Tent City 4 is the much talked about traveling homeless encampment for up to 100 persons. The camp moved onto land in the City of Bothell 90 days ago – without a permit. Since Tent-City organizers SHARE (Seattle Housing and Resource Effort) and WHEEL (Women’s Housing, Equality and Enhancement League) agreed to leave Bothell after 90 days, the camp needed a place to go.

A Woodinville church invited the camp to its property in the Mack’s Corner neighborhood. Neighbors clamored. The city heard them and came up with an alternative plan.

According to the Aug. 10 ordinance, in order to prevent lawless squatting within city boundaries, the council felt the interests of the people of Woodinville would be best served by providing a city-sanctioned interim location for the camp. Such an arrangement would allow for an effective and reasonable public process.

Two groups took exception to the emergency ordinance: Woodinville Business Center #1, which owns a commercial center adjacent to the land the city selected for Tent City, and the recently formed nonprofit organization Citizens for Fair Process. Each group filed a separate motion for a temporary restraining order to halt the encampment from ever setting up in Woodinville. The motion was heard Aug. 13 and the temporary restraining order was denied. The homeless pitched their tents in Woodinville the next day.

Citizens for Fair Process does not have another lawsuit against the City of Woodinville or SHARE / WHEEL at this time. Woodinville Business Center does.

“What if the owner of Woodinville Business Center wanted to build a new building but waited until the last minute to tell the city about it?” asked attorney Michael Gendler who represents the business center in its lawsuit.

“‘I really need to build my new building next week,’ the business-center owner would say to the city,” said Gendler. “What do you suppose the city’s response would be? Do you think the business center would get a permit to build”?

Gendler posed these questions to make a point about his client’s case. Without notice, the city in an emergency action authorized use of land adjacent to his client’s business center for a homeless encampment. The action was “without any public process and contrary to Woodinville Business Center’s legitimate concerns and interests,” the lawsuit states.

The business center is at 134th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 177th Place.

Gendler said, “We’re challenging the city’s action to allow the use of city-owned property without a city permit. A permit would be a requirement for anyone else. There was no environmental review. The city is claiming their action was an emergency. An emergency in SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) is when a bridge collapses.”

Gendler said the situation the city created caused harm all the way around.

“There was lack of due process, bad treatment of business and citizens, bad precedence set, and misuse of the permit process,” he said.

Woodinville’s City Manager Pete Rose said, “We’re concerned. No one likes to be sued. We think we’ve done the right thing for Woodinville. Hopefully, the decision on the temporary restraining order is the first indication that we’re on solid ground.”

Mayor Don Brocha said at the Aug. 10 council meeting that the city was looking for a win-win.

“This is far from an optimal solution,” said Brocha. “We should be working on long-term solutions (for homelessness).”

The city’s ordinance stated, “The offer by the city council for limited use of future city park property is intended solely to protect the interests and needs of Woodinville neighborhoods, which otherwise would not have the benefit of public process and due process, pending resolution of regional policy decisions for locating homeless encampments by King County.”

The lawsuit will be heard at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 10 in King County Superior Court.