Denny Blaine area (pictured) have made an alarming observation – there has been an alarming amount of lewd behavior out in the open
On Wednesday, the City of Seattle attempted to fulfil Chung’s orders by building a four-foot-tall chain linked fence covered in a dark green tarp (pictured)
Pieces of the tarp missing from the bare wire fencing were found on top of a nearby portable toilet.
A witness who filmed the man in action claimed she recognized him as someone who often visits the nude beach, police said.
The suspect, a man in his 30s or 40s, was recognized by several locals and allegedly lives in a tent by the beach, KIRO 7 reported.
Schulkin told The Chronicle the damage to the fence was repaired on Friday morning.
In extended efforts to crack down on crime in the park, city officials have proposed placing security cameras in the area.
But critics say the fence is just concealing an underlying issue at the park.
Conservative commentator at Seattle Red Jason Rantz wrote: ‘The intent is to shield the clothing-optional zone near the lake from view and curb the visibility of perverts having sex or masturbating in public.
‘It does not, however, stop the underlying lewd behavior at the center of a lawsuit alleging the city has done virtually nothing to stop the public sex.’
Friends of Denny Blaine says the group has been working with park users, the parks department, Seattle police and neighbors to handle issues arising at the park (pictured)
A Seattle judge has ordered that popular beach, Denny Blaine Park (pictured), be closed because it has become a hot spot for public sex and nudity
While Denny Blaine Park for All has provided the city with video evidence of several instances of people having sex at the beach, the plan to tame the space has received pushback from members of Seattle’s LGBTQ community and advocates.
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, who fought against the motion to close down the park, argued that the ‘queer nude space has a social utility.’
A group called Friends of Denny Blaine has also been formed to support the park staying open.
At an event hosted last week, organizer Hope Frejie asserted: ‘We don’t need permission from the city to be naked.
‘Queer people, trans people, need a place to be, because it’s not safe for us everywhere.’
According to Capitol Hill Seattle, co-organizer Jackie Donovan said ‘the courts can say what they want, because f**k it, we’re getting naked.’
Friends of Denny Blaine previously said that Chung’s ruling ‘erroneously links harassment and other misconduct to general nude usage of the park.’
King County Superior Court Judge Samuel Chung (pictured) gave the city two weeks to handle the ongoing inappropriate behavior occurring at Denny Blaine Park
Advocates for the LGBTQ community have argued the beach (pictured) is a much-needed safe space for the community
‘An enormously overwhelming majority of nude usage of the beach by thousands of Seattleites each year is friendly, legal, and positive,’ the group wrote.
‘Our aim is to ensure the case, and the city’s response, focuses solely on actual criminal activity – public masturbation and sexual harassment – which cannot be conflated with mere nudity,’ the statement continued, adding that non-sexual nudity is protected free expression under the First Amendment.
Friends of Denny Blaine says the group has been working with park users, the parks department, Seattle police and neighbors to handle issues arising at the park.
