King County Superior Court Judge Samuel Chung has ordered Denny Blaine Park to remain open and naked (on the lower half of the park), with conditions.
The anti-masturbation fence—the City’s response to Chung’s court-ordered abatement plan to curb masturbation and “lewd” conduct—will remain stoically in place. The City will also have to develop a park code of conduct, ensure regular landscaping (no pun intended), establish buffer zones to block neighbors’ view of the nudity they so dread, and staff the park to monitor for bad behavior (the most interesting “body” guard job in Seattle). There will also be signs “to notify park users of proper and improper behaviors.”
In his verdict a month after the trial, Judge Chung agreed with neighbors that the park was a public nuisance, but declared its closure “would not be an appropriate remedy.”
So nobody totally wins, and nobody totally loses.
The advocacy group Friends of Denny Blaine, which intervened in the trial to represent the interests of park users, wrote in a statement that it would like the entire park to be made clothing-optional. Nudity is legal in Seattle.
“We believe that the evidence reflects that the Park is not currently a nuisance and that the Park should ultimately be restored to its full historical status as a fully clothing optional Park,” the group said.
In an Instagram video, Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans called the ruling “a great win.” As of press time, Denny Blaine Park for All, the neighbors group that sued the city, has not released a statement on the verdict.
The Denny Blaine trial that pitted homeowners against the city and Friends of Denny Blaine lasted two weeks. In sworn testimony, neighbors, including Stuart Sloan and his wife Molly Nordstrom, alleged that nudity at the park was encouraging bad behavior and eroding their quality of life (Sloan is the multi-millionaire owner of University Village shopping center). The City and Friends of Denny Blaine rejected such claims, saying the abatement plan had worked and that nudity was good for the body and mind. It still can be, as nudity is still A-OK, with conditions.
“Denny Blaine is open,” Friends of Denny Blaine wrote in the statement. “We’ll see you at the beach.”
