Comments on: Should Lake Burien Get A Public Park? City Says “No”

By: jordan_dosnt_like_the_ Rich_honkeys_

jordan_dosnt_like_the_ Rich_honkeys_ — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:46:12 +0000

the only people who dont wont the lake to be open are those 3 tree faggots. they are acting selfish and childish, and, surprisingly, these are full grown adults. i doubt that they really care about the environment as they claim, it seems like theyre just grasping for excuses to keep the lake private. they claim that it is like their backyard….but in reality it isnt, the lake is public, and therefor should rightfully be open to the public.

By: B-town hound

B-town hound — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:12:42 +0000

Yes, because the “thugs and gang bangers” have been itching for years to get a piece of Lake Burien. You are entirely correct, open up a park and you are going to attract the same rif-raf the rest of Olde Burien attracts. I mean have you seen the crowd at the Mark lately? Hoodlums. And if the young children want a place to play they can go somewhere safe….like the skate park, or maybe the transit center.

Please let me know as soon as you all wise up and build a fence around the perimeter of the lake, I would be happy to donate some labor hours.

Keep on building the beautiful Burien Community guys.

By: allison

allison — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:38:55 +0000

lake burien is a beautiful area, and with public access kids will be coming on properties, vandelizing homes and leaving trash around the lake, the people living here pay for there homes thinking this will be a private, clean lake not one being desroyed by careless kids!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:42:06 +0000

forgot to mention; a lake park makes a city lake look more attractive. They brake up the monotonous coastline of tightly packed dwellings with a natural green area with benches and walk ways. Parks make an otherwise stuffy, crowded lake look more open and active.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:13:09 +0000

- The “hard working rich people” comment was directed ak “VK”, not you.

- I said, quote, “Your points are valid”

- I did not accuse Burien of pandering to lake front owners, I mentioned that SeaTac appeared to do so according to a comment left by someone who attended their council meeting.

With the exception of SeaTac and Angle Lake, few other nearby cities have a resource as unique and desirable as Lake Burien at their disposal. I’m amazed that the city hasn’t made more of an effort to boast it’s presence and include it in public life.

It’s true that acquiring land would cost money, but increasing the value of property in a neighborhood increases property taxes so it’s possible for a park to pay for itself, especially over a long period of time.

The property values of the lake front homes themselves is affected by the home values of the greater neighborhood, lake front owners do not live in a vacuum and this is not a lose-lose proposition for them.

Supposing noise is a concern, it would be limitted to three months out of the year, during the noon hours and mostly on weekends but then again I can think of much worse sounds than that of people having a good time, like say the noise from airplanes.

By: Leonard G.

Leonard G. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:57:37 +0000

Sorry, in the last paragraph I mean to say that “It doesn’t matter what the price of something is if you don’t have the money to pay for it.”

By: Leonard G.

Leonard G. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:54:29 +0000

Andrew:
Please show me where in my comment I said that “Lake Burien should be exclusive to hard working rich people.” If I didn’t say that why are you claiming that I did? Also, I still haven’t heard an apology to the members of the Burien City Council for your claims that the residents of Lake Burien have some special influence over them. Just having emails that states the city council doesn’t share your passion for this project doesn’t mean that either side has undue influence over them.

And, since both of you seem to have missed the main point of my comment I’ll try and explain it to you one more time. We are in a recession and the city doesn’t have extra money to spend. They will be doing well just to maintain current services.

The city’s budget is not that different from the family budget. If we don’t have the money we can’t spend it. That’s what got the state of California in such trouble financially. There is no money tree growing at city hall, nor are there monies available “from dedicated public access sources.” You are talking about tax money, which is collected from those of us who work and own property.

It doesn’t matter what the price of something is if you have the money. If you don’t believe me look at the minutes from last night’s city council meeting. Or, look at the b-town blog’s lead article about the Nissan store not being able to reopen. That’s a lot of sales tax the city won’t have.

By: c'mon

c'mon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:38:30 +0000

In order to figure out an agenda, you would usually have to know background history. You’d have to know their views, maybe previous employment? I’m sure there are quite a few people who would like access to the lake for a variety of reasons, kayaking being one. Who knows? I could be way off…

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:26:43 +0000

Lake Burien waterfront is fairly cheap as lake front properties go, and I suspect the reason is because it’s immediately surrounded by much much cheaper property (a large percentage of it is rental I believe) and that in turn depresses tax funds and the quality of public services, making the area less attractive to people who buy lake front property. It’s a vicious cycle. If we hide behind snobby individualism and don’t make some sacrifices then Burien will continue to look like a regressive town that is always good and never great.

By: Lee Moyer

Lee Moyer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:17:19 +0000

Leonard makes some good points. However, I have some forwarded emails from friends sent by council members statiing essentially that the idea is dead in the water. The Burien Blog quotes the city manager as simply being against a park. He had no comments on feasiblily\ty or real issues. There is money available from dedicated public access sources, as the city administration knows since they have used these sources before. If the cost was $1M, the city’s share would be a few hundred thousand. The recession that cuts city income also cuts property acquisition costs. Looking back twenty years from now, what expenditure of a million dollars would be a more significant accomplishment than a park on Lake Burien within an easy walk of the town center?