Last week, we posted this story about the Mayor’s plan for city-sponsored homeless encampments on QA and Magnolia.? Due to the? negative?response, the Director of the Seattle Human Services Department has sent the following email:
Thank you very much for your message expressing concern with how an encampment could affect your neighborhood. While none of us believe that an encampment is a long-term housing solution, it is clear that with the current housing crisis, some action is needed to help provide people and families with a safe place to sleep and keep their belongings. This is why the Mayor, with unanimous support from the City Council, approved transitional encampment legislation in April of 2015. The legislation allows up to three encampments at a given time, to be located on property owned by the City, a private entity or a major educational institution in commercial or industrial zones. Council has also asked the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to conduct additional analysis to allow this interim use in all zones, including residential. Thus, the selection of three preferred sites, and four possible future sites were recently submitted to Council. Please see map: http://murray.seattle.gov/wp-content/upl… The selection of these City-owned sites is the first step in the process. Selected operators must meet standards established in the ordinance. The Human Services Department (HSD) will work with the operators to develop management, operating, and fund development plans. Public health, safety, and security are foremost features of these plans as well as access to services that will assist encampment residents to move on to housing and employment. These plans are required to be submitted with the permit application to DPD for the interim encampment use. Per ordinance, the operator must meet with the community prior to applying for the permit. They are also required to form an on-going Community Advisory Committee, which will allow the community to raise operational issues and work with DPD, HSD, and the encampment operator to address concerns during the presence of an encampment in a neighborhood. Please see the FAQ for more details regarding the requirements for establishing an encampmenthttp://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/eme… The legislation sets specific parameters on the types of City-owned property that would be available for hosting tent encampments. Within those parameters, the City has identified seven available properties. None of these proposed locations are final, however, it is unlikely that we will be able to locate additional City-owned sites suitable to the parameters of the legislation. Vacant City-owned sites are very limited. Encampments are permitted for up to one year with the potential to extend another 12 months after discussion with the community. It is possible that not all of the three City sites recently identified will be used?if a private property owner wants to work with an encampment operator to make appropriate land available for an encampment, that location would count as one of the three allowed sites. The City is establishing a more organized model for managing tent encampments and engaging individuals that are homeless and on our streets each night. Collaboration between DPD, Department of Neighborhoods, HSD, encampment operators, and the neighborhoods offers clear points of contact, operation expectations and standards, and more effective assistance for homeless individuals to exit homelessness. Please see HSD?s website for additional information: http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/eme… Be assured that we will add you to a notification list and get back in touch with you once the date, time, and location of the community meeting has been set.