The Ballard Homes for All Coalition is preparing to create car camps in neighborhood parking lots this fall for homeless people living out of their vehicles.

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-36th District), founder of the coalition, said the purpose of the car camps, which would be four to five vehicles large, is to create a safe and secure place for the homeless to park.

According to a press release from the coalition, there are approximately 50 car campers in Ballard and there has been a 45 percent increase in car campers citywide from 2007 to 2008.

The coalition is working with Sustainable Ballard and University of Washington architecture students to create portable hygiene centers that include showers and toilets for the car camps.

Volunteer for the coalition Jean Darsie said she is worried about negative reactions to the camps from neighbors but they plan on using the same methods of community outreach and advanced warning that worked well in the past for Tent City homeless camps.

Concerns from neighbors usually go away once the camp is established and they see how safe and noninvasive it is, Darsie said.

Dickerson said if handled properly, the car camps should not be a source of complaint from the neighborhood.

"It all depends on how they're done," she said. "I think it's something that would have to be done carefully with security in mind. Ballard tends to be more welcoming to homeless people because a lot of the homeless are from our own community."

According to the press release, people hoping to use the camps would have to go through a screening process, and outreach workers would make regular rounds to make sure there are no problems.

The plan is for the smaller car camps to be located around the neighborhood in willing parking lots, with larger camps centrally located to contain the portable hygiene centers, said Gia Mugford, a University of Washington architecture student who is working on the project.

Mugford said the hygiene facilities are meant to serve approximately 20 people and will make use of low energy lights, solar panels and possibly marsh plants to filter and purify the water used.

University of Washington students are building the prototype of the facility in the Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church parking lot, though there is no current plan to host a camp there.

Sustainable Ballard is planning to display the prototype at the Sustainable Ballard Festival Sept. 27 and Sept. 28.

Michael Harthorne can be reached at 783-1244 or michaelh@robinsonnews.com.