File Photo/Ian Gleadle
Citizens for Fair Process set up tents at Woodinville City Hall to draw attention to the ordinances passed by the council to allow Tent City.

In April, tent city organizers Share/Wheel informed King County of its intention to move its next tent city to a county park on May 6. King County Executive Ron Sims preferred not to have a homeless encampment in a county park. He made plans for the new tent city to set up on county-owned property adjacent to the Brickyard Park and Ride in unincorporated King County near Bothell, Juanita and Kirkland. Sims made the arrangements and sent the King County Council a letter informing them of his decision.

A Seattle Times article related the county’s decision to locate Tent City 4 at the Brickyard site May 6. The article was the first public announcement about this decision.

In a Share/Wheel-organized community meeting, the group told Brickyard-area residents tent city is coming in three days. The community expressed anger at being blindsided by the news and called for public process. Neither Sims nor his staff was present at the meeting. King County Councilwoman Carolyn Edmonds, who represents the Brickyard area on the council, said the decision to move the homeless encampment to the Brickyard vacant land was a “done deal.”

The process accelerated. An Environmental Checklist was completed for the Brickyard site. DDES (Department of Development and Environmental Services) issued a Determination of Nonsignificance for the Share/Wheel Brickyard tent city project. Sims and Share board member Leo Rhodes signed an agreement allowing no more than 100 homeless people to camp at the Brickyard site for no longer than 90 days. The county issued a Special Use Permit to Share/Wheel “to establish and maintain an emergency encampment facility” at the Brickyard site.

A citizen group filed a lawsuit to force the county to complete the SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) review process before it made any binding agreement to use the Brickyard land for a homeless camp. Then daily newspapers reported the May 6 moving day had been postponed until May 17.

Bothell Mayor Patrick Ewing sent letter to Sims stating “disappointment and dismay at the lack of public process” involved in the tent-city siting. The City of Woodinville expressed similar sentiments in a letter to Sims.

Sims and Edmonds decided to host a community meeting at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bothell. About 500 attended. In the first few minutes of the meeting, Edmonds said nothing the public could say at the meeting would change the decision to site the homeless encampment at the Brickyard site. Sims concurred. Citizens were outraged because a decision was made about their neighborhood without their input.

King County Councilmembers Rob McKenna, Kathy Lambert and Steve Hammond got involved. They sent a letter to Sims asking that he terminate the agreement with Share/Wheel to set up a tent city on “Department of Transportation Transit Division property.” The councilmembers cited King County Charter and Revised Code of Washington provisions that would make the use of transit property for non-transit purposes illegal.

Sims and Share/Wheel signed an amendment to their original agreement stating, in part, that the group would not set up a homeless camp at the Brickyard site or in a county park. St. Brendan parish in Bothell would host the encampment for the next 90 days.

A press release issued by King County stated Share/Wheel accepted the offer of St. Brendan Catholic Church in Bothell because of the “potential legal issues raised regarding use of transit property for non-transit uses.” The county stated the camp would open Monday, May 17. Councilmember Edmonds is quoted as saying, “This solution is a result of cooperation and level-headed negotiation between my office, the executive, Share/Wheel and St. Brendan’s. This is a positive resolution to a difficult situation.”

The City of Bothell held a press conference to announce its displeasure at not being included in the negotiations for placement of a homeless encampment within City of Bothell boundaries. The city said it informed St. Brendan Church that in most cases permits for such an encampment, which could take up to six months to issue, were necessary. The church said it is proceeding with the encampment under the authority of the federal “Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.”

The City of Bothell held a special council meeting for public comment the evening of May 15. Over 200 attended. Emotional citizens fired questions at the city council, the St. Brendan attorney and Share/Wheel representatives, calling for explanations of the spur-of-the-moment decision to place a homeless shelter in a residential neighborhood that has Heritage Christian School (pre-school, elementary and junior high); Maywood Elementary (with after-school day care); St. Brendan’s Elementary (also a junior high); a co-op preschool, and two parks within close proximity. Much anger was directed at Executive Sims and Councilmember Edmonds. The meeting ran until 1 a.m. and in the end, the city council approved a motion to direct the city to take all appropriate legal action, if any, to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens.

