Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison is a champion of nudity in Denny Blaine Park.
In the city’s response to a June legal thrust from the Denny Blaine for All neighbor group to immediately close the park to the public, Davis has told the King County Superior Court that the popular hangout on the shores of Lake Washington east of Capitol Hill should remain open and free.
“Allowing Denny Blaine Park to continue as a nude queer space has social utility,” Davison writes.
“Nudity is subject to City regulation, and the City has determined that not regulating public nudity at Denny Blaine is in the public interest. Based on this decision, nudity alone at Denny Blaine is also not a nuisance.”
The defense of the popular nude beach comes as the City Attorney’s office responded this week to a June filing by the group representing wealthy property owners near the park to force the closure of Denny Blaine “until the City demonstrates to this Court that the City can and will abate the conditions that make the Park a public nuisance.”
CHS reported earlier this year on the lawsuit from unnamed park neighbors demanding the city address concerns at Denny Blaine over “public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking.”
The June motion for an injunction demanding the closure followed a decision by Chief Shon Barnes and the Seattle Police Department in May to end increased patrols of the Denny Blaine nude beach and park that has continued to be a significant gathering place for queer and naturist communities despite the increased complaints and legal threats from residents. Meanwhile, the group Friends of Denny Blaine continues to seek community solutions.
In her response to the neighbor group Denny Blaine for All’s push to close the park, Davison says the city has consented to the nudity in the park — but not other illegal activity it is working to curtail:
Davison also cites the history of the park in her defense:
“Although the City has consented to nudity at Denny Blaine Park, it has not consented to the
other activity,” Davison writes. “The City disputes the contention that nudity at Denny Blaine Park is a nuisance and alleges that it has exercised reasonable care to prevent any nuisance that arises from third-party illegal parking, masturbation or other sex acts at the Park.”
Following Wednesday’s filing by City Attorney Davison, the decision on the park’s closure is now in the hands of Judge Samuel Chung. A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for next week. In the meantime, Denny Blaine remains open, sunny, and, yes, nude.
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