The Port of Seattle voted unanimously Tuesday to allow the city-backed tent encampment Tent City 5 to take up residence on its property in the Interbay neighborhood.
The vote authorized the Port to make a lease agreement with the city of Seattle for the use of less than 18,000 square feet of its now empty Tsubota Property located at 15th Avenue West to house the roughly 80 campers currently residing on 17th Avenue West.
The site will host roughly 35 tiny houses and enough tents to provide shelter to the residents of Tent City 5. Although the land belongs to the port, it will be up to the city of Seattle to provide utilities, trash pickup, recycling, portable toilets and potentially shower facilities.
Tent City 5 residents will be able to stay there for at least a year, with the option to extend the lease an additional year. The city of Seattle will pay $10 per year for the site, according to the lease.
Commissioners said that providing a site is a valuable use of the property, likening it to the Great Depression when the Port provided property for Seattle’s Hooverville.
“Homelessness is a regional issue and everyone, including the Port of Seattle, should do what they can,” said Commissioner John Creighton.
Tent City 5 has been located at the 17th Avenue site for the past two years and had to find a new location before its permit ended mid-November. The camp is operated by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and managed by the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE).
All campers must perform communal duties and respect a strict code of conduct that prohibits violence, drug and alcohol use.
If campers violate the code of conduct, they risk being barred from the encampment.
The camp had experienced “so much love” in its current site, said Joshua Graham, a resident of Tent City 5 who had been elected to speak on behalf of the camp.
A vote to keep the camp in the neighborhood would make the Port of Seattle a “port of compassion.”
A vote to keep the camp in the neighborhood would make the Port of Seattle a “port of compassion,” he said.
“It’ll be an important example to fix Seattle’s problem by involving more hands to lighten the load,” Graham said.
Only eight people signed up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Of those, two — both members of the Neighborhood Safety Alliance (NSA) — spoke against the continued policy of authorized tent encampments.
NSA member Cindy Pierce said the only people who benefit from the encampment model are the nonprofits that support the tent city: LIHI and SHARE.
“I encourage you not to fall into the trap of Seattle homelessness,” she said.
Members of the District 7 Neighborhood Action Council (NAC) spoke passionately about keeping the community near its current site.
Members began forming a relationship with the camp when they teamed up with Tent City 5 residents on a “litterbusters” campaign.
District 7 members pointed to the communal nature of the camp as a positive force in the neighborhood.
District 7 members pointed to the communal nature of the camp as a positive force in the neighborhood.
Stacy Goodall manages a Starbucks Coffee branch across the street from Tent City 5.
She didn’t know what it would be like two years ago when Tent City 5 first set up shop on the property, but has since grown to embrace the tent city.
The problems that the neighborhood has with property crimes and drug use had nothing to do with Tent City 5, Goodall said.
“If anything it’s another set of eyes on the community,” she said.
Speakers also noted the speed of the process.
Commissioners first heard a proposal for the Tsubota site in July when community stakeholders requested that they consider using the property as a future home of the encampment.
By the end of that month, the Commission took its first testimony from Tent City 5 residents and supporters, and within weeks had arranged a presentation with the city of Seattle and King County to discuss the regional homelessness crisis.
A packed community meeting with more than 100 people shoehorned into a hot Magnolia Community Center took place on Sept. 6, leading up to the ultimate vote on Sept. 12.
The city will hold two more community input meetings.
“We have grabbed the fierce urgency of now,” said Commissioner Courtney Gregoire.
Ashley Archibald is a Staff Reporter covering local government, policy and equity. Have a story idea? She can be can reached at ashleya (at) realchangenews (dot) org. Twitter @AshleyA_RC
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