At 9 a.m. on May 17, Tent City 4 moved onto St. Brendan Church property. The same day, the City of Bothell filed a lawsuit against St. Brendan Parish. Some concerns included: child safety, lack of communication and lack of public process on the part of King County, Share/Wheel and St. Brendan Church.

Bothell Police posted an officer outside Tent City 4, 24/7.

King County Councilwoman Carolyn Edmonds introduced an ordinance that would create an advisory task force on homeless encampments. Twenty-two were appointed, 18 voting members. Many had experience dealing with the issue of homelessness. Some called the group “insiders.”

Thirteen of the commissioners agreed that there was a need for homeless encampments at this time in King County. Eleven commissioners supported the use of public or private lands for homeless encampments. Three commissioners supported the use of private land only. The commission recommended rules for the establishment of tent cities, but not much new was put forward.

In the meantime, Woodinville Alliance Church introduced to its congregation the topic of hosting Tent City 4 for the camp’s next 90-day rotation. The church held a very well attended informational meeting June 27 to discuss the possibility.

“We do not believe,” said Doug Moore, chairman of the Woodinville Alliance Church governing board, “that Tent City 4 is the right fit for us at this time.” After six weeks of weighing many considerations, Moore said, church leadership decided to become much more active in reaching out to the needy in the community. “We will do this in a way that honors our mission and honors our neighbors,” he said.

Next, Northshore United Church of Christ, located just north of Mack’s Corner in Woodinville, offered to host Tent City 4 for 90 days beginning Aug 14.

“It was an emergency situation,” said the Rev. Paul Forman, church pastor. “Tent City 4 has run out of options, and we had to act on very short notice.”

He said his church’s response to the request was “overwhelmingly favorable.” The church’s neighbors’ response was not.

The church held an unruly informational public meeting on the topic, and though some expressed approval of tent city in their neighborhood, most did not. And they weren’t shy about saying it.

The land the church had to offer tent city was less than ideal. Tents would have to be pitched one after another around the rim of a large dry retention pond.

Acting on short notice, the City of Woodinville came up with a tent-city plan of its own. The city floated its proposal at a well-attended special meeting Aug. 10. That same night, the council passed an ordinance 6-0 that would allow the encampment to move onto undeveloped city-owned park land for 40 days, with a signed agreement, with conditions.

The property consisted of 1.7 acres in a commercial-industrial area of Woodinville between State Route 522 and the railroad tracks. Tent city could use the future park land while a 60-day temporary use permit was considered.

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 newly 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.

Ninety days and $91,597 dollars later, the encampment left Woodinville for the Finn Hill neighborhood outside Kirkland. In its summary report on tent city, the City of Woodinville stated, “The host and Share/Wheel use the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) as a Trojan horse to bring the camp to a jurisdiction. Three times running now, that has resulted in a camp coming into a jurisdiction on short notice and prior to permit issuance. This throws a government into “regulatory purgatory” with an insufficient land use permit processing time while being forced to accept an RLUIPA pre-emption. All the while, opponents argue lack of due process as the vocal participation forces Share/Wheel to seek future sites “under the radar” until the host-Share/Wheel courtship is complete enough for public announcement, which is likely to be too soon before the next move for a complete permitting process. Until the court mandates it or until the key parties mediate it or until opposition backs off eno
ugh to allow advance siting, and until Share/Wheel is more open in seeking sites and until local governments adjust the temporary land use process to a shorter, but legally defensible timeline, this (process) will continue to disrupt local area politics.”

The report called the city’s tent city experience a success. Contributing to the success: leadership of Woodinville elected officials and staff, due process afforded by the temporary use permit process, partnerships between and among government agencies, faith-based organizations and Share/Wheel and a commitment to public safety and public information. The site location of the vacant future park property contributed to the success of TC4 residents’ ability to reach the local employment placement office, transit services and retail stores.